Do smart breadcrumbs use referrer data?

[Mike521w]

I thought I heard somewhere (maybe at this year's miva conference) that smart breadcrumbs use the HTTP referrer data to determine the previous category when the parent category isn't set. Can anyone confirm if this is correct?

If so, how does it work (or does it work at all) if a site is using shortened URLs that were configured outside of and unbeknownst to miva? For example by manually creating a URL rewrite and modifying page templates to use the shortened URL structure instead of Miva's default

I ask because on a CSSUI site with shortened URLs like above, it seems like the breadcrumbs can't figure out the referring page unless I set the parent category

[Dan - Glendale Designs]

Re: Do smart breadcrumbs use referrer data?

It has been my experience that you have to be using the stock rewrites and the &mvt:cats:link; variable for the crumbs to fully function properly. If the short links are not configured within Miva Merchant, then the old rules apply in that you have to specify the parent category.

[Mike521w]

Re: Do smart breadcrumbs use referrer data?

that's what I was thinking.. I'll try configuring miva's shortlink section according to what I've already set up. I assume it'll change a whole bunch of page templates, and maybe the .htaccess file, so I'll have to revert all of its changes afterwards

[burch]

Re: Do smart breadcrumbs use referrer data?

The breadcrumbs use a cascade of logic to try to determine the category for a product link. The checks are done in this order, with the first match being used:

1. If there is a Category_Code parameter in the URL, that category is used.
2. The Referer header is parsed, looking for either "Category_Code=xxx" or the category code as specified in the built-in SEO settings.
3. The product's canonical category (if specified)
4. The first category containing the product (as determined by the category sort order)

So you are correct in that if your custom rewrite rules don't match the SEO settings in admin (or SEO settings are disabled), step 2 will not be able to determine the correct category.

[alphabet]

Re: Do smart breadcrumbs use referrer data?

Is there a function that can be evaluated to return the smart breadcrumbs:links array?

I am creating an XML feed and can pass the l.settings:all_products:product:id and would like to iterate through the breadcrumbs:links cat:name.