Is there any way to find an Example of what SiteMap shoud look like?

Having trouble with Google SiteMaps

[moneyangel13]

Hello Everyone

Well I downloaded the software from OpenSource, and I may have downloaded the wrong version. Does it matter which one you choose? I tried to open the files and I can not open some of them and do not know what software I need to run them. I was wondering if there are any alternatives to make a good site map that Google will accept. Does any one have a link to a SiteMap that is used as a SAMPLE? I would just like to have an idea of what it should look like. I would like to get my pages indexed by Google as soon as possible and I was adviced to make a site map but I have been having difficulties. Any advice would be greatly appreciated ;) Thanks In Advance

[j4mes]

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?> 
<urlset xmlns="http://www.google.com/schemas/sitemap/0.84"> 
 <url> 
  <loc>http://www.yoursite.com/</loc> 
  <lastmod>2005-01-01</lastmod> 
  <changefreq>monthly</changefreq> 
  <priority>0.8</priority> 
 </url> 
 <url> 
  <loc>http://www.yoursite.com/catalog?item=12&amp;desc=vacation_hawaii</loc> 
  <changefreq>weekly</changefreq> 
 </url> 
 <url> 
  <loc>http://www.yoursite.com/catalog?item=73&amp;desc=vacation_new_zealand</loc> 
  <lastmod>2004-12-23</lastmod> 
  <changefreq>weekly</changefreq> 
 </url> 
 <url> 
  <loc>http://www.yoursite.com/catalog?item=74&amp;desc=vacation_newfoundland</loc> 
  <lastmod>2004-12-23T18:00:15+00:00</lastmod> 
  <priority>0.3</priority> 
 </url> 
 <url> 
  <loc>http://www.yoursite.com/catalog?item=83&amp;desc=vacation_usa</loc> 
  <lastmod>2004-11-23</lastmod> 
 </url> 
</urlset>

[DaveAtIFG]

GSiteMap [vigos.com] is a handy free Windows utility that builds and submits site maps.

[Johan007]

Its very easy. Most of the fields are optional apart from location. Of cause the file should be created dynamically for it to be worth your while:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?> <urlset xmlns="http://www.google.com/schemas/sitemap/0.84">
<url>
<loc>http://www.yoursite.com/</loc>
</url>
<url>
<loc>http://www.yoursite.com/page2.asp</loc>
</url>
<url>
<loc>http://www.yoursite.com/page3.asp</loc>
</url>
</urlset>

I would be careful using the last modified date if you getting it from a db (eg: if you make changes outside db then what happens?)