Check with your system administrator about the availability of a local counter for your page. If you're lucky, there's a counter program set up for you to use, and your sysadmin can tell you how to set your page up for it.
Method 2: STEAL IT!
You can make a new counter for yourself using someone elses counter program. This way, you don't have to install a program on your system, just bum someone elses!
If I could give you a list of counters to steal, I would.. but in order to give all counters an equal chance at being stolen, you'll have to find your own. It's easy, though:
1. Find a web page with a counter
2. Do a View->Source
3. Find out the URL for the counter, and see where the unique
identifier is (it should be somewhere after a "?" or a
"/", and it might contain some part of the persons/pages name)
4. Replace the unique identifier with your name/last name/whatever
and stick it at the bottom of your web page.
5. Cross your fingers, load up your page, and have a look!
Although stealing a counter is easier than setting one up yourself, a stolen counter might not work tomorrow.
Method 3: Install a counter program.
Installing a counter program is probably the best solution if your access provider doesn't have one already. You'll need the ability to install a CGI script on your server, or use a server-side include, depending on which counter program you want to use. Below is a list of some of the counter programs out there.
Here are some counter programs out there that you can install on your system:
<MULTICOL> tags around the text you want to put in
multiple columns. You must pick the number of columns you want using the
COLS attribute, and can optionally choose the spacing between columns (in
pixels) using the GUTTER attribute. For example, the following would yield
two-column text with a 5 pixel gutter:
<MULTICOL COLS=2 GUTTER=5>
The
COLS attribute is
required, while the
GUTTER defaults to 10 pixels. Also, the exact width of columns
can
not by specified, and there's no way to say "End the current
column here." Why not? The
COLS tag is designed so that the columns are aligned
properly no matter how wide your web browser is. If you need something more
flexible, use an invisible (
BORDER=0) table instead of columns.
Method 1: JavaScript Dynamic Menu
In case you're wondering, I used JavaScript for the dynamic menu at left.
There are some advantages and disadvantages to using JavaScript for dynamic menus. First, the menu will work on any web browser. If you use a web browser that doesn't support JavaScript, the menu will still show up and work without any special effects. Second, it's faster than most other methods. The main disadvantage is that it's not supported by Microsoft Internet Explorer 3.0. Again, the menu still shows up, but it can't be dynamic.
The process of making a JavaScript dynamic menu is fairly simple. You create the "on" and "off" graphics for each item in your menu, making sure both graphics are always the same dimensions. Then, all you need is the actual JavaScript code for the menu. If you know C or C++ and you're feeling a little adventurous, you can write it yourself. Rather than reinventing the wheel, though, I recommend taking a look at Dynamic Images and Menus, a JavaScript "Tip Of the Week" at webreference.com. This page provides you with the code and instructions you need. Just plug in the names of your graphic files, and you're set!
Method 2: Java Dynamic Menu
The Java dynamic menu is one alternative. It will work with Internet Explorer 3.0, and you provide a standard imagemap for browsers without Java support. A Java dynamic menu typically works a lot like an imagemap: it uses one "on" image, one "off" image, and a list of clickable areas within the image. This way, if you have a menu with 30 items, you don't need 60 graphics files. The only disadvantage of the Java dynamic menu is that it's always a lot slower than the JavaScript equivalent. At the end of this section, I've provided links to a few different Java dynamic menu classes.
Method 3: FutureSplash
FutureSplash is a Netscape plugin/ActiveX control that has been catching on recently. It's built into Internet Explorer 3.0, and is used extensively on The Microsoft Network's web page. It allows for more than a basic dynamic menu--you can create animated menus and graphics with it. FutureSplash is a creation of FutureWave Software, can be downloaded from their web page. In order to create dynamic menus using FutureSplash, you will also need the FutureSplash Animator. There's a 30 day trial version of the Animator available for download; unfortunately, this method of dynamic menus will end up costing you money. If you try or buy the FutureSplash Animator, please let me know what you think of it!
As promised, here are some Java-based dynamic menu applets:
Method 1: Client Pull
A client pull allows the server to tell the browser to load a certain document in a certain number of seconds. For example:
<HTML><META HTTP-EQUIV="Refresh" CONTENT=1>
<HEAD><TITLE>Client Pull Example</TITLE>
<BODY>
<H1>Client Pull Example</H1>
This document will reload itself once every second.
</BODY></HTML>
The line
<META HTTP-EQUIV="Refresh" CONTENT=1> tells the
browser to request the page again in 1 second. Some sites use this type of
client pull to refresh a document such as stock quotes or a video camera
pointed at a city street.
Client pulls can also load a different document in a predefined number of seconds. For example:
<HTML><META HTTP-EQUIV="Refresh" CONTENT="5;
URL=http://www.nashville.net/~carl/index.html">
<HEAD><TITLE>Now Loading...</TITLE>
<BODY>
This example will send you to Carl's home page in 5 seconds.
</BODY></HTML>
Changing
CONTENT=1 to
CONTENT="5; URL=<my URL>" makes it go somewhere else
once the time has elapsed.
Method 2: Server Push
A server push is more difficult since it envolves keeping a constant connection open between the client and the server, and having the server "push" data to the client to display, such as an animation, as a series of .gif files.
Server push is a bit too complicated to breifly describe here, so I'll refer you to the many links listed below. I personally recommend Netscape's An Exploration of Dynamic Documents.
Dynamic Docmuent explanations:
<HTML>
When people without Netscape or IE come in, they'll
click on "CLICK HERE" and get the regular version of your page. When people
with Netscape/IE get to this page, they are automatically advanced to the
Netscape/IE enhanced version.
<META HTTP-EQUIV="Refresh" CONTENT="3; URL=nindex.html">
<HEAD>
<TITLE>Detecting your browser...</TITLE>
</HEAD>
<BODY>
<H2>We're detecting your browser now...</H2>
If you're using Netscape or Microsoft Internet Explorer, the enhanced
version of this page will
automatically load. If not,
<A HREF="tindex.html">
CLICK HERE</A>
Method 1: The
<EMBED> tag
The
<EMBED> tag is a powerful feature of Netcsape Navigator
3.0. It allows for easy, built-in playing of WAV, AIFF, AU, and MIDI audio
files as well as QuickTime movies, AVI files (under Windows 95 and NT), and
VRML files.
EMBED has a
lot of options, but here are some of the ones you'll most likely be
using:
<EMBED SRC="filename" width=144 height=74>
will put a small sound player on the web page. It has play, stop, and pause
buttons as well as a volume control. The width and height can be changed,
but if you make it smaller than 144x74, it will start to cut off some of the
controls.
The above
<EMBED> command is the most basic one. If we take it
one step further, we can get
<EMBED> to
automatically play the sound, and not show up on
the page at all:
<EMBED SRC="filename" hidden=true
autostart=true> will play the sound file once and not show up
on the page.
The
EMBED command works on both Netscape Navigator 3.0 and
above as well as Microsoft Internet Explorer 3.0 and above.
Method 2: Client Pull
You can also add a background sound using a simple client pull. Check this out:
<META HTTP-EQUIV="Refresh" CONTENT="1;
URL=mysound.wav">
1 second after the page itself has loaded, the sound will load and play. It doesn't have to be a WAV file..just remember that the sound you pick will be played back on a variety of computers, so it should be in a sound format that can be played back on most computers. Although this "background sound" method isn't used much (in fact, I've only seen it in use once before), it has definite potential.
A side note on client pull: This is probably the trick I get the most e-mail about. A lot of people can't seem to get it working! In nine out of ten cases, though, the problem is on the client side. Make sure you have a working sound player set up as a helper application, and make sure your web browser supports client pulls. This trick does work.
<EMBED> tag.
<EMBED> for QuickTime movies and VRML files, in case
you're interested in doing that.
Set-Cookie: NAME=VALUE; expires=DATE; path=PATH; domain=DOMAIN;
secure
So, for the shopping basket, Netscape might send:
Set-Cookie: basket=128 426 234; expires=Wednesday, 09-Nov-99 23:12:40
GMT; path=/cgi-bin/basket_view; domain=merchant.netscape.com;
secure
The variable "basket" is then set in your browser to equal "128 426 234," a list of item numbers you've requested; Whenever you go back to the basket viewer URL "http://merchant.netscape.com/cgi-bin/basket_view" before the expiration date, your browser sends this:
Cookie: basket=128 426 234
This lets the store know what items you're interested in so it can recreate your shopping basket.
HTTP Cookies are very powerful, but they require the use of CGI scripts or JavaScript. If you've got the guts to try it, take a look at the "Preliminary Specification" on Persistant Client-State HTTP Cookies. There's a lot more information on HTTP cookies there. Good luck, and let me know of any cool applications you've made with HTTP cookies!
A side note on frames: Even though I don't have much here
about frames, I do have the answer to the most commonly asked frames
question: How do you get frames to go away when linking to the outside
world? Here's the answer:
<BASE TARGET="_top">. It's that easy. Just put that
tag near the top of your document. Want a more detailed explanation? Read
Targeting Windows!
Another side note on frames: I've gotten many e-mails about
the invisible frame border on this web page. Notice that you can scroll the
right side of the page while the left stays constant, yet there's no visible
border. Here's the
<frameset> code from my index.html file:
<frameset cols="125,*" border=no frameborder=0
framespacing=0 bordercolor=#ffffff>
<frame src="f-left.html" marginwidth=0 marginheight=0
scrolling=no noresize border=no bordercolor=#FFFFFF>
<frame src="f-right.html" border=no bordercolor=#ffffff
name="content">
</frameset>
The first thing you might ask is: Why are there so many "border=no"
tags? I had to add tags everywhere in order to guarantee support for most
browsers. Remember, you can never have too many extra tags. If the browser
doesn't recognize them, they're ignored. The important tags here are
border=no,
frameborder=0,
framespacing=0, and in the case of the left side,
scrolling=no.
The second thing you might ask is: How did you get the gradient from
black to white? That is a background graphic. It's 127 pixels across and 1
pixel high. (
take a look). The graphic was made to fit just
perfectly in the 125 pixel frame so that the white end was right at the
edge.
|
© 1995-97
Carl Tashian {
carl at tashian.com}
Last Update: November 23, 1997 |
