Goodies To Go! Newsletter #369

Featured this week:

 

*   Goodies Thoughts – Paying Attention
*   Q & A Goodies
*   News Goodies
*   Feedback Goodies
*   Windows Tech Goodie of the Week 
*   And Remember This…

 

************************************************************

 

One of the most gratifying aspects of writing and compiling this newsletter
each week is the knowledge that it goes out to a very large number of
people.  Even more so, is when I discover that a very large number of you
actually read it, and it truly makes my day when i see that someone took
action based on something I wrote!  The following is a case in point.

 

(I should interject here that I actually have no way of knowing that was
took place was really anything to do with me — it might just be a
coincidence, albeit a very big one!  I do like to think it was GTG,
however!)

 

In the middle of November I wrote about my observations while using Papa
Johns pizza delivery on-line ordering website.  In my writing I pointed out
something that "irked my sense of professionalism", and along the way,
mentioned something else that raised a question in my mind.  It would appear
that someone in the Papa Johns organization was paying attention!  (In case
you missed it, you can find the issue in the archives, here:

https://www.htmlgoodies.com/introduction/newsletter_archive/goodiestogo/article.php/3564911
)

 

What had bothered me was that the subtotaling was not consistent throughout
the site, and it left me not remembering whether I had included a tip.  The
confirmation page didn’t show the tip as a separate figure, as previous
pages had.  I had also wondered how, if I had ordered two or three toppings
for half the pizza, they would know which toppings were to go together with
which on each of the two halves.

 

I ordered another pizza recently and, lo and behold, the menu system now
asks me which half toppings I would like on the first half and which on the
second half.  That solves that dilemma!  Further, the tip is now carried as
a separate item throughout — and all summary pages are consistent in their
itemized amounts, sub-totals and totals.  The site now gets a top score! 
Better ingredients, better website!

 

I find it remarkable that this all changed within about a month of my
writing — is one of their programmers a Goodies fan, perhaps?  I hope so —
and I hope that they got great "attaboy" points for the suggestion.

 

It may be just a coincidence — nah!  It’s Goodies To Go magic!

 

I wish for all of you and all your families and friends a happy, safe and
prosperous new year!

 

 

 

 

 

Thanks for reading!

 

 

 

 

 

– Vince Barnes

 

 

 

 

 

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Q & A Goodies
***********************************
Questions are taken from submissions to our Community
Mentors. You can ask a Mentor a question by going to

https://www.htmlgoodies.com/mentors/

 

 

Q. I need to change the indent length on a nested unordered list. Any ideas?

 

A. There are multiple ways, so I refer you to these tutorials:

https://www.htmlgoodies.com/getting-started/so-you-want-indents-and-lists-huh/

https://www.htmlgoodies.com/beyond/css/article.php/3470331

 

 

 

 

Q.  I know that it is possible to use external javascripts on a webpage by
using the SRC attribute in the <SCRIPT> flag.  Is there anyway to use an
external HTML document on a webpage?

 

A. Yes, you use a server side include. This tutorial explains it:

https://www.htmlgoodies.com/beyond/ssi.html
[See also

https://www.htmlgoodies.com/introduction/newsletter_archive/goodiestogo/article.php/3476711
— Ed.]

 

 

 

 

 

Q. I would like to know the proper approach to run simultaneous javasrcipts
such as in the following scenario. I would like a "rain effect" script
(called from a .js file) over top my entire web page with underlying
rotating images scripts, sliding texts scripts, other animation scripts,
etc. ie. items that appear to be rained on. On top of the raining effect, I
would to place other javascripts (scripts within or outside of the page
coding), animated gifs, pictures, etc. that are "dry" i.e. …kind of a
layering wet/dry senario.

 

A. When running multiple scripts on one page you need to insure that the
different scripts do not use the same variable and/or function names.  If
they do then you will have to change those that conflict.  If you need to
have multiple scripts start when the page loads the best way I have found is
to use
the onLoad event in the BODY tag to call both of them making sure you
separate them with a semicolon.
Like this:
<BODY onLoad="function_one();function_two()">
 

 

 

 

    
Q. How do I track hits to my website?

 

A. There are a couple of ways to track hits on a website. One is to attach a
web counter to your home page. This is a small script that counts the ammount of times your page is accessed.

https://www.htmlgoodies.com/beyond/countcgi.html
Another way is to ask your web host if your site has a web stats area that
you can view. One other is to install a script yourself for gathering web
stats. This would take some knowledge of scripting or you can look for one
that has already been built.
[There’s always
http://www.thecounter.com – Ed.]

 

 

 

    
Q. I tried to copy and paste two of your JavaScript codes onto my page, but
the code shows up on my page instead of what the code is supposed to do.  It
doesn’t look like anything is wrong with the code, but can you tell me why
the code is showing up on my page.  I also tried the digital clock and got
the same result.

 

A. Usually the code will show up on a page if you have left out the <script>
</script> tags.

 

 

 

 

 

Q. How do you create a form?

 

A. Here is the link to the HTMLGoodies tutorial on forms:

https://www.htmlgoodies.com/tutorials/forms/
[& check out these newer Forms articles:

https://www.htmlgoodies.com/tutorials/forms/article.php/3479081

https://www.htmlgoodies.com/tutorials/forms/article.php/3479071
 -Ed.]

 

 

 

 

 

Q. There is a HALO fan site on the web and they have some sort of title
generator that changes the title every time you load the site.  How’d he do
that?

 

A. It looks like they are using a Server Side language such as Perl or PHP
to do that, but you can use JavaScript.  Here is an example:
<html> <head>
  <title>Title change</title>
  <script language="JavaScript">
  
    mytitle=new Array()
    mytitle[0]="New Title One"
    mytitle[1]="New Title Two"
    mytitle[2]="New Title Three"
    mytitle[3]="New Title Four"
    len=mytitle.length
    randnm=Math.round(Math.random()*(len-1))
    document.title=mytitle[randnm]
</script>
 </head>
 <body>
   This is a test
 </body>
</html>

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Discussion Goodies
***********************************

 

Have you seen the discussion forums on the HTML Goodies website?  It’s a
great place to get help from others who, just like you, are developing web
pages.  Many different topics appear in the forum, and a new one will appear
if you create it!  Here’s a sample of recent topics:

 

ADVICE WANTED: Website Performance Issues:

http://www.webdeveloper.com/forum/showthread.php?threadid=88437

 

Prevent Multiple logins with same LoginID:

http://www.webdeveloper.com/forum/showthread.php?threadid=88357

 

Is there a way to find out what the file / page name is?:

http://www.webdeveloper.com/forum/showthread.php?threadid=88307

 

IE displays web page wider than the screen:

http://www.webdeveloper.com/forum/showthread.php?threadid=88235

 

Next, Previous and Jump:

http://www.webdeveloper.com/forum/showthread.php?threadid=88422

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

News Goodies
***********************************

 

Pioneer Set for Blu-ray Delivery
[December 27, 2005] First high capacity drives will ship in first quarter of
2006.
Read the article:

http://www.internetnews.com/bus-news/article.php/3573706

 

Nortel Secures Tasman Buy
[December 27, 2005] The manufacturer expands its secure router line for
converged networks.
Read the article:

http://www.internetnews.com/bus-news/article.php/3573606

 

Startups Board the AJAX Bandwagon
[December 27, 2005] New companies are touting AJAX, thanks to forays from
Microsoft and Google.
Read the article:

http://www.internetnews.com/dev-news/article.php/3573506

 

PHP: Three Versions, One Promise
[December 26, 2005] The open source challenger to .NET and Java gears up for
its best year yet.   
Read the article:

http://www.internetnews.com/dev-news/article.php/3573486

 

NBC Universal to Take Over MSNBC
[December 23, 2005] Joint venture on news Web site to continue.
Read the article:

http://www.internetnews.com/bus-news/article.php/3573431

 

Seagate-Maxtor Bid Elicits Concerns
[December 23, 2005] Consolidation of the day or calculated oligopoly?
Analysts weigh in on Seagate’s $1.9 billion play on Maxtor.
Read the article:

http://www.internetnews.com/storage/article.php/3573141

 

IBM Withdraws OS/2
[December 23, 2005] End of an era, as OS/2 disappears from IBM’s portfolio.
Read the article:

http://www.internetnews.com/dev-news/article.php/3573441

 

Nessus 3.0 Closes the Book on Open Source
[December 23, 2005] Open source vulnerability scanner not as open source as
it used to be, but does it matter? 
Read the article:

http://www.internetnews.com/dev-news/article.php/3573341

 

E-Mail Dominance Faces Challenges
[December 23, 2005] Electronic mail continues to dominate over instant
messaging — for now.
Read the article:

http://www.internetnews.com/stats/article.php/3573321

 

Most Companies Ill Prepared for Pandemic
[December 22, 2005] Basex report says most large companies don’t have the
right policies to handle extended absenteeism and other pandemic related
issues.
Read the article:

http://www.internetnews.com/bus-news/article.php/3573086

 

 

 

 
 
 
Feedback Goodies
***********************************

 

Did you ever wish your newsletter was an easy two way communications
medium?  Ploof! It now is!
If you would like to comment on the newsletter or expand/improve on
something you have seen in here, you can now send your input to:

 

mailto:nlfeedback@htmlgoodies.com

 

We already receive a lot of email every day.  This address helps us sort out
those relating specifically to this newsletter from all the rest.  When you
send email to this address it may wind up being included in this section of
the newsletter, to be shared with your fellow readers.  Please don’t send
your questions to this address.  They should be sent to our mentors: see

https://www.htmlgoodies.com/mentors/

 

 

 

 

 

Thanks for all your feedback!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Windows Tech Goodie of the Week 
***********************************

 

Creating and Using Code Snippets in Visual Studio 2005

 

If you create your web applications using Visual Basic, you’re likely aware
that Visual Studio .NET 2002/2003 provides some nice auto-complete features
that were sorely missing from the C# side.  The good news is that Visual
Studio 2005 provides a remedy for its predecessors’ lack of C# auto-complete
support.

 

http://aspnet.4guysfromrolla.com/articles/122105-1.aspx

 

*** AND ***

 

Automated Backup with NAnt

 

NAnt is a free .NET build scripting tool, but because of the automation it
allows, NAnt can be used for so much more. In this article, Liam McLennan
explains how to use NAnt to create a customizable, heterogeneous, and
effective backup system.

 

http://www.15seconds.com/issue/051222.htm

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And Remember This …
***********************************

 

1932 Radio City Music Hall Opened

 

A creation of billionaire John D. Rockefeller, the Radio City Music Hall in
New York City was opened on this day in 1932.  Since that day, more than 300
million people (including yours truly) have been there to enjoy shows,
concerts, movies and special events.  Despite being in the middle of the
Great Depression, thousands of people came to the opening event.  The hall
is a magnificent Art Deco theater, a "palace for the people", designed by
Donald Deskey, and built by Rockefeller in partnership with the Radio
Corporation of America (RCA).  At its heart is the Great Stage, which is 60
feet by 100 feet and incorporated sophisticated hydraulic elevators for
dramatic staging effects.  Many of the original hydraulics are still in use
today.  More than 700 films have premiered at Radio City Music Hall.  Its
"Christmas Spectacular", which debuted in 1933, entertains more than a
million people each year, and includes the famous high-kicking precision
dance troupe, the Rockettes.  It is still the largest theater in the world.

 

Today was also the day that in: 1825 the first public railroad, using
a steam locomotive, opened in England; 1831 Darwin began his voyage
to South America aboard HMS Beagle; 1836 15 people were buried, 8 of
whom perished; by the worst avalanche in England’s history, at Lewes,
Sussex; 1871 the world’s first cat show opened at Crystal Palace in
London, England; 1934 the first Youth Hostel in the US opened in
Northfield, Massachusetts; 1934 the Shah of Persia declared that
Persia was now to be called Iran; 1937 Mae West performed the Adam &
Eve skit on the Charlie McCarthy show that got her banned from NBC radio;
1945 the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank were founded;
1947 the first "Howdy Doody Show" aired on NBC TV; 1949 Queen
Julianna of Holland granted sovereignty to Indonesia; 1978 King Juan
Carlos ratified Spain’s first democratic constitution; 1979 Soviet
troops invaded Afghanistan, President Hafizullah Amin was overthrown;
1983 a propane gas fire burned 16 blocks on Buffalo, New York; 1985
Terrorists killed 20 & wounded 110 attacking El Al at Rome & Vienna airports
– President Reagan blamed Libyan leader Colonel Muammar Qaddafi; 1988
Bulgaria stopped jamming Radio Free Europe after more than 3 decades;
1992 Harry Connick Jr was caught with 9mm gun in New York’s JFK
airport; 

 

Born today were: in 1654 Swiss mathematician Jean/Jacobus Bernoulli;
1822 French bacteriologist Louis Pasteur; 1879 English actor
Sydney Greenstreet; 1879 Australian actor Robert Grieg; 1901
German singer/actress Marlene Dietrich; 1906 actor Oscar Levant;
1939 actor John Amos; 1941 English musician Leslie Maguire (Gerry
& the Pacemekers); 1941 English musician Michael Pinder (the Moody Blues);
1943 newscater Cokie Roberts; 1943 English musician Dave
Rowberry (the Animals); 1944 musician Mick Jones (Foreigner); 1948
musician Larry Byrom (Steppenwolf); 1948 French actor Girard
Depardieu; 1952 actress Tovah Feldshuh;1960 English actress
Maryam D’Abo; 1973 actor Wilson Cruz;