Need a hand with some frame issues

[WiseBuddha]

The site I am working on is a randomportal page, i.e. it is set as the browser startpage and when it loads it redirects the user to a random site every time.

The page has a two frame layout, the top frame is part of my page, the bottom frame (and main frame) is where the random page is displayed, this random page can be any page on the internet.

I want to put a link in the top frame that will close the frameset and display the contents of the bottom frame using the full browser window, I cant use a _TOP link as I dont know what page the user will be looking at when the click it) and there is no way to call the Perl script and get the random link that was called

Hope that made sense :-)

Thanks in advance
WiseBuddha

[Nicky]

I am not a perl expert but isn't there a way of assigning the contents of the bottom frame to a variable so that you can call the variable?

[goober]

Hello,

this is a post of pure personal opinion...no expertise involved.


Why are you using frames? Frames are baddddd...i would recommend using tables with a simple template file. They load quicker, look nicer on many occasions, have less copmatability issues, and are easier to code.

Just thought i'd shove my two cents down your throat.

[WiseBuddha]

Unfortunatly frames are a necessary evil in this little design project, as the idea is that the frameset loads with a small top frame which contains some stuff and the main frame loads a random page which can be anything or anywhere on the net.

[Nicky]

You could achieve the same result using SSI or PHP.

[goober]

I agree with Nicki...SSI, PHP, (or *ASP*, hint hint ) would be the way to go. Faster, too.

Want help? I'm sure nicki and I could lend a hand (if she's up for the challenge. )

[WiseBuddha]

Well ASP is something completly new to me, although it is something that I keep meaning to learn, so any hints and suggestions etc etc would be greatly appreciated

This is the actual project : I intend to make a website that a user sets as their start page, each time the users opens their browser (i.e. loads the homepage) it takes them to a random page on the net, now this can either be entirly random or based on certain preferences that the user chooses.

As it stands right now I have a working model that uses Perl script which can be found at http://gd.project77.net & gd.project77.net/games/ & gd.project77.net/misc/ this is only a basic idea of what I want to do (spent a couple of hours throwing this together today) but utitmalty I want ppl to be able to submit/rate sites and also change their preferences on the fly (i.e. I dont want users to have logins etc so the preference info would have to go in a cookie, or the user has a different startpage per their preferences (i.e. if you goto http://gd.project77.net/games/ it will only load games related sites)

So thats is my master plan, a few people have mentioned that this is entirely possible with lots of bells and whistles in ASP or PHP but I have only just mastered the basics of HTML, so ASP is a little out of my reach right now, but only just

[goober]

Wise,

Take your time! HTML is the first big step, and if you know perl, you're getting into advanced stuff already. If you're ready, and you do decide to use ASP, some books i would reccommend are:

• Beginning Active Server Pages 3.0
• Professional Active Server Pages
• Professional ASP Techniques for Webmasters

All of these books are by Wrox Press, an invaluable resource. In my opinion, nobody comes close to wrox (when it comes to ASP, anyway). Also try their other books (they're the red ones ). you can check them out at: http://www.wrox.co.uk.

Hope this helps!

[norfett]

PHP is the easiest and best way to go, one of my rival sites is created using ASP and ASP is just so un-reliable, it either wont load or part loads, and only after refreshing it 10 times will it load properly.

Pete

[WiseBuddha]

Dilemas dilemas, do i stay with what I know (a little PERL and lot of HTML) or do I go with PHP (apparently more reliable) or ASP (apparently more flexible)

So discussion times boys and girls as I dont really want to have to take on learning two scripting languages at the same time, so which should I go for?? Bearing in mind I work in IT so I am also looking for something that will increase my value in the workplace.

[Elledan]

Which server-side scripting language to use depends mostly on the OS the server is running. If it's an *NIX server, you'll better use PHP and if it's an NT/Win2k box, you can either use PHP or ASP.

It is said that PHP is the easiest language to learn (hint hint!), for example, it took me less than four weeks to learn the basics of PHP without an intensive study.

They say however, that I'm extremely talented

[goober]

I sense a feeling that this discussion is going to turn into an ASP vs. PHP debate. Please don't let this happen.

However, The language is only as unreliable as the programmer. I've never had a problem.

[WiseBuddha]

Well so you all know, and also to prevent the risk of this turning into a PHP vs ASP flame war, I have started reworking my project using PHP as I found it the easiest to work with, although at the moment I am only leeching (with permission) bits and pieces from other peoples work.

But my original question still stands, as this has turned into a matter of curiosity now as nobody I have come across has been able to answer it

[Nicky]

I am quite happy to help you with PHP and mySQL, however, I am not too hot with ASP I'm afraid!

Don't forget though, whether you decide to choose PHP, SSI or ASP, you must find yourself a reliable host that supports these technologies. I'm sure if you pop along to our Web Hosting forum you should be able to do just that:

http://www.sitepointforums.com/forum...php?forumid=10

[WiseBuddha]

I am about this far { } from going out and buying a PHP book (as PHP works more reliably on my server), after alot of thought this is what I actually need to create :

1) A (or various PHP scripts) that reads from a catagorized database of URLs and randomly selects one of the URLs based on user catagory preferences that are stored in a cookie.

2)I also need an online (password protected) admin function that will allow me to add/remove/amend URLs and Categories, and brief descriptions of each URL.

And finally (if this wasnt enough for a PHP newbie!!)

3) I also need another script that can read the URL database and output to a catagorized page(s), i.e. so the user can goto a catagory page and see all the urls in it and the brief description.

All of the above is ideal world, would really like to have, but may not have the technical nohow for a long time, that is all except 1 as without that the project dies. So on a scale of 1 to 10 (10 being climbing mount everest with no oxygen) how difficult is this going to be for a TOTAL newbie

As daddy once said "run before you can walk that way you will learn to walk without realising it"

BTW Hosting is not a problem (to long winded to explain) but not a problem.

Thanks again
Wise

[goober]

Wise,

Hold on a second! Take it one thing at a time. E-Mail me, i'd be happy to show you (step by step, one thing at a time), how to set up an admin section, password protection, and database entry/updating/deleting, not to mention connections, etc. Just e-mail me and we'll chat. (E-Mail: Sean@interfall.com)

Hope this helped the smallest bit!!