How to make navigation buttons appear on all pages?

Talal Itani wrote:
> I am designing a web site and would like to know how to make my navigation
> buttons appear on every page of the site. Currently, I select the buttons
> and I paste them on every single page, but this is getting annoying, since I
> always have do changes to the buttons. I am using Web Page Maker V2. Thank
> you very much.

If I understood, you need same buttons on every page.
That is easiest to do with SSI.

On every page where buttons should appear put include file. For example:

<!--#include file="buttons.txt" -->

Then, make a ordinary text file named buttons.txt, save it in the same
directory as web pages and in that text file write a peace of code you
would like to be on the pages. For example:

<ul>
<li><a href="index.asp">- Home Page </a></li>
<li><a href="search.asp">- Search Pages </a></li>
<li><a href="contact.asp">- Contact me </a></li>
<li><a href="links.asp">- Links </a></li>
</ul>

Every time page is loaded, server will change line:
<!--#include file="buttons.txt" --> with code in buttons.txt
When you need to add, or change some buttons, just change code in
buttons.txt, and this change will appear on every page.

Of course, your server needs to support SSI, but I think most servers do.
 >> Stay informed about: How to make navigation buttons appear on all pages? 

Alfred Molon wrote:

> Don't you have to use the ending *.shtml for that?

No -- you can configure your server to perform SSI on any files you like
-- you can differentiate by file name if you like, or by some other method
(XBitHack is popular).

--
Toby A Inkster BSc (Hons) ARCS
Contact Me ~ http://tobyinkster.co.uk/contact
Geek of ~ HTML/CSS/Javascript/SQL/Perl/PHP/Python*/Apache/Linux

* = I'm getting there!
 >> Stay informed about: How to make navigation buttons appear on all pages? 

In article <eq7fbo$ass$1@ss408.t-com.hr>, Shija says...
> Talal Itani wrote:
> > I am designing a web site and would like to know how to make my navigation
> > buttons appear on every page of the site. Currently, I select the buttons
> > and I paste them on every single page, but this is getting annoying, since I
> > always have do changes to the buttons. I am using Web Page Maker V2. Thank
> > you very much.
>
> If I understood, you need same buttons on every page.
> That is easiest to do with SSI.
>
> On every page where buttons should appear put include file. For example:
>
> <!--#include file="buttons.txt" -->
>
> Then, make a ordinary text file named buttons.txt, save it in the same
> directory as web pages and in that text file write a peace of code you
> would like to be on the pages. For example:
>
> <ul>
> <li><a href="index.asp">- Home Page </a></li>
> <li><a href="search.asp">- Search Pages </a></li>
> <li><a href="contact.asp">- Contact me </a></li>
> <li><a href="links.asp">- Links </a></li>
> </ul>
>
> Every time page is loaded, server will change line:
> <!--#include file="buttons.txt" --> with code in buttons.txt
> When you need to add, or change some buttons, just change code in
> buttons.txt, and this change will appear on every page.
>
> Of course, your server needs to support SSI, but I think most servers do.

Don't you have to use the ending *.shtml for that?
--

Alfred Molon
http://www.molon.de - Photos of Asia, Africa and Europe
 >> Stay informed about: How to make navigation buttons appear on all pages? 

On Mon, 5 Feb 2007 19:58:44 +0100, Alfred Molon wrote:

> In article <eq7fbo$ass$1@ss408.t-com.hr>, Shija says...
>> Talal Itani wrote:
>>> I am designing a web site and would like to know how to make my navigation
>>> buttons appear on every page of the site. Currently, I select the buttons
>>> and I paste them on every single page, but this is getting annoying, since I
>>> always have do changes to the buttons. I am using Web Page Maker V2. Thank
>>> you very much.
>>
>> If I understood, you need same buttons on every page.
>> That is easiest to do with SSI.
>>
>> On every page where buttons should appear put include file. For example:
>>
>> <!--#include file="buttons.txt" -->
>>
>> Then, make a ordinary text file named buttons.txt, save it in the same
>> directory as web pages and in that text file write a peace of code you
>> would like to be on the pages. For example:
>>
>> <ul>
>> <li><a href="index.asp">- Home Page </a></li>
>> <li><a href="search.asp">- Search Pages </a></li>
>> <li><a href="contact.asp">- Contact me </a></li>
>> <li><a href="links.asp">- Links </a></li>
>> </ul>
>>
>> Every time page is loaded, server will change line:
>> <!--#include file="buttons.txt" --> with code in buttons.txt
>> When you need to add, or change some buttons, just change code in
>> buttons.txt, and this change will appear on every page.
>>
>> Of course, your server needs to support SSI, but I think most servers do.
>
> Don't you have to use the ending *.shtml for that?

add to your .htaccess and you can do what you want for includes.

AddType text/html .shtml .shtm .htm .html
AddHandler server-parsed .shtml .shtm .htm .html
AddType text/html .mobi

the last i add to fuk em up a little.
--
Secretary of Altered States
Governement of the Mens Room
 >> Stay informed about: How to make navigation buttons appear on all pages? 

In article <5CGxh.2512$6P4.2044@trnddc06>,
"Talal Itani" <titani DeleteThis @verizon.net> wrote:

> I am designing a web site and would like to know how to make my navigation
> buttons appear on every page of the site. Currently, I select the buttons
> and I paste them on every single page, but this is getting annoying, since I
> always have do changes to the buttons. I am using Web Page Maker V2. Thank
> you very much.
>
> Regards,
> T.I.


I notice you have been given the best advice already. But I am
curious because I managed for literally years using Search and
Replace functions (over multiple pages), whole sites being decked
out with changes in a few secs. True, it was longer uploading the
changes to a web server - but not all that long for html files...
I mention this because it annoys me that you might actually take
the good advice and not go through the Luddite stage I went
through. It seems slightly unfair. Like an undeserved leg up.
What have you done to deserve it? I slaved away for years. Please
pause and consider the low tech solution I am alluding to.

--
dorayme
 >> Stay informed about: How to make navigation buttons appear on all pages? 

On Tue, 06 Feb 2007 13:24:20 GMT, Talal Itani wrote:

> Thanks for the very many suggestions. I think I will stick with what I have
> been doing. Which is, copy the buttons to the clipboard, then visit the 10
> or so pages, one at a time, and past the buttons. That is the current limit
> of my knowledge. Thanks to all the group members who participated.


rofl



--
Secretary of Altered States
Governement of the Mens Room
 >> Stay informed about: How to make navigation buttons appear on all pages? 

On Feb 6, 8:24 am, "Talal Itani" <tit....RemoveThis@verizon.net> wrote:
> Thanks for the very many suggestions. I think I will stick with what I have
> been doing. Which is, copy the buttons to the clipboard, then visit the 10
> or so pages, one at a time, and past the buttons. That is the current limit
> of my knowledge. Thanks to all the group members who participated.


If you're going to stick with that method, you might as well make it
easy on yourself if your editor doesn't allow you to replace multiple
lines over multiple files:

http://www.orbit.org/replace/

It's a low tech solution, but it's a great program for just your kind
of situation.


>
> >>> I am designing a web site and would like to know how to make my
> >>> navigation buttons appear on every page of the site. Currently, I
> >>> select the buttons and I paste them on every single page, but this is
> >>> getting annoying, since I always have do changes to the buttons. I
> >>> am using Web Page Maker V2. Thank you very much.
>
> >>> Regards,
> >>> T.I.
>
> >> I notice you have been given the best advice already. It seems
> >> slightly unfair. Like an undeserved leg up.
> >> What have you done to deserve it? I slaved away for years. Please
> >> pause and consider the low tech solution I am alluding to.
>
> > Take heart! There's always the possibility that SSI is not available to
> > the OP. BTW, I did the same thing for a long, long time.
>
> > --
> > Adrienne Boswell at Home
> > Arbpen Web Site Design Services
> >http://www.cavalcade-of-coding.info
> > Please respond to the group so others can share
 >> Stay informed about: How to make navigation buttons appear on all pages? 

Thanks for the very many suggestions. I think I will stick with what I have
been doing. Which is, copy the buttons to the clipboard, then visit the 10
or so pages, one at a time, and past the buttons. That is the current limit
of my knowledge. Thanks to all the group members who participated.



>>> I am designing a web site and would like to know how to make my
>>> navigation buttons appear on every page of the site. Currently, I
>>> select the buttons and I paste them on every single page, but this is
>>> getting annoying, since I always have do changes to the buttons. I
>>> am using Web Page Maker V2. Thank you very much.
>>>
>>> Regards,
>>> T.I.
>>
>>
>> I notice you have been given the best advice already. It seems
>> slightly unfair. Like an undeserved leg up.
>> What have you done to deserve it? I slaved away for years. Please
>> pause and consider the low tech solution I am alluding to.
>>
>
> Take heart! There's always the possibility that SSI is not available to
> the OP. BTW, I did the same thing for a long, long time.
>
> --
> Adrienne Boswell at Home
> Arbpen Web Site Design Services
> http://www.cavalcade-of-coding.info
> Please respond to the group so others can share
>
 >> Stay informed about: How to make navigation buttons appear on all pages? 

"Talal Itani" <titani DeleteThis @verizon.net> wrote in message
news:5CGxh.2512$6P4.2044@trnddc06...
>
> I am designing a web site and would like to know how to make my navigation
> buttons appear on every page of the site. Currently, I select the buttons
> and I paste them on every single page, but this is getting annoying, since
> I always have do changes to the buttons. I am using Web Page Maker V2.
> Thank you very much.
>
> Regards,
> T.I.
-----
I too went through the "cut-and-paste" phase, and quickly went into a
"JavaScript" phase before actually figuring out how to do SSI. There are
plenty of JS examples on the web, but I'll see if I can quickly describe the
way I did it. (I know it might not be the best, but it worked for me for
years, and I still currently have sites out there using it.)

1) create a text file containing the HTML of your buttons.
(Whether your HTML uses a table, simple text buttons, or list, it doesn't
matter.)
2) At the top of the file, put a line "<!-- Begin" (no outer quotes... The
comment tag ("<!--" hides the file from non-scripting browsers, and "Begin"
is just for you, I believe)
3) At the beginning of each line, put "document.write('" (no outer quotes)
4) At the end of each line, put "');" (again, no outer quotes)
5) At the end of the file, put "// End -->" (no outer ... get the idea? I
think all that's really needed is the close comment "-->")
6) Save the file with the extension ".js" (I suggest putting it in your root
directory (www.xxx.com))

NOTE: If there are any apostrophes within the button HTML, there's another
step (creating variables and adding them into the lines) which isn't that
difficult, but, hopefully, you have cleaner button HTML than I did.

And you should also "escape" any close-tag slashes (e.g.: instead of "</p>"
use "<\/p">) as it seems some browsers will take the first non-escaped "/"
they run across as an end-tag for the JavaScript.


Now, in each HTML file, where you wish for the navigation to go, put the
following:

<SCRIPT LANGUAGE="JavaScript" src="navigationfilename.js"
type="text/javascript"></script>

This line, also, should probably be "hidden" from non-scripting browsers, by
commenting it out "<!--" line "-->", though I have pages that work and it's
not.


Any CSS formatting in this file will translate, as in this case,
document.write is done when loading the page. (The HTML between the
apostrophes is written to your main-page HTML)

Now, when you need to add buttons, all you have to edit is the .js file,
cut-and-paste a copy of one of them where you wish the new one to go, and
make your changes to the pasted text.

Be aware that in non-scripting browsers or those with it turned off, the
navigation will not be available. This is one of the reasons you see those
text links in a "linkbar" or simply added at the bottom of pages. (With at
least one link to ... say ... the Sitemap page, where links to every page
are organized...)

All I know is this method worked/works for me.

Ok... I think I'm ready ... All you "experts" - Tell me if (I'm sure some of
you guys simply assume "what") I did or described wrong, or provide further
descriptions.

BigDaddyBS
 >> Stay informed about: How to make navigation buttons appear on all pages? 

On 6 Feb, 19:34, "Talal Itani" <tit... RemoveThis @verizon.net> wrote:
> Why did I come here?

Because you were evidently too lazy or clueless to search the google
groups archive first for what is _the_most_ frequently asked question
in this newsgroup.
 >> Stay informed about: How to make navigation buttons appear on all pages? 

BigDaddyBS wrote:

> I too went through the "cut-and-paste" phase, and quickly went into a
> "JavaScript" phase before actually figuring out how to do SSI. There are
> plenty of JS examples on the web, but I'll see if I can quickly describe the
> way I did it. (I know it might not be the best, but it worked for me for
> years, and I still currently have sites out there using it.)
>
<snip code>

Although JavaScript is very seductive for this application it is a *very
bad* idea for many reasons. First and foremost if the use has JavaScript
disabled your site cannot be navigated! (It is like giving someone a
book sealed in a glass box, you can read the first page but cannot turn
the page to read the book!) Secondly, search engines to not execute
JavaScript so the search engine will not 'see' your links either and
will not traverse you site and will not rank it well, interconnection
with relevant data help in page ranking. Thirdly, since JavaScript would
be interjecting the markup at 'runtime' it is easy to make markup errors
and difficult to debug. Web Developers Bar with "Generated Source" helps
but mistakes are hard to find...

--
Take care,

Jonathan
-------------------
LITTLE WORKS STUDIO
http://www.LittleWorksStudio.com
 >> Stay informed about: How to make navigation buttons appear on all pages? 

BigDaddyBS wrote:
> NOTE: If there are any apostrophes within the button HTML, there's another
> step (creating variables and adding them into the lines) which isn't that
> difficult, but, hopefully, you have cleaner button HTML than I did.

The apostrophes can also be dealt with with a backslash, e.g.:

"can't" becomes

"can\'t"

I use the technique you describe on my site's menus. Yeah, I understand
the issues surrounding javascript being turned off on the client side.
But, using server-side solutions is not an option. For instance, I get
175 Mb of hosting space included in my basic ISP's plan (Comcast). They
don't provide any server-side solutions (PHP etc.) and it really doesn't
make any sense for me to toss that freebie away and pay for hosting when
my site(s) are simply a hobby and not a business. YMMV.

--
Ed Mullen
http://edmullen.net
http://mozilla.edmullen.net
http://abington.edmullen.net
Erotic is using a feather. Kinky is using the whole chicken.
 >> Stay informed about: How to make navigation buttons appear on all pages? 

On Mon, 05 Feb 2007 13:49:53 +0000, Talal Itani wrote:

>
> I am designing a web site and would like to know how to make my navigation
> buttons appear on every page of the site. Currently, I select the buttons
> and I paste them on every single page, but this is getting annoying, since I
> always have do changes to the buttons. I am using Web Page Maker V2. Thank
> you very much.

Can we say, "Preprocessor."
http://www.htmlhelp.com/links/preprocessors.html

Or, can we say, "Generate server side.
Learn a bit of Perl or PHP?

Forget Web Page Maker V2, or V. any_damn_number.
Learn some (X)HTML.
 >> Stay informed about: How to make navigation buttons appear on all pages?