(Get Attention Ticker for your web site)

What Exactly Are You Recommending?

By Will Bontrager

This will show you how to modify a Master Recommend Pro V4 recommend form to recommend any one of a number of individual web sites, web pages, products, services, and ideas.

Master Recommend Pro V4 is a good choice because it has highly advantages security features, two of which are anti-hijacking and automatic submission prevention, to deter spammers and crackers from taking advantage of you.

A recommend form might contain these options, as an example:

We'll take the above dropdown list as an example in these instructions:

Use the control panel to generate a recommend form. Specify a default site name and URL, which might be your site name and home page.

Copy the generated HTML form and paste it into a plain text word processor.

Where appropriate in the form, paste this dropdown list:

The first select option has no value specified. That would be the default.

The other options have a number specified as the option's value. The values don't have to be numbers; they can be any sequence of alphanumeric characters that have meaning to you.

When the dropdown list is used, a JavaScript function changes two of the recommend form's hidden fields — name="sitename" and name="siteURL" — with the web site/page/product/etc. name being recommended and it's corresponding URL.

Here is the JavaScript.

<script type="text/javascript" language="JavaScript">
<!--
function ChangeSiteAndURL() {
for(var i = 0; i < document.MasterRecommendProForm.rSelect.length; i++) {
   if(document.MasterRecommendProForm.rSelect[i].selected == false) { continue; }
   if(document.MasterRecommendProForm.rSelect[i].value == "1") { 
      document.MasterRecommendProForm.sitename.value = "The Widget";
      document.MasterRecommendProForm.siteURL.value = "http://example.com/";
      break;
      }
   if(document.MasterRecommendProForm.rSelect[i].value == "2") { 
      document.MasterRecommendProForm.sitename.value = "The Blue Widget";
      document.MasterRecommendProForm.siteURL.value = "http://example.com/bluewidget.html";
      break;
      }
   if(document.MasterRecommendProForm.rSelect[i].value == "3") { 
      document.MasterRecommendProForm.sitename.value = "How To Wash a Widget";
      document.MasterRecommendProForm.siteURL.value = "http://example.com/washing.html";
      break;
      }
   if(document.MasterRecommendProForm.rSelect[i].value == "4") { 
      document.MasterRecommendProForm.sitename.value = "\"Why Everybody Must Have a Widget\"";
      document.MasterRecommendProForm.siteURL.value = "http://example.com/article.html";
      break;
      }
   if(document.MasterRecommendProForm.rSelect[i].value == "5") { 
      document.MasterRecommendProForm.sitename.value = "The Widget Specials Page";
      document.MasterRecommendProForm.siteURL.value = "http://example.com/specials.html";
      break;
      }
   }
}
//-->
</script>

You'll notice the JavaScript has a section for the value of each item on the dropdown list. The section has a line where the name of the recommended item is specified. And it has a line where the URL of the item is specified.

Edit, add or remove those sections as needed. The JavaScript can be put above or below the form, whichever you prefer.

Now, the form will recommend what the site visitor wants to recommend, along with the correct URL to the recommended resource.

No provision needs to be made for JavaScript-disabled browsers. The security already requires JavaScript to be enabled in order to submit the form.

February 18, 2006

Please note: Articles on this website are presented "as is". However -

If you have a question about a CGI script, HTML, CSS, PHP, or JavaScript
Ask one of our Experts and you'll have your answer!
Click here for details.

Rate this blog post.
No page reload!

WillMaster > Blog > Automation

Subscribe to
the Possibilities Ezine

RSS feed links

Blog Article Categories

What Exactly Are You Recommending?

WillMaster > Blog > Automation

Subscribe tothe Possibilities Ezine

RSS feed links

Blog Article Categories

What Exactly Are You Recommending?

Subscribe to
the Possibilities Ezine