Main Page

Contents

  • Quick Start
  • Preferences
  • Ticker Content
  • Copy 'n Paste Code
  • The Ticker Content File
  • An External Ticker Content File

Quick Start

To get started right away ...

  1. Use the "Preferences" link on the left, make any changes you prefer, and click the "Update Preferences" button.

  2. Use the "Ticker Content" link on the left, type in some content for the ticker, and click the "Update Ticker Content" button.

  3. Use the "Copy 'n Paste Code" link on the left and copy the JavaScript. Paste the JavaScript into your web page where you want the ticker to be displayed.

But, do come back later and read the rest of this page.

Ticker Preferences

Here, a number of things can be specified to alter the appearance and rhythm of your ticker messages.

One or more characters (including spaces) and/or images can be specified to appear on the left of the ticker message, just before the message. HTML code is allowed.

When specifying images, use the IMG tag usually used to publish images on a web page.

One or more characters (including spaces) and/or images can be specified to appear on the right of the ticker message as the message is ticking. Again, HTML code is allowed.

One or more characters (including spaces) and/or images can be specified to appear on the right of the ticker message when the message is complete. This will replace any characters printed at the end of the message while the message was ticking. As with the above, HTML code is allowed.

Specify the number of milliseconds to pause after typing a character of a message before typing the next character. If you specify 1000, the message ticker will pause 1 second between characters. If you specify 250, the pause will be 1/4 of a second.

Specify the number of milliseconds to pause after a message has been completely typed before beginning the next ticker message.

Ticker Content

Type your ticker messages into the text box.

Separate messages by at least one blank line.

To link a ticker message, type the link URL on the line immediately above the message to be linked.

Except for the optional link URL, provide only printable characters. No HTML code.

Copy 'n Paste Code

Two items need to be copied and pasted into your web page, HTML code and JavaScript code.

Both the HTML code and the JavaScript code are custom generated depending on your answers to 3 questions:

  1. The Ticker ID
    HTML code (which you'll later paste into the web page where the ticker will appear) will have an ID. There are only 3 rules for the ID:

    1. It must start with a letter.
    2. It must be composed only of letters and numbers.
    3. It must be unique — in other words, it must be different than any other IDs on the web page.

    Specify an ID for the ticker area.

  2. CSS Class Name (optional)
    Elsewhere on your page, or in your external CSS file, you may define a CSS class to format the the DIV within which the attention ticker will be published.

    If you've defined a CSS class name for ticker, specify the name. Otherwise, leave the field blank.

  3. Mouse Behavior
    The ticker can stop and/or stop and restart depending on mouse movement. Three choices are available:

    1. The ticker stops when the mouse moves over it and restarts when the mouse moves off the ticker.
    2. The ticker stops when the mouse moves over it and stays stopped.
    3. The ticker does not react to any mouse moves.

    Regardless which of the above preferences is selected, it has no effect on mouse clicks if the message is linked.

Copy 'n paste the HTML code

Copy the HTML code that was custom generated based on your answers above and paste it into your web page source code. Paste it at the spot where you want the ticker messages to be published.

Here is an example of what the HTML code might look like with all options specified. 

<div id="anID" 
   class="theTicker" 
   onmouseover="AT_Pause()" 
   onmouseout="AT_Resume()">
&nbsp;
</div>

Here is an example of what the HTML code might look like with no class name and no mouseover effects. 

<div id="anID">
&nbsp;
</div>

Copy 'n paste the JavaScript code

Copy the JavaScript code that was custom generated based on your answers above and paste it into your web page somewhere below the point where you pasted the HTML code. Putting the JavaScript code at the bottom of the web page source code should work just fine.

Here is an example of what the JavaScript code might look like. 

<script 
   type="text/javascript" 
   src="http://example.com/AttentionTickerInclude.php?anID">
</script>

The Ticker Content File

The ticker content file is a plain text file. This means software other than Attention Ticker can update the file.

This file may contain no HTML code.

The file is named AttentionTickerContent.txt and is located in the AttentionTickerData subdirectory.

Ticker messages may be more than one line in the file, just like a paragraph may contain more than one line.

Ticker messages are separated by at least one blank line.

Here is an example of 3 ticker messages: 

The half-price sale ends tomorrow!

Once upon a time there was a mouse without a 
house, so the mouse found another mouse with 
a house and they lived together happily ever 
after.

Now is the time to get your widget. We're not 
kidding, the sale ends in one hour.

Individual ticker messages may be linked.

To link a ticker message, make the link URL the first line of the message. The link must be the only thing on that line. The line immediately below the link is the beginning of the ticker message.

Here is an example of 3 ticker messages. The first and last messages are linked. 

http://example.com/halfpricesale.php
The half-price sale ends tomorrow!

Once upon a time there was a mouse without a 
house, so the mouse found another mouse with 
a house and they lived together happily ever 
after.

http://example.com/widgetsale.html
Now is the time to get your widget. We're not 
kidding, the sale ends in one hour.

An External Ticker Content File

The ticker content file may reside anywhere on the Internet. Just specify the URL to the content in the Attention Ticker control panel.

This means you (or someone else) can have their CMS or blogging software create a correctly formatted ticker content file. You can then direct Attention Ticker to use that file instead of the one the control panel creates.

Click the control panel's "Ticker Content" menu item and paste in the URL of the external ticker content file. The URL should be the only content in that text box.

When Attention Ticker retrieves the content and finds only a URL, it then uses that URL to find the real content.