I want a toolbar to appear on the top of every page, but I only want to have to edit the toolbar in one file to update all the other pages. It takes forever having to edit each page individually when I make a simple change to the toolbar.

I would like something like a top frame, but without using frames, I still want each page to be accessible by a unique filename (not the name of the whole frame page layout) and I still want the whole page with toolbar to scroll. Is this at all possible?

I appologise if my description is hard to follow.

Thanks

you would have to generate the toolbar dynamically and include it on every page. the application to create the toolbar would have to read in the links then display a different one for each page.

it's not hard but there are some programming skills needed. you should be able to do it with php but i'm not a scripting expert, you can definitely do it with java. you may even be able to do it with javascript but i'm not sure.

Thanks for your reply.

I am keen to learn whatever programming language will help me do this. Having to edit each page individually is really getting to me!

Would anyone know where I could get started on doing this, or perhaps any links that may have similar code already made? So Java or PHP is the go?

Cheers

chances are you'll have to go with php 'cos hosting companies don't offer java hosting (unless you pay alot of money.) you'll probably use php to include a page with the toolbar. the page with the toolbar will read in a file (or database) with the links on it for presentation.

conceptually it's not very difficult but it's the coding that'll be on the hard side. maybe someone will have a better solution.

you can use Java on just about any host- pretty much all except geocities, which I know has problems with it. all you really have to do is upload the .class file like you would any other file and include the appropriate code in your page. see the page with hover buttons for an example- that code will work on just about any host, free or paid.

java won't work on any host, i've been coding java for a very long time and it won't work. applets will work on any host but not web applications. the reason the java won't work on most hosting companies is because you'd need root access so you can bounce the servers and other stuff. the app server can be setup to not need bouncing but that would be a performance hit so it's really not practical. hosting companies don't give out root access unless it's a dedicated servers which cost at least $150 a month depending on the package.

with java you can potentially take down the server, null out the sessions, navigate the directory tree, get into someone elses shopping cart (and do what ever) and pretty much everything else an application can do.

if you want to use java you'd be using a combination of jsp and beans. your hosting company would have to run a java application server otherwise the jsp scriplets won't compile and the app server won't know where to find the .class file. it's not hard, it's actually better then using php 'cos java is an actual programming language and not scripting. there are other differences but speed would be the biggest advantage.

trust me on this one :) i've been doing java for a long time. one of my clients has the same problem, they don't want to host it themselves so we're trying to find a hosting company that will do a shared server that supports java. of course there are other criterias too but supporting java would be the first.

just trust me on this one, i might not know anything about php but java i know :)

Thanks guys.

I have a cheapish host so I assume that would mean I don't have root access. So looks like PHP is what I have to use.

I would imagine there would be plenty of commercial sites doing something similar to save editing time. I will search around to see what I can find. If someone knows how to implement this, or has some sample code, I would be greatful.

Cheers