- What is RandText Pro?
- How does RandText Pro work?
- How many and what display types (content
display schedules) can RandText Pro currently support?
- What other display features does
RandText Pro have?
- Can RandText Pro accept HTML?
- What are the technical requirements
for RandText Pro?
- Can RandText Pro edit a regular text
file?
- Do I need to know Perl or CGI to
install or use RandText Pro?
- Do you have actual installation instructions
that I can view on-line?
- What happens if for technical reasons,
I am unable to install RandText Pro on my Server?
- What happens if I am dissatisfied
with RandText Pro?
What is RandText
Pro?
RandText Pro is a Perl script that allows you to manage
the display of dynamic content on your web pages. The content
can be text, html or images and can be set up to change automatically
at a schedule that you define.
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How does RandText
Pro work?
Using the Admin Center/Control Panel, you create a
content file, designate its type and create its contents. Ten
different display schedules are currently supported. This
file is then used as input to the display script in an SSI call
on your web page. Depending on the content file type, RandText
Pro will display the appropriate content from this file at the
interval defined by its file type. Content can be text, images
html (or any combination).
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Can RandText
Pro accept HTML?
Yes, you can enter html tags along with text and RandText
Pro will properly display the html. In fact, if you're using IE
5.5+ (Windows), Firefox 1.0+, Mozilla 1.3+ or Netscape 7+, you
will be able to take advantage of the built in WYSIWYG editor
that comes with RandText Pro.
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What are the
technical requirements for RandText Pro?
There are three basic requirements.
- Your hosting service must support Server Side Includes. We
use SSI to call the perl script that reads and displays the
content files that RandText Pro creates. If you aren't familiar
or comfortable with SSI commands, don't worry. RandText Pro's
SSI Wizard will tell you the exact text for the SSI statement
that will need to be included in your web page. All you'll
need to do is cut and paste the code.
- You will need Perl 5.0 or later on your server.
- You will need Javascript enabled on your browser. Some of
RandText Pro's functionality requires that Javascript be enabled
in order for it to function properly.
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Can RandText
Pro edit a regular text file?
Yes, RandText Pro will allow you to edit any file
with a .dat extension that resides in the folder with RandText
Pro. If you have a text file that you would like to edit with
RandText, just FTP it to the folder with the RandText Pro scripts
and rename it to have a .dat extension. RandText will recognize
this file as a file that is incompatible with version Pro and
will ask you if you would like to edit it in its current format,
or if you would like to convert it to a RandText Pro version Random
Text file.
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Do I need to
know Perl or CGI to install or use RandText Pro?
We have tried to make RandText Pro as easy to use
as possible. In fact, it comes with an installer that will guide
you through the installation process. The installer has been thoroughly
tested on our beta website and allowed us to set up RandText without
ever keying in any additional information. Using environmental
variables, the installer gathers information about your server
and displays its findings. Because server software varies, we
can't guarantee that our suggested settings will be correct 100%
of the time. For that reason, you are given the opportunity to
modify our suggested settings to reflect your server's requirements.
If you experience any installation difficulties, we will work
with you until these difficulties are resolved.
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Do you
have actual installation instructions that I can view on-line?
Yes we do. They can be viewed at readme.htm.
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What happens
if for technical reasons, I am unable to install RandText Pro
on my Server?
We guarantee successful installation or we will gladly
refund the entire purchase price. Also, if you'd like, we will
gladly install RandText Pro for you on your server. Unlike other
sites that charge for this service, we do it at NO
additional cost.
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What happens
if I am dissatisfied with RandText Pro?
We are so confident that RandText Pro is the best
product of its kind on the market today, that if for any reason
you are dissatisfied with RandText Pro, just tell us why within
15 days of purchase and we will gladly refund the entire purchase
price. Your complete satisfaction is guaranteed.
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What other features
does RandText Pro have?
- RandText Pro's allows you to create "Dynamic
Dropdown Menus" for displaying previous content.
Using Dynamic Dropdown Menus, visitors will be able to easily
link to previous/historical content in a controlled popup window
format. See a demo.
- RandText Pro allows you to specify a time offset (in hours)
which allows you to compensate for time zone differences between
local time and server time. If your server is located in a time
zone other than your local time zone, this feature allows you
to control the display of time sensitive data, regardless of
time zone differences. This is expecially useful when displaying
content based on "Time of Day".
- Rand Text Pro comes with a password protected Admin Center/Control
Panel. The admin center allows you to create, edit and delete
content files via your browser. Never a need to FTP files to
your server. In addition, the Admin Center can be fully customized
(colors, fonts etc.) to match your website's aesthetics.
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How many and
what display types (content display schedules) can RandText Pro
currently support?
RandText Pro can support eleven display types (or
schedules) for displaying dynamic content. By using the "time
offset" feature, each schedule can be adjusted to be in sync with
your local time zone, regardless of where your server (hosting
company) is located.
- Random - Changes with each reload -
Create a file with unlimited
content records. RandText Pro will randomly select a different
record each time a page is displayed or refreshed.
- Sequential - Changes every nth day
- Create a file of up to 365 content records.
RandText Pro will sequentially cycle/recycle through the file
and display a different record
every nth day. You define the frequency of change (nth value)
via the "days parameter" in the SSI call. Great
for things like a "quote of the day" or "tip
of the day".
- Daily (By Time of Day)
- This feature allows you to schedule the display of content
by time of day for each day of the week. Define, by day of week,
multiple time slots and the content that should be displayed
during each time slot. A time slot can be as short as one minute
or as long as 24 hours.
Originally written for a radio station that wanted its
website content to change with each new broadcast program.
Also ideal for websites with shopping carts where you'd want
to promote a one or two hour special.
- Daily (By Day of Week)
- Create a file of 7 content
records, one for each day of the week. RandText will
display the appropriate record entered for each day of
the week. At the end of a week, the cycle would start over again.
- Daily (By Day of Month)
- Create a file of 31 content records,
one for each day of the month. RandText will display the appropriate
record entered for each day of the month on that day. At the
end of a month, the cycle would start over again. During months
that have less then 31 days, the extra content records would
not be displayed.
- Daily (By Day of Year) -
The ultimate in control over predefined content. Create a file
of 365 content records, one for each day of the year. RandText
will display the appropriate record entered for each day
of the year on that day. At the end of a year, the cycle would
start over again.
- Monthly (12 Times per Year)
- Create a file of 12 content records, one for each month of
the year. RandText will display the appropriate record entered
for each month during that month only. At the end of a month,
the next month's record would be displayed.
- Weekly (52 Times per Year)
- Allows you to define 52 unique content records, one for each
week of the year. RandText will display the appropriate
record entered for each week during that week only. At the end
of a week, the next week's record would be displayed.
- Countdown-Changes Daily Till
Target Date - Set a target date and define the
content to be displayed for each day up till the target day
is reached. The content will change daily till target date is
reached. After the target date is passed, a default content
(that you define) will be displayed. If you don't define a content
record for a particular day, the default message would also
be displayed. Great for things like announcements of an event
where you count the days till "the event" will happen. Helps
build anticipation for the upcoming event.
- Create a Web Page -
This powerful feature takes advantage of the integrated
html editor (for IE 5.5+ (Windows), Firefox 1.0+, Mozilla 1.3+
or Netscape 7+ users) and allows you to create html that could
be as large as the <body> section of a full web page.
(one web page per file). The file would then be called by RandText
Pro via SSI. The html can be as large or small as you'd like.
It could be the only code between the starting and ending body
tags, or it could be a snippet that is dropped into a table
in the body of your web page. The integrated WYSIWYG html editor
will simplifies the creation of the html for the web page.
That's only ten, didn't you
say there were eleven file types?
Yes, I did. The eleventh file type is a super
powerful date display file. The admin center
allows you to create a file that, when input to the SSI call,
will result in displaying the current date. RandText Pro
supports over 20 different date format variations (including European
and International) for displaying dates. It also allows you to
substitute the English day and month names with those of ANY
other language.
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