Personal Portal Page ~ Instructions and Information

Freeware

Version 0.90 beta

What is it?      

The Personal Portal Page is a scripted web page (JavaScript) which allows the user to create a simple web page for offline use and stores the result using a cookie. The user can make the resulting virtual page permanent by a simple copy and paste operation.

For internet security reasons JavaScript cannot write to a file except a special type of file called a cookie. While in theory a cookie can be used to permanently store information for use by script embedded in a web page, they are browser specific and often get deleted as a result of trouble-shooting or maintenance. Therefore it is recommended to make the top frame page permanent by copying and pasting the contents of the textarea to a text editor (e.g. notepad.exe) and saving the result as the file set to open in the top frame - i.e. bottom.htm. in the folder PPP

Using only your web browser and a text editor it is possible to create complete sets of linked pages with embedded images and links to local files, internet pages and email addresses. These pages can be accessed at startup of your web browser and form your personal portal to cyberspace!

Is it free?      

Yes.

What do I need to use it?      

• A JavaScript capable and enabled web-browser with cookies turned on (these can be turned off once the editing process is complete but the page will attempt to set a cookie every time the page in the top frame is changed).
   
• Any simple text editor (notepad, simpletext, notetab, BBedit, etc - not a word-processor unless you understand why this might be a problem)
  

Does it work?      

The pages have been tested on IE4sp2, Netscape Navigator 4.08, StarOffice 5.2 and Opera 5.02, 5.1, 3.62. Hopefully by the time you are reading this I will have got Opera to use cookies. At the moment one has to copy and paste the textarea to maintain continuity. The pages don't work in the StarOffice browser.

Opera 3.62 can't do some things the V4 browsers can so it has a separate control interface which can be accessed with the O3 button.

Images to be used for links must be located in the Pages_Img folder in the PPP folder.

The close button will minimise the textarea to save on clutter but this is not supported by Netscape 4 or Opera 5 - get over it!

Can I uninstall it?      

PPP is just a set of web pages - there is no installation or uninstallation. If you want rid of it, just delete the folders you originally extracted (make sure you take out the pages you created if you want to keep them).

How do I setup the page to open as my start page?      

You can easily set up a bookmark to the page if you open it offline with File | Open [browse to file] then create a bookmark in the usual way. If you want the page to open when you first start your browser it´s a bit more complicated:

Microsoft Internet Explorer

First, open the page offline, then click on View | Internet Options. This opens your options folder and right at the top (under the General tab) it asks you for your home page address. Click on the button marked Use Current and then click on OK. You can test the page by clicking on the Home icon on the browser toolbar. It should load this new page instantly. You can now use the Home icon for quick access.
 

Netscape Navigator

In Navigator or Communicator, first open the page offline, then click on Edit | Preferences. This opens the preferences folder. Click the box that says Navigator starts with Home Page then go down to the Box that says location and click on the button marked Use Current and then click on OK. This will close the folder and now you can click on the Home button at the top of the browser and instantly load the page. You can now use the Home icon for quick access. You may also add a bookmark in the normal way.
 

Opera

Once again open the page offline with the File | Open dialogue. If you do save windows before closing the browser the page will reappear the next time you start up. Or you can set the page as Home with the Navigation | Set home page... dialogue. Then click on the Use Active button for the appropriate text box. [The window containing PPP must be on top.]
If you click for the first text box the page will open in that particular window if it still exists. A better option is to set the Global home page option which will cause the page to be opened in the topmost window (NB If the page is already open in another window Opera will still open another instance of it). Opera offers great flexibility in window management and you should experiment to find out what works for you. [PS Opera 5 is free and it´s GREAT.]

Instructions for use.      

1. Set the background colour of your page using the drop-down menu, BG. As soon as you do this the document in the upper frame will become blank in the colour you have chosen. You can change this to try different colours but if you change the colour once you have added content to the page it will turn blank again. [You can use this to start a new page without destroying the original if you eventually save it as a file with a different name].
    
2. Choose the dimensions of the table you want to insert with the drop-down selectors, Rows: and Cols:. You can use multiple tables of different sizes. New tables are added to the bottom of the page. Nested tables are possible though it is tricky to locate the target cell if you do this.
    
3. Start inserting links.
   If you want to use images for the links they must be located in the Pages_Img folder in the PPP folder and they will come out at their actual size.
   If you don't want an image with the link, check the radio button text and leave the Image: field blank. The visible text will be the text you put in the Name: box (this field is used for alt text if an image is used).
   If you want an iconified link with text put an image link in one cell then a text link in an adjacent cell.
   
   Next insert location of the linked document and specify the type of link:
   
   • If you have the browse radio button selected and use the name field you can open an internet page in a new window in order to extract specific links. Otherwise:
      
   • Use local for a local image, web page, or text file (or any other file type your browser can handle - flash, PDF, midi, etc).
     Insert full path or browse to using the browse button (...).
      
   • Use net for internet links.
     Copy and paste the link by opening the relevant page in your browser (right click on link...).
      
   • Use email to insert a link that will have your browser invoke your email client and start a message to the address in the URL: box
      
4. Choose opening window.
   new will open the linked document in a new window if you browser allows it.
   frame will open the page in the upper frame if the page allows it (embedded JavaScript can do this).
    
5. Insert link. Once you have all the boxes filled out as needed choose the Place: you want to put the link and click the insert button. If you are using Opera 5 you must click the Opera button first.
   [IMPORTANT: Make sure the Cols: and Rows: values are correct for the table you are using otherwise the location will be incorrect!!]
   Tip: If you set the Cols: value to 1 you can locate the cell by counting left to right and down, and using the result in the Row: box.
   You can change the link in a particular cell by inserting a new link there (overwrite any old text in the boxes or you may get a mess). Sending empty boxes will delete the contents of a particular cell. Empty cells may or may not show depending on which browser you are using.
   Table borders cannot be switched off in this version.
    
6. Once you have the table full you can add another table and more links if you wish.
    
7. Update cookie.
   If you reload the page any time the cookie will be updated (Net cape 4 requires you reload the lower frame with right click menu) and next time you open the page your alterations will be intact.
   However the original page in the frame has not changed and if your cookie is deleted or your browser crashes before you refresh the page you will lose the new page. To make the real opening page the one you have just created you must copy all the text in the textarea into a text editor like notepad and save the file as bottom.htm (ignore overwrite warning).
   
   WARNING: Depending on your browser configuration (cache settings) and if your browser is set to work offline (not needed for viewing local pages), the page may not refresh from the original file. In this case your cookie may not be updated. Experiment with the cookie behaviour to see if the cookie is being saved correctly between sessions before you start page building for real.
   
   If you are creating a stand-alone page or one that will be linked to the opening page you should use a different file name and delete the text in the text box before reloading or closing the page. You can then link to this page from the opening page like any other offline web page. Or simply open it directly in your browser.
   
   Once the file has been saved cookies don't matter so much. If you want edit the file again (or in a different browser) you must copy the file contents into the textarea if it has not been put there already by the cookie.
   
   If you want to edit one of the prepared templates you must change its name appropriately and copy its text into the textarea.
    

Trouble-shooting