Each of CoolStrip's parameters is explained below, with reference to the clickable example code in the left frame: you can click a parameter from the example code to jump to its explanation, or simply read this page from top to toe. As you read, click the red references to other parameters to jump to them.
Most of CoolStrip's parameters have a default setting which is mentioned below. If the default setting is the option you'd like to use in your own implementation, you can leave that parameter out of your HTML code.
Applet Width & Height
Because CoolStrip is intended for us in a left or right permanent frame, you'll usually want the applet to be as narrow (and perhaps as short) as possible. To determine the best minimum applet dimensions and setting for the ImageHeight parameter, you can use Testmode.
Width should be sufficient to display your longest Entry&, of course. If you opt to display images, make sure that the width is also sufficient to display the widest of them. Similarly if you opt to use the arrow the width must be sufficient to display it. All the menu elements are horizontally centered within the applet-width automatically.
Height must obviously be sufficient to let you see your last menu entry. If you use images, use the ImageHeight parameter to create a space above the menu that's tall enough to display your largest image. The height of the Strip and Line will adjust themselves automatically.
Quick Tip: When setting up the applet dimensions, it's far easier if you use the BgColor parameter to temporarily set the applet background to a color that stands out from your page background. When you've set the dimensions and position to your liking, return the BgColor setting to the color you wanted.
BgColor
Hex triplet for the applet's background color. This will fill the entire applet area. The default color is FFFFFF (white).
BgImage
The name (and relative or absolute location, if necessary) of an optional GIF or JPEG image to use as the background for the applet. This image will be automatically scaled to match the dimensions of the applet area. Note that this might distort the image beyond all recognition - you might prefer to design the background image to match your applet dimensions so that no scaling is necessary.
StripColor
CoolStrip can optionally place a vertical strip of color behind your menu entries. This will be sized to the correct height and width for the number of entries you're using and their length. The default color is 80FF80 (a kind of pale green). If you prefer not to use this strip, just set it to match your BgColor. This will always cause the Strip to disappear, even if you've opted to use a BgImage and your BgColor is thus not visible.
LineColor
A narrow vertical line than can optionally be placed beside the menu entries. It will appear either to their left or their right, accoding to your choice of Location. The default color for the line is 008000 (mid-green). If you prefer not to use the line, just set this parameter to match your BgColor. This will always cause the Line to disappear, even if you've opted to use a BgImage and your BgColor is thus not visible.
TextColor
The color of the menu entry text when unfocussed (the mouse isn't over it). The default is 000000 (black).
TextFocusColor
The color of a menu entry when focussed (the mouse is over it). The default is 0000FF (blue). Because CoolStrip has so many reactivity options, you may prefer not to have the text highlight when focussed. If so, just set this to match your TextColor.
TextPressedColor
The color of a menu entry when clicked. The default is FF0000 (red).
UseSelectors
CoolStrip can optionally display a 'selector bar' over the focussed menu entry, similar to Windows® menus. This parameter takes a simple yes or no (not case-sensitive) as its value to switch selector bars on or off. The default value is yes ('on'). When set to 'yes', the parameter below takes effect.
SelectorColor
If UseSelectors is set to yes (its default), this parameter takes effect, setting the color for the selector bars. The default color is 000000 (black). (Note that if your SelectorColor and your TextFocusColor are similar, your entries may become unreadable when focussed!)
UseArrows
CoolStrip can optionally display a vertically-scrolling arrow symbol to one side of the menu entries that follows the mouse movement. This arrow also reacts to a mouse-click by temporarily changing color. This parameter again takes a yes or no value (not case-sensitive) to switch the arrow on or off respectively. The default is yes. With this parameter switched on, the two parameters below become active.
ArrowColor
If UseArrows is set to yes, this parameter lets you choose the color of the scrolling arrow. The default is 0000FF (blue).
ArrowPressedColor
If UseArrows is set to yes, this parameter sets the color of the arrow when a menu entry is clicked (in a similar way to the TextPressedColor parameter). By default, this parameter will set itself to match the color you assigned to the TextPressedColor parameter, so you need only include this one if you want the arrow to react by using a different color from the text.
Location
This parameter takes non-case-sensitive values of either left or right, with left being the default. When set to left, the line and arrow will be placed at the right of the text entries, giving a more balanced layout for display in a left-hand frame. Set this parameter to right for the opposite layout.
Align
Sets the alignment of the text entries, with three non-case-sensitive options: left, center or right. Unless you want the entries centered, the most pleasing results are usually gained by setting this parameter to the opposite of your Location setting.
ImageHeight
CoolStrip can optionally display an image for each menu entry when that entry is focussed. These images appear at the extreme top of the aplet area and are not scaled or resized in any way. This parameter is used to create an empty space above the menu where those images will be displayed (which moves the menu itself downwards). Thus, if your largest image is 225 pixels in height, you would need to set this parameter to at least 225 (more if you'd like a little space between the bottom of the image and the top of the menu). The default setting for this parameter is 0, meaning that you can ignore it if you're not using images.
Rather than checking the height of each image to see which is the tallest, let CoolStrip do it for you! Set up your applet parameters including all your text entries and images, then run the applet in Testmode to find the minimum setting for this parameter.
EntrySpacing
Sets the vertical spacing between the menu entries. The default setting is 10. A greater value will increase the space between each entry. It's quite legitimate to set this value to 0: the entries will be very tightly spaced but will still be clearly readable and useable. Note that increasing/decreasing this value may require that you resize the applet dimensions (you can run the applet in Testmode to gauge the best minimum size).
Font
A comma-delimited string giving the name, style and size of the font you want to use for the menu entries. The default settings are Helvetica, in plain, at size 12, which would be written as Helvetica,plain,12. Two important things to note: first, there must be no spaces in this entry; second, the three items must appear in the order name,style,size. Note also that the style part of this setting can be plain, bold, italic or bolditalic, and these are not case-sensitive.
DefaultTarget
When using any menu applet you need to be able to choose different frame names for each link. This normally means that for every entry on the menu you need a URL and a Target parameter. However you'll want most of these links to open in one particular frame, meaning that almost all of those Target parameters would be identical. The DefaultTarget parameter gives you a way to leave out all those identical Target parameters. Simply enter the name of the frame or window into which most (or all) of the links should open; this frame-name will then be used by default for any link that doesn't have its own Target parameter.
This parameter's own default value is _self, so if you leave this parameter out, any URL that doesn't have a corresponding Target parameter will use _self.
Sound
Specifies whether or not you'd like the applet to play sounds in response to mouse clicks. A value of yes turns the sound option on, a value of no turns it off. Neither is case-sensitive. The default value is yes. The inclusion of this yes/no option allows you to use sounds on one instance of the applet without having to use it on all if you have several CoolStrips on a page. With this parameter set to 'yes', you'll need to specify which sounds to use, via the two following parameters.
DownSound
Specifies the path (if necessary) and name of the Sun/NeXT format (.au) audio file to be played when the mouse is clicked over a menu entry. The location of the file is treated exactly as a URL: you might enter only a filename (if the file is in the current directory), a relative location (such as ../sounds/daftsound.au) or an absolute location (such as http://www.server.com/folder/subfolder/daftsound.au). See the note about Using Sounds, below.
UpSound
Specifies the path (if necessary) and name of the audio file to be played when the mouse is released after clicking a menu entry. The same details apply to this parameter as apply to OverSound, of course. See the note about Using Sounds, below.
NOTE - Using Sounds: CoolStrip is forgiving in its sound-support. If you set the Sound parameter to 'yes', and then forget to include one or both of the parameters above (or forget to upload the audio files!), CoolStrip will continue quite happily (but silently). This means that if you choose to use sound for only one of the two actions, you can simply remove the other parameter.
Testmode
Setting up applets can be a painful process of trial and error as you try to ensure that everything is visible while minimizing the real estate you have to sacrifice on your page. That's why we include a Testmode parameter, which takes a yes or no value to switch it on or off. The default, of course, is no. After setting up your menu entries and your images (if you use them), set this parameter to 'yes' and take a look at the applet in your browser. Move the mouse inside the applet area and you'll see a line like the following in the browser statusbar:
ImageHeight: 130; Width: 142; Height: 268
Testmode has determined which of your images is tallest, how high the applet must be to display the images and all your menu entries, and how wide it should be to display your longest menu entry. Of course, in all this it takes into account whether you want to display the arrow and how your font and entry spacing are set.
Just type these values into the ImageHeight parameter and the applet's Width= and Height= attributes and refresh your browser. You should see that the applet is now just large enough to display everything without wasting too much page-space. You may wish to make changes for aesthetic reasons (such as increasing the ImageHeight value to place extra space between images and menu), but the setting-up should be simple and pain-free.
Don't forget to set Testmode back to no when everything is as you want it!
TESTMODE IS NON-FUNCTIONING IN THIS EVALUATION COPY OF COOLSTRIP.
Entry1, Entry2, . . . Entryn
The text to appear on the menu for each entry. It can be as long or as short as you like, and CoolStrip will automatically adjust the width and position of the strip, line and arrow (if these are used).
Image1, Image2, . . . Imagen
CoolStrip can optionally display an image at the top of the applet for each entry on your menu. The image is displayed when the corresponding entry is focussed or clicked. These parameters let you specify the name (and locatin if necessary) of the image to display for the corresponding entry. Locations are entered in the form of absolute or relative URLs, in the same way as the HTML attribute.
If any of your images use GIF transparency, the transparent color will be replaced by your choice of BgColor (or your BgImage if you're using one). The images are placed at the very top of the applet area, and are centered horizontally. They are not scaled, cropped or resized in any way.
There is no requirement to include any images, or to use an image for every menu entry. Note that if you use any images at all, you'll need to create a space for them by setting a value in the ImageHeight parameter. Running the applet in Testmode can help with this.
URL1, URL2, . . . URLn
The absolute or relative URL that each menu entry should link to when clicked. In fact, HotStrip can open up to four separate URLs when an entry is clicked. Therefore, along with the usual numerical addition that matches the URL parameter to its corresponding Entry number, the letters a, b, c and d are tagged onto the end. In the example parameters to the left, you can see that Entry5 links to three URLs, using the parameters URL5a, URL5b and URL5c.
There are two points to bear in mind about this. First, the URLs will be fetched one at a time (although they should appear almost simultaneous) in the abcd order. This leads to the second point: if one of those URLs will load a page over the top of the applet, the applet must stop running. Therefore, if you're trying to load 4 pages, using all four URL parameters, and your URL2b parameter is the one that loads over the applet, the URL2c and URL2d links won't work - the applet stops running before it can process the requests!
As an aid to testing colors and layouts, you can prefix your URLs with a dollar sign ($). You can then click the applet without error messages appearing or being linked elsewhere.
Target1, Target2, . . . Targetn
Allows you to specify a frame- or window-name into which each of the URL links should be opened. Once again, the number after 'Target' corresponds with an Entry number, and the a,b,c,d additions correspond with the URL parameters. If a URL parameter exists and has no corresponding Target parameter, the target used will be the DefaultTarget.
In the example code to the left, you can see that Entry5 (with its 3 URL parameters) opens the first into the frame specified in the DefaultTarget parameter because no Target5a parameter is included. The other two URLs with the 'b' and 'c' suffixes open into Target5b and Target5c respectively.
Remember that frame names are case-sensitive. If you're trying to make something open in a frame and your browser persists in opening a new window for it instead, check that the case and spelling of the name match in the Target parameter and in your HTML