ASP Development

Links Page

Click on the image for a selection of sample screens.

Introduction

Rather than having a traditional links page which is held within an HTML file it can be quite useful to have a more automated links page. With this code it is possible for any of thw web site administrators to remotely update the links page via a normal web browser and without having to deal with FTP uploads. Another great advantage of this code is that is that owners of sites which would want to have with your site can make their own copy and, having done that, they have no excuse to forget to make a reciprocal link.

This code ensures that nothing gets submitted without approval. So, the administrators, having first being warned via e-mail, can update the site by inspecting the new proposed sites via hidden administrator pages. Within these administrator pages the links can be edited, rechecked and, perhaps, suspended if required. All this is done by server-side ASP scripts.

One of the features of this code is that the owner of a site who wishes to have a link can select which of the current categories the site is to go into. If the category doesn't exist then he can request that a new category is to be created. Whenever someone proposes a site or a section a mail is sent to the administrators and also to the proposer. Whatever the decision by the administrators (they just click on either 'Accept' or 'Decline') the proposer receives a mail back informing the proposer.

Server Requirements

The web server must be running Microsoft's IIS server.

Client Requirements

Because all of the work is done on the server where the database exists and where the pages are constructed then any main stream browser which can handle HTML can be used. The scripts have been designed so that the client browser needs no special plug-ins or ability to need anything other than a basic ability to read tables which has been part of the HTML specification for years.

Database

With this package an Access database is distributed. For larger companies the code can be run against other databases as long as an ADO connection can be made to it. So a database such as SQL Server could be used to hold the links if required. In this case all that would be required is that the tables within the Access database be imported into the server database and the connection string (which is held in one of the .asp files) be modified.

Layout Customisation

All of the trimmings seen in the examples are held in server-side include files. This means that to edit the main title of the discussion page, the menu bar, the styles, etc., then edits would have to be made in just one of the each of the included files.

Installation

These scripts have been designed so that they can be installed and off and running in minutes. The default location of these scripts is to be one level down from the root folder of the site. If they are elsewhere then the file containing the connection string just needs to be modified.

We recommend that the database, if it is to be hosted on a web site, to be placed in a directory parallel to the www root folder. This is the ideal location for the database as it won't be able to be accessed directly from a client's machine but the code, which runs on the server, can access it easily. Full instructions will be given when the product is shipped. But, basically, all that is entailed is another folder to be created on the server with Read/Write privileges for the server.

Example Sites

An example can be seen at www.ukhorseracing.co.uk.

Cost

The cost of this code is £50 or 70 USD. Contact Malcolm Smith for more information.