This software is a FREEWARE product. This is a basic messaging and message management software that allows you to post 4 messages on your Website. For more features, such as Web graphics (GIF and JPEG) Support, 3D frame, full color and size control, up to 22 messages and Header/Sub-Header proportions adjustment, you may purchase one of our commercial products (M-C-M Simpson, M-C-M Simpson Plus, or M-C-M Simpleton). To purchase, visit: http://www.mcmtech.com/wheretobuy.html
THIS IS A ONE TIME ONLY PROCESS.
ONCE YOU'VE FOLLOWED THESE STEPS AND INSTALLED YOUR NEW SIMPLE HEADLINE
SOFTWARE, YOU WILL BE ABLE TO USE AND UPDATE YOUR HEADLINES ANYTIME YOU
WISH USING A SIMPLE FORM.
1. You will receive your M-C-M Lite software as a zip (condensed) file called: snglt.zip (for Wintel/Unix/NC) or snglt.hqx (for Mac).
4. At this time you should decide how you want to update your messages. Lite has two update modes:
Using the second [CGI] mode, messages are updated live using the simple CGI form that comes with the software (click here to see what the form looks like). To use this method, continue with the installation process as follows:
"CGI" INSTALLATION SECTION:
5. Open the upltrd.html file from the source. You will see several Form tags similar to the example below:
<FORM Method="POST"
Action="http://www.your_domain.com/cgi-bin/upltrd.pl">
<INPUT TYPE=HIDDEN
NAME="PathToInFile" VALUE="../wherever_up_files_are/">
<INPUT TYPE=HIDDEN
NAME="UrlToCgiDir" VALUE="http://www.your_domain.com/cgi-bin/">
Change the "path" in each form tag to correspond to the path for your mcm directory on your Website.
TIP: For example, in the form tag example below: Lite is to be placed on the URL http://www.chicago.com, the "upltin.mcm" file is located in a directory called "/Joe/", and the cgi-bin directory on the site is called "/cgi-bin/".
<FORM Method="POST" Action="http://www.chicago.com/cgi-bin/upltrd.pl">
<INPUT TYPE=HIDDEN NAME="PathToInFile" VALUE="../Joe/">
<INPUT TYPE=HIDDEN NAME="UrlToCgiDir" VALUE="http://www.chicago.com/cgi-bin/">
TIP: The path will be different if your perl scripts are located in a directory with a name other than "cgi-bin." Your Webmaster should be able to tell you if this is the case.
TIP: The value for
"PathToInFile" indicates the directory where you have placed your "in" file
(i.e. upltin.mcm). This path is also called either the "absolute path" or the
"relative path" to a particular directory. The absolute path indicates the
entire URL address for that directory. The relative path indicates only the
directory name, as in the "../Joe/" example above. You can use either path.
Your webmaster should be able to tell you what this path is, (i.e. where the "in" file is located) as s/he sets these parameters.
c. Upload uplt.class, upltitm.class, upltin.mcm, upltrd.html, and upkey.mcm (five files in all) to the mcm directory on your Webserver.
d. Ask your Webmaster to change upltin.mcm to permission "777" (it should take two minutes). (If the server is WindowsNT, change to "Everyone | Special Access (RWX)").
With "Cute FTP" software (version 1.6 and up) you should do the following:
7. Go to the /upltrd.html file on your site and update your messages!
TIP: We recommend
that you rename this file later for security reasons. You may also password-access
this file for further security. Please note that we have added a Meta line
in the document source which blocks search engine robots from listing this
file.
8. Customize your Lite Tag's appearance and functions.
1)"M-C-M Tag Wizard": Customize the tag using the new "M-C-M Tag Wizard" on SNG's Website. The Wizard will ask you a series of questions and generate a tag with the parameters updated for you. Using this option greatly simplifies tag customization. (Click HERE to visit the Wizard).
2) If you prefer, you may customize the tag directly in the URL document source on your browser. If you choose to customize Lite in the document source, follow the guidelines in A - J below, according to the following sample Lite Tag:
<APPLET codebase="http://www.chicago.com/h/s/88/7/mcm/5/Lite/"
code="uplt.class"
width=620 height=20 align=center >
<PARAM name="CyclesTillRead" value="1">
<PARAM name="MessageDelay" value="4">
<PARAM name="FrameWidth" value="7">
<PARAM name="FrameColor" value="red">
<PARAM name="HGlobalBGColor" value="red">
<PARAM name="HGlobalFGColor" value="white">
<PARAM name="SGlobalBGColor" value="white">
<PARAM name="SGlobalFGColor" value="red">
<PARAM name="InputFileType" value="mcm">
</applet>
A) "<APPLET code=uplt.class width=620 height=20>" allows you to choose the width and height of the tag. When you look at your customized tag later, you will notice that the text you have entered will be automatically adjusted to fit these new tag dimensions.
B) "<PARAM name="CyclesTillRead" value="1">" allows you to choose how often you want the software to contact your server to check for updates/changes to your headlines. If you type in "1", the software will contact your server and re-download your headlines after one cycle, that is, each time Lite runs through all of the headlines you have entered. Fill in a number. NOTE: Choosing "1" would be a good option if you plan to change your headlines very frequently (i.e. every couple of minutes). If you plan to change your headlines only once a day or so, choose a higher number, such as 5, 100, or 1,000. This way the software will re-download Lite only after the headlines have run through 5, 100, or 1,000 cycles. Choosing a higher number will cut down in the number of bytes the software downloads from your server. The best way to decide on the number of cycles that is best for you is to experiment with different cycle numbers and check the number of bytes downloaded per day with your Web master. This way you can find a number that fits your needs and your traffic capacities. In any case, visitors to your Webpage will get the updated messages in real-time. The default value for this line is 1.
C) "<PARAM name="MessageDelay" value="4">" allows you to control the number of seconds each message appears on your rotating Lite tag. "4" equals four seconds. Change this value as you like. The default value is 5.
D) "<PARAM name="FrameWidth" value="7">" allows you to determine the size of the colored frame around Lite. The default value is 1.
E) "<PARAM name="FrameColor" value="red">" allows you to choose a color for the frame around Lite (colors include red, blue, green, yellow, pink, white, black, orange, cyan, magenta, gray, light gray, dark grey). The default color is black.
F) "<PARAM name="HGlobalBGColor" value="white">" allows you to change the Header background color for your tag. The default color is red. Choose a color from the list in "E" above.
G) "<PARAM name="HGlobalFGColor" value="white">" allows you to change the Header foreground (or text) color for your tag. The default color is white. Choose a color from the list in "E" above.
H) "<PARAM name="SGlobalBGColor" value="white">" allows you to change the SubHeader background color for your tag. The default color is white. Choose a color from the list in "E" above.
I) "<PARAM name="SGlobalFGColor" value="red">" allows you to change the Header foreground (or text) color for your tag. The default color is red. Choose a color from the list in "E" above.
J) "<PARAM name="InputFileType" value="mcm">" indicates that you have chosen to update messages using the cgi form. Do not change this value.
TIP: You do not need to include all of the parameters in your tag if you do not intend to use all of them.
9. Once you've customized your Lite
Tag and placed it on the URL where you want Lite to appear, upload/ftp the updated
URL to its proper place on your Web site.
B) The same "tagishere.html" file is also located on SNG's Web site at http://www.mcmtech.com/download/lite/tagishere.html.
10. In the Lite Tag, update the path to where the "up" files are stored (your mcm directory). Type the correct path after where it says: "<APPLET codebase=". For example: APPLET codebase="http://www.chicago.com/h/s/88/7/mcm/5/Lite/"code="uplt.class"
TIP: There are three
ways to write the codebase. The first way just lists the file name ("<APPLET
code=uplt.class width=620 height=20>").
In order for this format to function, the tag must be located on the same
directory (mcm) as your "up" files. The second way to write the codebase
includes the entire path to your "up" files (<APPLET
codebase="/h/s/88/7/mcm/5/Lite/"code="uplt.class" width=620 height=20 align=center>).
The third way is to write the entire URL path, such as: <APPLET
codebase="http://www.chicago.com/h/s/88/7/mcm/5/Lite/" code="uplt.class" width=620
height=20 align=center>.
All three ways are fine - choose whichever one suits you best...
11. Upload/ftp the updated
URL to its proper place on your Web site. To change/update your messages
in the future, plug into the Internet using your favorite browser and go
to /upltrd.html (or to the
alternative file name you have chosen for this file). Update messages
using the simple form.
If you prefer to update
messages each time via FTP to your server, continue the installation process
as follows:
1. Copy and paste the Lite
Tag onto the Web-page/URL where you want Lite to appear.
B) The same "tagishere.html" file is also located on SNG's Web site at http://www.mcmtech.com/download/lite/tagishere.html. TIP: You can make as many copies of the tag as you want and place it wherever you want on your site (but remember, unless you've purchased a Multiple License version, once you activate the header, the same messages will appear in all of these places). 2. Customize your Lite Tag's appearance and functions.
1)"M-C-M Tag Wizard": Customize the tag using the new "M-C-M Tag Wizard" on SNG's Website. The Wizard will ask you a series of questions and generate a tag with the parameters updated for you. Using this option greatly simplifies tag customization. (Click HERE to visit the Wizard). 2) If you prefer, you may customize the tag directly in the URL document source on your browser. If you choose to customize Lite in the document source, follow the guidelines in A - I below, according to the following sample Lite Tag: width=600 height=20 align=center > <PARAM name="CyclesTillRead" value="1"> <PARAM name="MessageDelay" value="4"> <PARAM name="FrameWidth" value="5"> <PARAM name="FrameColor" value="red"> <PARAM name="HGlobalBGColor" value="red"> <PARAM name="HGlobalFGColor" value="white"> <PARAM name="SGlobalBGColor" value="white"> <PARAM name="SGlobalFGColor" value="red"> <PARAM name="InputFileType" value="txt"> </applet> A) Important:
In order to update messages in the FTP mode, you must include the following
line in the tag: B) "<APPLET code=uplt.class width=620 height=20>" allows you to choose the width and height of the tag. When you look at your customized tag later, you will notice that the text you have entered will be automatically adjusted to fit these new tag dimensions. C) "<PARAM
name="CyclesTillRead" value="1">"
allows you to choose how often you want the software to contact your server
to check for updates/changes to your headlines. If you type in "1",
the software will contact your server and re-download your headlines after
one cycle, that is, each time your header runs through all of the headlines
you have entered. Fill in a number. The default value for this line is 1.
D) "<PARAM name="MessageDelay" value="4">" allows you to control the number of seconds each message appears on your rotating header. "4" equals four seconds. Change this value as you like. The default value is 5. E) "<PARAM name="FrameWidth" value="3">" allows you to determine the size of the colored frame around the header. The default value is 1. F) "<PARAM name="FrameColor" value="blue">" allows you to choose a color for the frame around the header (colors include red, blue, green, yellow, pink, white, black, orange, cyan, magenta, gray, light gray, dark grey). The default color is black. G) "<PARAM name="HGlobalFGColor" value="white">" allows you to change the Header foreground (or text) color for your tag. The default color is white. Choose a color. H) "<PARAM name="SGlobalBGColor" value="white">" allows you to change the SubHeader background color for your tag. The default color is white. Choose a color I) "<PARAM name="SGlobalFGColor" value="red">" allows you to change the Header foreground (or text) color for your tag. The default color is red. Choose a color. TIP: You do not need to include all of the parameters in your tag if you do not intend to use some of them. 3. Open upltin.txt and type your headers in this text file. Just follow the format of the sample given... TIP: Don't forget to save the file after you update it. TIP: Your file may look like the following example: ---------------------------------
a) Before you begin updating the file, we recommend that you make a copy of it and save it somewhere on your hard drive. This way you can retrieve the original file if you make a mistake and alter the file while updating. b) Type your Header and SubHeader texts and URL links in the proper places. Be sure not to delete any of the "code" around the texts or to change the order of the format. c) The above example shows 2 messages. You can create up to 4 messages - just copy and paste.... (The commercial version of this product allows you to create up to 22 messages). d) Instead of linking messages to URLs, try linking them to e-mail addresses! Instead of typing URL=http:// for a URL, type URL=mailto: (for example: URL=mailto:support@sngchicago.com). When people click on the headline, they will be able to send you e-mail (as opposed to jumping to another URL). Using this FTP Update mode, you just need to come back to the upltin.txt file anytime you wish to update your messages, make your changes and ftp the file to your server! TIP: If you want to view your updated messages before you upload the Web-page to the WWW, just open the file upltrd.html to see your updated Tag. If you like the way the tag looks, just copy and paste it to the Web-page/s where you want your headlines to appear and then ftp the page! |
For tech. support assistance,
please visit: http://www.mcmtech.com/support.html