Jan van Erp
08-19-2003, 09:21 AM
Hi, there.
Following my request, several members of the JavaScript group have contributed generously to the creation of a really useful - for me, that is... - script: one that enables me to write highly dynamic pages for my PANTACYCLOPEDIA (short: P), a book-like structure that I am busy preparing for publication on a Web page near to you. (See also thread 'A real challenge for JavaScript magicians' in the JS group)
So I decided to try another request, in order to make another dream come true. Unfortunately, this was much less successful, possibly because the thing I have in mind simply cannot be done in JavaScript.
So I thought: why deny the members of the other Web Developers groups this - think - very interesting challenge?
This is my request: for P, I would like to have a mechanism that
- keeps track of exactly which pages my reader has already read and which (s)he hasn't seen yet, and
- uses this 'reading history' to either deny or permit this particular reader access to other parts of the book.
- Of course, this 'intelligent' selector should work in every platform, if possible.
See what I mean? I want P to be 'a book with a memory' - the reader reads the book, the book reads the reader. That's about as interactive as one can get!
The reason for this wish probably is quite obvious to you: certain chapters in P are rather difficult to grasp without having some prior knowledge that is to be found in other chapters. In other words: in my ideal P, only by reading chapter A, one can earn the right to delve into chapter B - not unlike to what happens in computer games such as MYST.
I am a 100% programming analphabetic (well, almost), but I assume that such a system could work on the basis of putting the value of some variables into cookies - of course, the book will have to ask its reader politely for his or her permission to use cookies. Other P pages, notably menu pages, could then use these values to decide which navigation buttons are being shown when the reader opens the menu page concerned, and which ones aren't, thereby guiding the reader gently into the optimal direction.
Any suggestions?
Following my request, several members of the JavaScript group have contributed generously to the creation of a really useful - for me, that is... - script: one that enables me to write highly dynamic pages for my PANTACYCLOPEDIA (short: P), a book-like structure that I am busy preparing for publication on a Web page near to you. (See also thread 'A real challenge for JavaScript magicians' in the JS group)
So I decided to try another request, in order to make another dream come true. Unfortunately, this was much less successful, possibly because the thing I have in mind simply cannot be done in JavaScript.
So I thought: why deny the members of the other Web Developers groups this - think - very interesting challenge?
This is my request: for P, I would like to have a mechanism that
- keeps track of exactly which pages my reader has already read and which (s)he hasn't seen yet, and
- uses this 'reading history' to either deny or permit this particular reader access to other parts of the book.
- Of course, this 'intelligent' selector should work in every platform, if possible.
See what I mean? I want P to be 'a book with a memory' - the reader reads the book, the book reads the reader. That's about as interactive as one can get!
The reason for this wish probably is quite obvious to you: certain chapters in P are rather difficult to grasp without having some prior knowledge that is to be found in other chapters. In other words: in my ideal P, only by reading chapter A, one can earn the right to delve into chapter B - not unlike to what happens in computer games such as MYST.
I am a 100% programming analphabetic (well, almost), but I assume that such a system could work on the basis of putting the value of some variables into cookies - of course, the book will have to ask its reader politely for his or her permission to use cookies. Other P pages, notably menu pages, could then use these values to decide which navigation buttons are being shown when the reader opens the menu page concerned, and which ones aren't, thereby guiding the reader gently into the optimal direction.
Any suggestions?