limit html page access question

[Ann D.]

Hi!
I'm creating a website that has a few pages... question is, how can I
prevent a user from going directly to a page.

i.e. user has to go through myPage1.asp (page takes some user info)
to get to myPage2.htm. I don't want the user to be able to get to
myPage2.htm without going through the questionnaire on myPage1.asp.

How can I do this?
Thanks,
Ann

[Harlan Messinger]

Re: limit html page access question

Ann D. wrote:[color=blue]
> Hi!
> I'm creating a website that has a few pages... question is, how can I
> prevent a user from going directly to a page.
>
> i.e. user has to go through myPage1.asp (page takes some user info)
> to get to myPage2.htm. I don't want the user to be able to get to
> myPage2.htm without going through the questionnaire on myPage1.asp.[/color]

You can't do this with HTML. You would need to use a server-side page
technology like ASP, JSP, PHP to generate your pages dynamically. Then,
you would be able to set a "session variable" when the first page is
requested, a value that is maintained on the server for the duration of
the user's current "session". The second page would check for that
variable. If it exists, the actual content of the second page would be
sent; otherwise, a message notifying the user of his error would be sent
instead--or, for the user's convenience, the second page could redirect
him automatically to the first page.

You could also do this within the web page using cookies and Javascript,
but this technique would fail for any browser in which Javascript is not
present and enabled.

[annduguay@yahoo.ca]

Re: limit html page access question

Thanks for the info... So if I change myPage2.htm to myPage3.asp, how
and where does the session variable go? Also, can my site consist of a
bunch of htm and asp files?
As you can probably tell, I'm very new at this.
Thx again,
Ann

[Harlan Messinger]

Re: limit html page access question

annduguay@yahoo .ca wrote:[color=blue]
> Thanks for the info... So if I change myPage2.htm to myPage3.asp, how
> and where does the session variable go?[/color]

It's not just a matter of changing the file's extension. You have to
learn how to create an ASP page.
[color=blue]
> Also, can my site consist of a
> bunch of htm and asp files?[/color]

Yes, it can have both.
[color=blue]
> As you can probably tell, I'm very new at this.[/color]

That's fine, but you do have to acquire some very basic ASP skill to use
this technique.

[Jakob]

Re: limit html page access question


"Ann D." <annduguay@yaho o.ca> schreef in bericht
news:aed83d34.0 501280658.29daf f5e@posting.goo gle.com...[color=blue]
> Hi!
> I'm creating a website that has a few pages... question is, how can I
> prevent a user from going directly to a page.
>
> i.e. user has to go through myPage1.asp (page takes some user info)
> to get to myPage2.htm. I don't want the user to be able to get to
> myPage2.htm without going through the questionnaire on myPage1.asp.
>
> How can I do this?
> Thanks,
> Ann[/color]

I guess the site is not operational yet.
But when it will be:
why would visitors not want to answer your questions?
Are you asking dumb things,
or invading their privacy without any reason?

In other words: try to create a situation in which visitors will love to
complete your questionnaire.

Jakob

[annduguay@yahoo.ca]

Re: limit html page access question

For your info Jakob, they are not dumb questions. I'm helping a friend
who's building a site for a Home Builder and this questionnaire is a
customer requirement in order to enable the user to order pdf house
plans. Why the animosity??? I thought this would be a good place to
get some info. Sorry if I'm new at this and asked for assistance.

Jakob wrote:[color=blue]
> "Ann D." <annduguay@yaho o.ca> schreef in bericht
> news:aed83d34.0 501280658.29daf f5e@posting.goo gle.com...[color=green]
> > Hi!
> > I'm creating a website that has a few pages... question is, how[/color][/color]
can I[color=blue][color=green]
> > prevent a user from going directly to a page.
> >
> > i.e. user has to go through myPage1.asp (page takes some user[/color][/color]
info)[color=blue][color=green]
> > to get to myPage2.htm. I don't want the user to be able to get to
> > myPage2.htm without going through the questionnaire on myPage1.asp.
> >
> > How can I do this?
> > Thanks,
> > Ann[/color]
>
> I guess the site is not operational yet.
> But when it will be:
> why would visitors not want to answer your questions?
> Are you asking dumb things,
> or invading their privacy without any reason?
>
> In other words: try to create a situation in which visitors will love[/color]
to[color=blue]
> complete your questionnaire.
>
> Jakob[/color]

[Michael Vilain]

Re: limit html page access question

In article <1106936722.521 752.327340@z14g 2000cwz.googleg roups.com>,
"annduguay@yaho o.ca" <annduguay@yaho o.ca> wrote:
[color=blue]
> For your info Jakob, they are not dumb questions. I'm helping a friend
> who's building a site for a Home Builder and this questionnaire is a
> customer requirement in order to enable the user to order pdf house
> plans. Why the animosity??? I thought this would be a good place to
> get some info. Sorry if I'm new at this and asked for assistance.
>
> Jakob wrote:[color=green]
> > "Ann D." <annduguay@yaho o.ca> schreef in bericht
> > news:aed83d34.0 501280658.29daf f5e@posting.goo gle.com...[color=darkred]
> > > Hi!
> > > I'm creating a website that has a few pages... question is, how[/color][/color]
> can I[color=green][color=darkred]
> > > prevent a user from going directly to a page.
> > >
> > > i.e. user has to go through myPage1.asp (page takes some user[/color][/color]
> info)[color=green][color=darkred]
> > > to get to myPage2.htm. I don't want the user to be able to get to
> > > myPage2.htm without going through the questionnaire on myPage1.asp.
> > >
> > > How can I do this?
> > > Thanks,
> > > Ann[/color]
> >
> > I guess the site is not operational yet.
> > But when it will be:
> > why would visitors not want to answer your questions?
> > Are you asking dumb things,
> > or invading their privacy without any reason?
> >
> > In other words: try to create a situation in which visitors will love[/color]
> to[color=green]
> > complete your questionnaire.
> >
> > Jakob[/color][/color]

I think Jakob's tone (and truthfully, my own reaction to your post) was
that your request has possible "evil" design implications. My reaction
to a site forcing my to answer questions or provide personal information
before I even see the front page evokes a big "I'm SO outta here" along
with a big flame to the site's webmaster if they're in whois.

I don't know how many sites I've visited (eonline.com, nytimes.com,
etc.) that demand you sign-up to view content. They do exactly what you
describe--funnel every new visitor through a login screen and collect
personal information.

Jakobs closing remarks were on par with site guidelines like those
espoused in http://www.websitesthatsuck.com -- make easy and provide
reasons for people to interact with your site rather than a PITA.

You job as the designer of the web page is to counsel the idiot/customer
requesting this design and convince them that this is _not_ a good idea
and won't attract customers to their site.

Good luck. Sounds like you'll need it. And welcome to Internet
newsgroups--start growing an extra layer of skin--this is the way people
interact in news.

--
DeeDee, don't press that button! DeeDee! NO! Dee...

[Jan Roland Eriksson]

Re: limit html page access question

On 28 Jan 2005 06:58:07 -0800, annduguay@yahoo .ca (Ann D.) wrote:
[color=blue]
>I'm creating a website that has a few pages... question is,
>how can I prevent a user from going directly to a page.[/color]

The www is an open forum, designed to be just that, so if you have your
"restricted page" available on a server, you can not "prevent" anything.
[color=blue]
>i.e. user has to go through myPage1.asp (page takes some user info)
>to get to myPage2.htm. I don't want the user to be able to get to
>myPage2.htm without going through the questionnaire on myPage1.asp.[/color]

My input is; redesign your own thoughts.
[color=blue]
>How can I do this?[/color]

You can't, unless you are willing to restrict some parts of the world
from access at the same time.

This NG is about authoring _for_ the WWW, not about how to prohibit
people from access to it.

As some one said in another post; your luck is in how well you can
convince your visitors that's it's in their best interest to fill in the
form for you.

"FORCE NEVER WORKS ON INTERNET"

--
Rex

[Dave Patton]

Re: limit html page access question

"annduguay@yaho o.ca" <annduguay@yaho o.ca> wrote in
news:1106936722 .521752.327340@ z14g2000cwz.goo glegroups.com:
[color=blue]
> Jakob wrote:[color=green]
>> "Ann D." <annduguay@yaho o.ca> schreef in bericht
>> news:aed83d34.0 501280658.29daf f5e@posting.goo gle.com...[color=darkred]
>> > Hi!
>> > I'm creating a website that has a few pages... question is, how[/color][/color]
> can I[color=green][color=darkred]
>> > prevent a user from going directly to a page.
>> >
>> > i.e. user has to go through myPage1.asp (page takes some user[/color][/color]
> info)[color=green][color=darkred]
>> > to get to myPage2.htm. I don't want the user to be able to get to
>> > myPage2.htm without going through the questionnaire on myPage1.asp.
>> >
>> > How can I do this?
>> > Thanks,
>> > Ann[/color]
>>
>> I guess the site is not operational yet.
>> But when it will be:
>> why would visitors not want to answer your questions?
>> Are you asking dumb things,
>> or invading their privacy without any reason?
>>
>> In other words: try to create a situation in which visitors will love[/color]
> to[color=green]
>> complete your questionnaire.
>>
>> Jakob[/color][/color]
[color=blue]
> For your info Jakob, they are not dumb questions. I'm helping a friend
> who's building a site for a Home Builder and this questionnaire is a
> customer requirement in order to enable the user to order pdf house
> plans. Why the animosity??? I thought this would be a good place to
> get some info. Sorry if I'm new at this and asked for assistance.[/color]

Ann:
First, a couple of things that will make life easier:
- post your replies at the bottom, after what you're
referring to, so that the text flows in the same
order as a conversation
- generally, it's better to provide more information,
not less, especially when you are "new". If you
had explained the actual requirement re the ordering
of the PDF files, people may have answered differently :-)

A)
You say "order pdf house plans". You need to explain that.
If you mean "order" as in provide personal information and
take payment details(e.g. credit card info) than that's
a whole other set of issues.
B)
If you mean that the questionaire is intended to act as
a "wizard" to narrow down the available selection of
house plans to those most likely to fit the homebuyer's
needs, then design the process so that someone who wants
to can see the complete list of plans, while still offering
the option of the questionaire/wizard to those that want
to use it.
C)
Design the questionaire/wizard to be browser-neutral, and
include client-side assistance/validation(e.g. via javascript),
but make sure the page(s) function without javascript, and that
all "real" validation is done server-side. Somebody will have
to do some programming on the server(e.g. ASP, PHP, etc).

--
Dave Patton
Canadian Coordinator, Degree Confluence Project

http://www.confluence.org/

My website: http://members.shaw.ca/davepatton/

[Per Jessen]

Re: limit html page access question

Ann D. wrote:
[color=blue]
> Hi!
> I'm creating a website that has a few pages... question is, how can I
> prevent a user from going directly to a page.
>
> i.e. user has to go through myPage1.asp (page takes some user info)
> to get to myPage2.htm. I don't want the user to be able to get to
> myPage2.htm without going through the questionnaire on myPage1.asp.
>
> How can I do this?[/color]

1) set a variable (e.g. PHP session) when the user completes page1,
2) on page2, check that this variable is set, if not redirect to page1.



/Per Jessen, Zürich

--
http://www.spamchek.com/freetrial - sign up for your free 30-day trial now!

[Ann Duguay]

Re: limit html page access question


"Per Jessen" <per@computer.o rg> wrote in message
news:41fb49eb$0 $9801$afc38c87@ news.easynet.ch ...[color=blue]
> Ann D. wrote:
>[color=green]
> > Hi!
> > I'm creating a website that has a few pages... question is, how can I
> > prevent a user from going directly to a page.
> >
> > i.e. user has to go through myPage1.asp (page takes some user info)
> > to get to myPage2.htm. I don't want the user to be able to get to
> > myPage2.htm without going through the questionnaire on myPage1.asp.
> >
> > How can I do this?[/color]
>
> 1) set a variable (e.g. PHP session) when the user completes page1,
> 2) on page2, check that this variable is set, if not redirect to page1.
>
>
>
> /Per Jessen, Zürich
>
> --
> http://www.spamchek.com/freetrial - sign up for your free 30-day trial[/color]
now!

Thanks!!! We've got it figured out.
Ann

[Ann Duguay]

Re: limit html page access question


"Per Jessen" <per@computer.o rg> wrote in message
news:41fb49eb$0 $9801$afc38c87@ news.easynet.ch ...[color=blue]
> Ann D. wrote:
>[color=green]
> > Hi!
> > I'm creating a website that has a few pages... question is, how can I
> > prevent a user from going directly to a page.
> >
> > i.e. user has to go through myPage1.asp (page takes some user info)
> > to get to myPage2.htm. I don't want the user to be able to get to
> > myPage2.htm without going through the questionnaire on myPage1.asp.
> >
> > How can I do this?[/color]
>
> 1) set a variable (e.g. PHP session) when the user completes page1,
> 2) on page2, check that this variable is set, if not redirect to page1.
>
>
>
> /Per Jessen, Zürich
>
> --
> http://www.spamchek.com/freetrial - sign up for your free 30-day trial[/color]
now!

Thanks Per! We've got it up and running now.

[Brian]

Re: limit html page access question

annduguay@yahoo .ca wrote:[color=blue]
> For your info Jakob, they are not dumb questions.[/color]
[...][color=blue]
> Why the animosity??? I thought this would be a good place to get
> some info.[/color]

It is. More precisely, it's a good place to have discussions about html,
during which information is exchanged.
[color=blue]
> Sorry if I'm new at this and asked for assistance.[/color]

It sounds like you are new at usenet. I'd suggest you learn a bit about
how things work in usenet -- not the technical stuff, but how humans
tend to behave on technical forums such as this one.

http://www.catb.org/~esr/faqs/smart-questions.html

Good luck.

--
Brian