Tue, 2009-11-17 21:58
I have just built a site for a store owner, and he wants to restyle the site for each holiday. So I wanted to find out is there a way to switch the external CSS file based on the date?
Tue, 2009-11-17 22:02
#1
Well, are you using any form
Well, are you using any form of dynamic scripting for the site. If so, it's easy.
Wed, 2009-11-18 21:44
#2
Here's the site:
Here's the site: www.pipeline-bagpipes.com
Wed, 2009-11-18 22:05
#3
Yeah, so, what is it?? PHP?
Yeah, so, what is it?? PHP? ASP.NET? I would have guessed ASP.NET MVC due to the file extensions but then there are query strings instead of routing.
Thu, 2009-11-19 05:36
#4
Just plain ol' XHTML,css and
Just plain ol' XHTML,css and a small amount of JavaScript. A little php in the forms.
Thu, 2009-11-19 08:23
#5
Verschwindende wrote: Well,
Well, are you using any form of dynamic scripting for the site. If so, it's easy.
How does posting a link to the site answer the question asked 
This is a technical forum respond to the questions then solutions can be provided, but don't expect us to have to answer our own questions please.
Edit/ I see you have responded with a little detail.
To quote " A little PHP for forms" that then means your pages are written or can use PHP there is no 'Little' about things your scripting language in use is PHP.
I would now ask this question on a scripting forum dealing with PHP, as easy as this is to achieve using date functions you will need it explained in depth if not written for you; you could also check out script repositories such as HotScripts which may have a pre written function you could use.
You could also follow this chaps guide to doing this it's primarily to change based of time of day but that just needs to be substituted for a month or whatever and is mentioned towards the bottom of the page.
http://www.jek2k.com/wp/2007/05/03/timed-based-css-stylesheet-with-php/
Thu, 2009-11-19 15:13
#6
My original question was "is
My original question was "is there a way to switch the external CSS file based on the date?"
I didn't, to my knowledge, say "lecture me in the process in posting a simple question on a forum". How are forums effective to users that may, or may not have the same technical knowledge as your own, if someone is going to be chastised for asking a question. Stupid as it may be to you or your peers, it's a valid question. I provided a link, because I figured if Verschwindende looked at the site, he could easily take a look, and see what's involved, rather than going into a long winded description. I'm not a back-end developer, I'm a designer that is very well versed in the practice of CSS. I don't know JavaScript, or even that much PHP. But what I do know is that it was used.
Hugo, I haven't checked out the link yet, so I will, thanks for posting it.
I know now that if I want to ask a simple question that the csscreator.com forum is NOT the place to ask it.
-= Bill =-
Thu, 2009-11-19 16:02
#7
Wow, lolz. Do the new guys
Wow, lolz. Do the new guys always abuse the regulars here? Just wondering because I didn't get to abuse anyone yet. Who should I have a go at? 
Thu, 2009-11-19 16:02
#8
Quite often it seems, it's a
Quite often it seems, it's a natural reaction I guess *shrug*
Versh I think you did indeed miss the opportunity but do feel free to catch up, I can take all the abuse you care to throw my way, I was famously called a 'pompous paranoid little tit' I survived it 
well had a little sob in the corner but pulled myself together quickly 
(
Greendog do not get too upset you were asked a question you responded with a link that did not answer the question it's not about YOU asking a question we asked the question you failed to answer , this happens more often than you might imagine and is frustrating for us, never ever expect us to do the work, generally you will find few that actually want to find out for themselves what language you are using, we expect you to know that and simply provide the info, or if you are not sure then simply state that fact it also helps us immensely to know the level of expertise of the poster.
Thu, 2009-11-19 19:15
#9
Look, if you can't help me
Look, if you can't help me answer my question, that's fine. But you're getting bent out of shape over the fact that I didn't answer a question. A question, that whether or not it becomes answered, will not make any difference.
Someone could have answered "yes you can use PHP" or "... Javascript" or whatever! That would have been the end of it. I would have even been fine with "Yes" or "No".
If I were walking through the hallway at your job, bumped into you and had the same conversation, I would still say "Here check this site out" and show you and we can have a discussion based upon it.
Besides all of this, we're getting nowhere, and I thank you all for nothing. Now I'm going to ask this question somewhere else, where someone won't have a stupid argument with me.
Thu, 2009-11-19 19:35
#10
Hugo wrote: ... I was
... I was famously called a 'pompous paranoid little tit' I survived it ...
Aw, they shouldn't have called you paranoid.
Thu, 2009-11-19 19:38
#11
greendog wrote: ... Someone
... Someone could have answered "yes you can use PHP" or "... Javascript" or whatever! That would have been the end of it. I would have even been fine with "Yes" or "No". ...
Sorry, man. I thought that was covered.
Well, are you using any form of dynamic scripting for the site. If so, it's easy.
Tue, 2009-12-01 20:31
#12
greendog wrote: I have just
I have just built a site for a store owner, and he wants to restyle the site for each holiday. So I wanted to find out is there a way to switch the external CSS file based on the date?
I hit this site doing a Google search on the same topic and could not believe no one bothered to answer your question. So I thought I would post an answer here in case anyone else ever stumbles across this like I did.
The answer is "yes", but not with just CSS. You can use JavaScript (it makes no difference what server side code you used. PHP, ASP.NET, JSP, or whatever).
Essentially you get the current date and use that value to decide what external CSS file you want to assign as the new href value of your link tag. Code below shows you what I mean:
<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd">
<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">
<head>
<title></title>
<link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" href="default.css" id="siteCSS"/>
<script type="text/javascript">
// Get current month
var currDate=new Date();
var currMonth = currDate.getDate();
// Month returned by getDate() is 0 to 11 so add 1
currMonth = parseInt(currMonth) + 1;
// Based on month assign style sheet name
var newCSS = "default.css";
if (currMonth >= 1) newCSS = "winter.css"; // Month is January or greater
if (currMonth >= 3) newCSS = 'spring.css'; // Month is March or greater
if (currMonth >= 6) newCSS = 'summer.css'; // Month is June or greater
if (currMonth >= 9) newCSS = 'fall.css'; // Month is September or greater
if (currMonth = 12) newCSS = 'winter.css'; // Month is December
// Assign new style sheet name as the new href for "siteCSS" LINK tag
document.getElementById('siteCSS').href = newCSS;
</script>
</head>
<body>
</body>
</html>
Tue, 2009-12-01 21:02
#13
I'll be much easier and
I'll be much easier and cleaner just using server-side scripting.
Tue, 2009-12-01 21:24
#14
Please post a server side
Please post a server side example for comparison.
The concept is pretty simple and really could have been boiled down to one core line of javascript. So I will be surprised if a server side example ends up being "easier" and "cleaner".
Tue, 2009-12-01 23:09
#15
Surprise!
Surprise! 
int doy = DateTime.Now.DayOfYear - Convert.ToInt32((DateTime.IsLeapYear(DateTime.Now.Year)) && DateTime.Now.DayOfYear > 59); string currentSeason = String.Format("{0}.css",((doy < 80 || doy >= 355) ? "winter" : ((doy >= 80 && doy < 172) ? "spring" : ((doy >= 172 && doy < 266) ? "summer" : "fall"))));
It works with javascript off, doesn't clutter up the <head> and is also more accurate.
Post edited to replace '+' with '-'
Tue, 2009-12-01 23:32
#16
I can see that you embedded
I can see that you embedded like 3 or 4 ternary operators to assign a character string to a variable based on a date. Did you actually use that value for the pages style sheet yet?
I think you should re-work it a little to use a month number instead of the day number. Not too many people know what date day #175 falls into and another benefit would be that with just 12 numbers you could set up an array to hold the css file names and do away with the harder to read embedded ternary statements.
Wed, 2009-12-02 13:29
#17
Whoops. I had the leap year
Edit: Thanks for fixing the code snippet above, Hugo.
Whoops. I had the leap year check backwards. :oops:
int doy = DateTime.Now.DayOfYear - Convert.ToInt32((DateTime.IsLeapYear(DateTime.Now.Year)) && DateTime.Now.DayOfYear > 59); string currentSeason = String.Format("{0}.css",((doy < 80 || doy >= 355) ? "winter" : ((doy >= 80 && doy < 172) ? "spring" : ((doy >= 172 && doy < 266) ? "summer" : "fall"))));
Tue, 2009-12-01 23:43
#18
slaughters wrote: I can see
I can see that you embedded like 3 or 4 ternary operators to assign a character string to a variable based on a date. Did you actually use that value for the pages style sheet yet?
I don't know what you're asking.
I think you should re-work it a little to use a month number instead of the day number. Not too many people know what date day #175 falls into and another benefit would be that with just 12 numbers you could set up an array to hold the css file names and do away with the harder to read embedded ternary statements.
I was going for accuracy, not ease. I guess I wasted 20 minutes proving a point. Blah, it was just a quickie. I'm sure I could clean it up a bit besides I like my ternary operators.
Wed, 2009-12-02 06:58
#19
slaughters wrote: no one
no one bothered to answer your question.
Thanks for posting the code and helping out. The quote above is not strictly true though is it? Unless you consider that answering a thread of this type means providing a code writing service, which is not really what the forum is about.
Wed, 2009-12-02 14:01
#20
Hugo wrote:slaughters
no one bothered to answer your question.
Thanks for posting the code and helping out. The quote above is not strictly true though is it? Unless you consider that answering a thread of this type means providing a code writing service, which is not really what the forum is about.
Yes, I'm almost certain that I answered the question 4 times beginning with the first reply.
Wed, 2009-12-02 14:56
#21
Hugo - you are correct - you
Hugo - you are correct - you did post a link pointing to a PHP solution. I did not see the link buried at the end of your 2009-11-19 02:23 post.
Verschwindende - Here is the full text of the 5 posts you made (in the order you made them) to the greendogs question. Where did you ever answer him?
1 - Well, are you using any form of dynamic scripting for the site. If so, it's easy.
2 - Yeah, so, what is it?? PHP? ASP.NET? I would have guessed ASP.NET MVC due to the file extensions but then there are query strings instead of routing.
3 - Wow, lolz. Do the new guys always abuse the regulars here? Just wondering because I didn't get to abuse anyone yet. Who should I have a go at?
4 - Aw, they shouldn't have called you paranoid.
5 - Sorry, man. I thought that was covered.
P.S.
Thank you for making my first post to this forum such an horrible experience. I posted to help and was treated like I was stupid to do so. This is seriously the last time I'll bother with this forum.
Wed, 2009-12-02 19:28
#22
slaughters wrote:...
... Verschwindende - Here is the full text of the 5 posts you made (in the order you made them) to the greendogs question. Where did you ever answer him?
Here's the first answer. I answered "Yes" to his question of is it possible.
Well, are you using any form of dynamic scripting for the site. If so, it's easy.
Here's where he said all he needed is a "Yes".
... Someone could have answered "yes you can use PHP" or "... Javascript" or whatever! That would have been the end of it. I would have even been fine with "Yes" or "No". ...
This is my second answer telling him his question was already answered and quoting said answer.
Sorry, man. I thought that was covered.
Then I posted that it would be better rendered server side.
Then I posted two code snippets proving that server side is better than client side in this case.
I count 4.
Thank you for making my first post to this forum such an horrible experience. I posted to help and was treated like I was stupid to do so. This is seriously the last time I'll bother with this forum.
I thought better and deleted my really hilarious remarks down here. They were pretty good, too. Pity. I'm only messing around now because it's such a huge deal. I find it very funny.
Anyway, I'm sorry that you feel stupid, that has nothing to do with anything I said, but you are the one that challenged my statement so I felt it was correct behavior to prove my point. In all honesty I couldn't possibly care less if someone uses javascript to change their styling as long as the site doesn't rely on it then it's fine. I just think there is a better way and I only thought it proper to express that.
This isn't my place so I'm going to cool it and apologize to the board if I've made a mess of things.