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Fordster55Flag for Australia

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Loading a Random Theme/Image each page load

Ok this might be a kind of hard question to phrase so bare with me. I'm developing a photo gallery site with member levels etc.(www.g-force.net/dev) My question though just involves the header. As you can see on the site I am using a paralex effect header that I got through the vertigo Rocket Theme. This effect utilizes 3 images layers together with mouse sensitive moving.

What I'm trying to achieve is to have a different set of 3 images load every time the page is reloaded. The idea is to create many sets of headers over time using new photos from events and have them added to the pool of randomly selected headers.

I found a piece of code that might work but I'm not too sure if it will. It basically tries to randomise the specified filename it is loading on the page so that if i had header0.png, header1.png and header2.png it would select a random one every page load. As I said I'm not 100% if this could be made to work o if anyone could confirm/deny it would be a great help.

Also if anyone has an alternative method I would love to hear it :)
01.<?php
02. 
03.if(!isset($_SESSION["curnum"]))
04. 
05.{
06. 
07.  //prefer to set original template as startup
08. 
09.  $num = 0;
10. 
11.  $_SESSION["curnum"] = $num;
12. 
13.}
14. 
15.else
16. 
17.{
18. 
19.   $num = rand(0,2);
20. 
21.   while($num == $_SESSION["curnum"])
22. 
23.   {
24. 
25.      $num = rand(0,2);
26. 
27.   }
28. 
29.   $_SESSION["curnum"] = $num;
30. 
31.}
32. 
33.?>
34.<style type="text/css">
35. 
36.#header { float:left;background-image:url('/templates/<?php echo $this->template ?>/images/header_<?php echo $num; ?>.png'); background-repeat:no-repeat; width:1012px; height: 133px;font-family:"Trebuchet MS", Tahoma, Verdana, Arial;font-size:9pt; }
37. 
38.#middle { float:left; width:544px;height:auto; background-image:url('/templates/<?php echo $this->template ?>/images/bodytop_<?php echo $num; ?>.png'); background-repeat:no-repeat;}
39.</style>

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Fordster55
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ASKER

Another way I thought could possibly work is create copies of the main theme with a different header each time and then find a Joomla plugin to load a random theme each page load. Or alternatively assign each menu item its own theme. But I think this method will begin to waste alot of space as there will be 10-20 copies of the same template with only 3 files changed....
Avatar of dsmile
dsmile
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Your code will work just fine, but it limits you from having flexible image name.

I suggest you to use array to store image set, so that you can define it freely.

Btw, I still use the same randomize logic you're having.
If duplicate random is definitely not allowed then keep this randomize logic.
But if it can tolerate duplicate random sometimes then only this line is enough for the whole code from line 11 through line 37
$num = rand(0, $maxKey);
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dsmile
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Ooops, forgot to attach the code
<?php
 //prepare your images array. It might be loaded from config 
 $aryImgPool = array(
							0 => array('header' => 'whatevernameyoulike.whateverextyouhave', 'middle' => 'whatevernameyoulike.whateverextyouhave'),
							1 => array('header' => 'whatevernameyoulike.whateverextyouhave', 'middle' => 'whatevernameyoulike.whateverextyouhave'),
							2 => array('header' => 'whatevernameyoulike.whateverextyouhave', 'middle' => 'whatevernameyoulike.whateverextyouhave'),
							3 => array('header' => 'whatevernameyoulike.whateverextyouhave', 'middle' => 'whatevernameyoulike.whateverextyouhave'),
							4 => array('header' => 'whatevernameyoulike.whateverextyouhave', 'middle' => 'whatevernameyoulike.whateverextyouhave'),
							 );
$maxKey = sizeof($aryImgPool);
if(!isset($_SESSION["curnum"]))
 
{
 
  //prefer to set original template as startup
 
  $num = 0;
 
  $_SESSION["curnum"] = $num;
 
}
 
else
 
{
 
   $num = rand(0, $maxKey);
 
   while($num == $_SESSION["curnum"])
 
   {
 
      $num = rand(0, $maxKey);
 
   }
 
   $_SESSION["curnum"] = $num;

   $aryImg =  $aryImgPool[$num];
 
}
 
?>
<style type="text/css">
 
#header { float:left;background-image:url('/templates/<?php echo $this->template ?>/images/<?php echo $aryImg['header']?>'); background-repeat:no-repeat; width:1012px; height: 133px;font-family:"Trebuchet MS", Tahoma, Verdana, Arial;font-size:9pt; }
 
#middle { float:left; width:544px;height:auto; background-image:url('/templates/<?php echo $this->template ?>/images/<?php echo $aryImg['middle']?>'); background-repeat:no-repeat;}
</style>

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Avatar of dsmile
dsmile
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Mistaken again, :(

You this code instead
<?php
 //prepare your images array. It might be loaded from config 
 $aryImgPool = array(
							0 => array('header' => 'whatevernameyoulike.whateverextyouhave', 'middle' => 'whatevernameyoulike.whateverextyouhave'),
							1 => array('header' => 'whatevernameyoulike.whateverextyouhave', 'middle' => 'whatevernameyoulike.whateverextyouhave'),
							2 => array('header' => 'whatevernameyoulike.whateverextyouhave', 'middle' => 'whatevernameyoulike.whateverextyouhave'),
							3 => array('header' => 'whatevernameyoulike.whateverextyouhave', 'middle' => 'whatevernameyoulike.whateverextyouhave'),
							4 => array('header' => 'whatevernameyoulike.whateverextyouhave', 'middle' => 'whatevernameyoulike.whateverextyouhave'),
							 );
$maxKey = sizeof($aryImgPool);
if(!isset($_SESSION["curnum"]))
 
{
 
  //prefer to set original template as startup
 
  $num = 0;
 
  $_SESSION["curnum"] = $num;
 
}
 
else
 
{
 
   $num = rand(0, $maxKey);
 
   while($num == $_SESSION["curnum"])
 
   {
 
      $num = rand(0, $maxKey);
 
   }
 
   $_SESSION["curnum"] = $num;
 
}
 
?>
<style type="text/css">
 
#header { float:left;background-image:url('/templates/<?php echo $this->template ?>/images/<?php echo $aryImgPool[$num]['header']?>'); background-repeat:no-repeat; width:1012px; height: 133px;font-family:"Trebuchet MS", Tahoma, Verdana, Arial;font-size:9pt; }
 
#middle { float:left; width:544px;height:auto; background-image:url('/templates/<?php echo $this->template ?>/images/<?php echo $aryImgPool[$num]['middle']?>'); background-repeat:no-repeat;}
</style>

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Fordster55
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ASKER

Thanks for that dsmile.

I'll give that a shot now and post back with results :)
Avatar of Fordster55
Fordster55
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ASKER

No success yet.....

Ive got that code inside the <head> tags of the template index.php file

Do I need to specify the folder structure for my array images?

Can you spot what I've got wrong?
<?php
//Set image array
$aryImgPool = array(
							0 => array('bottom' => '1showcase-bottom.png', 'feature' => '1showcase-feature.png', 'layer1' => '1showcase-layer1.png', 'layer2' => '1showcase-layer2.png', 'layer3' => '1showcase-layer3.png'),
							1 => array('bottom' => '2showcase-bottom.png', 'feature' => '2showcase-feature.png', 'layer1' => '2showcase-layer1.png', 'layer2' => '2showcase-layer2.png', 'layer3' => '2showcase-layer3.png'),
							2 => array('bottom' => '3showcase-bottom.png', 'feature' => '3showcase-feature.png', 'layer1' => '3showcase-layer1.png', 'layer2' => '3showcase-layer2.png', 'layer3' => '3showcase-layer3.png'),
							3 => array('bottom' => '4showcase-bottom.png', 'feature' => '4showcase-feature.png', 'layer1' => '4showcase-layer1.png', 'layer2' => '4showcase-layer2.png', 'layer3' => '4showcase-layer3.png'),
							4 => array('bottom' => '5showcase-bottom.png', 'feature' => '5showcase-feature.png', 'layer1' => '5showcase-layer1.png', 'layer2' => '5showcase-layer2.png', 'layer3' => '5showcase-layer3.png'),
							5 => array('bottom' => '6showcase-bottom.png', 'feature' => '6showcase-feature.png', 'layer1' => '6showcase-layer1.png', 'layer2' => '6showcase-layer2.png', 'layer3' => '6showcase-layer3.png'),
							
							 );
$maxKey = sizeof($aryImgPool);
if(!isset($_SESSION["curnum"]))
 
{
 
  //prefer to set original template as startup
 
  $num = 0;
 
  $_SESSION["curnum"] = $num;
 
}
 
else
 
{
 
   $num = rand(0, $maxKey);
 
   while($num == $_SESSION["curnum"])
 
   {
 
      $num = rand(0, $maxKey);
 
   }
 
   $_SESSION["curnum"] = $num;
 
}
 
?>
<style type="text/css">
 
#bottom { float:left;background-image:url('/templates/<?php echo $this->template ?>/images/theme5<?php echo $aryImgPool[$num]['header']?>'); background-repeat:no-repeat; width:1012px; height: 133px;font-family:"Trebuchet MS", Tahoma, Verdana, Arial;font-size:9pt; }
 
#feature { float:left; width:544px;height:auto; background-image:url('/templates/theme5<?php echo $this->template ?>/images/<?php echo $aryImgPool[$num]['middle']?>'); background-repeat:no-repeat;}

#layer1 { float:left; width:544px;height:auto; background-image:url('/templates/theme5<?php echo $this->template ?>/images/<?php echo $aryImgPool[$num]['middle']?>'); background-repeat:no-repeat;}

#layer2 { float:left; width:544px;height:auto; background-image:url('/templates/theme5<?php echo $this->template ?>/images/<?php echo $aryImgPool[$num]['middle']?>'); background-repeat:no-repeat;}

#layer3 { float:left; width:544px;height:auto; background-image:url('/templates/theme5<?php echo $this->template ?>/images/<?php echo $aryImgPool[$num]['middle']?>'); background-repeat:no-repeat;}
</style>

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Avatar of dsmile
dsmile
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View sourcecode of rendered page then give me the html output of these lines

#bottom { float:left;background-image:url('/templates/<?php echo $this->template ?>/images/theme5<?php echo $aryImgPool[$num]['header']?>'); background-repeat:no-repeat; width:1012px; height: 133px;font-family:"Trebuchet MS", Tahoma, Verdana, Arial;font-size:9pt; }
 
#feature { float:left; width:544px;height:auto; background-image:url('/templates/theme5<?php echo $this->template ?>/images/<?php echo $aryImgPool[$num]['middle']?>'); background-repeat:no-repeat;}

#layer1 { float:left; width:544px;height:auto; background-image:url('/templates/theme5<?php echo $this->template ?>/images/<?php echo $aryImgPool[$num]['middle']?>'); background-repeat:no-repeat;}

#layer2 { float:left; width:544px;height:auto; background-image:url('/templates/theme5<?php echo $this->template ?>/images/<?php echo $aryImgPool[$num]['middle']?>'); background-repeat:no-repeat;}

#layer3 { float:left; width:544px;height:auto; background-image:url('/templates/theme5<?php echo $this->template ?>/images/<?php echo $aryImgPool[$num]['middle']?>'); background-repeat:no-repeat;}
Avatar of Fordster55
Fordster55
Flag of Australia image

ASKER

   <style type="text/css">
 
#bottom { float:left;background-image:url('/templates/rt_vertigo_j15/images/theme5'); background-repeat:no-repeat; width:auto; height: auto;font-family:"Trebuchet MS", Tahoma, Verdana, Arial;font-size:9pt; }
 
#feature { float:left; width:auto;height:auto; background-image:url('/templates/theme5rt_vertigo_j15/images/'); background-repeat:no-repeat;}

#layer1 { float:left; width:auto;height:auto; background-image:url('/templates/theme5rt_vertigo_j15/images/'); background-repeat:no-repeat;}

#layer2 { float:left; width:auto;height:auto; background-image:url('/templates/theme5rt_vertigo_j15/images/'); background-repeat:no-repeat;}

#layer3 { float:left; width:auto;height:auto; background-image:url('/templates/theme5rt_vertigo_j15/images/'); background-repeat:no-repeat;}

</style>

Sorry for the delayed reply.

Above is what the source code of the loaded page shows
Avatar of dsmile
dsmile
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It didn't work because  $aryImgPool has no sub array with neither key 'header' nor 'middle' in it



Just add 'header' & 'middle' to $aryImgPool or change the keys in these lines

#bottom { float:left;background-image:url('/templates/<?php echo $this->template ?>/images/theme5<?php echo $aryImgPool[$num]['header']?>'); background-repeat:no-repeat; width:1012px; height: 133px;font-family:"Trebuchet MS", Tahoma, Verdana, Arial;font-size:9pt; }
 
#feature { float:left; width:544px;height:auto; background-image:url('/templates/theme5<?php echo $this->template ?>/images/<?php echo $aryImgPool[$num]['middle']?>'); background-repeat:no-repeat;}

#layer1 { float:left; width:544px;height:auto; background-image:url('/templates/theme5<?php echo $this->template ?>/images/<?php echo $aryImgPool[$num]['middle']?>'); background-repeat:no-repeat;}

#layer2 { float:left; width:544px;height:auto; background-image:url('/templates/theme5<?php echo $this->template ?>/images/<?php echo $aryImgPool[$num]['middle']?>'); background-repeat:no-repeat;}

#layer3 { float:left; width:544px;height:auto; background-image:url('/templates/theme5<?php echo $this->template ?>/images/<?php echo $aryImgPool[$num]['middle']?>'); background-repeat:no-repeat;}
Avatar of Fordster55
Fordster55
Flag of Australia image

ASKER

Ok that was a stupid mistake on my part. Fixed up that error, and a pathing error (folder structure is templates/template_name/images/theme5/filename)

Still can't get any images to load however

Current version of code is attached.

HTML output on the page reads as follows:
    <style type="text/css">
 
#bottom { float:left;background-image:url('/templates/rt_vertigo_j15/images/theme5/2showcase-bottom.png'); background-repeat:no-repeat; width:auto; height: auto;font-family:"Trebuchet MS", Tahoma, Verdana, Arial;font-size:9pt; }
 
#feature { float:left; width:auto;height:auto; background-image:url('/templates/rt_vertigo_j15/images/theme5/2showcase-feature.png'); background-repeat:no-repeat;}

#layer1 { float:left; width:auto;height:auto; background-image:url('/templates/rt_vertigo_j15/images/theme5/2showcase-layer1.png'); background-repeat:no-repeat;}

#layer2 { float:left; width:auto;height:auto; background-image:url('/templates/rt_vertigo_j15/images/theme5/2showcase-layer2.png'); background-repeat:no-repeat;}

#layer3 { float:left; width:auto;height:auto; background-image:url('/templates/rt_vertigo_j15/images/theme5/2showcase-layer3.png'); background-repeat:no-repeat;}

</style>

<?php
//Set image array
$aryImgPool = array(
							0 => array('bottom' => '1showcase-bottom.png', 'feature' => '1showcase-feature.png', 'layer1' => '1showcase-layer1.png', 'layer2' => '1showcase-layer2.png', 'layer3' => '1showcase-layer3.png'),
							1 => array('bottom' => '2showcase-bottom.png', 'feature' => '2showcase-feature.png', 'layer1' => '2showcase-layer1.png', 'layer2' => '2showcase-layer2.png', 'layer3' => '2showcase-layer3.png'),
							2 => array('bottom' => '3showcase-bottom.png', 'feature' => '3showcase-feature.png', 'layer1' => '3showcase-layer1.png', 'layer2' => '3showcase-layer2.png', 'layer3' => '3showcase-layer3.png'),
							3 => array('bottom' => '4showcase-bottom.png', 'feature' => '4showcase-feature.png', 'layer1' => '4showcase-layer1.png', 'layer2' => '4showcase-layer2.png', 'layer3' => '4showcase-layer3.png'),
							4 => array('bottom' => '5showcase-bottom.png', 'feature' => '5showcase-feature.png', 'layer1' => '5showcase-layer1.png', 'layer2' => '5showcase-layer2.png', 'layer3' => '5showcase-layer3.png'),
							5 => array('bottom' => '6showcase-bottom.png', 'feature' => '6showcase-feature.png', 'layer1' => '6showcase-layer1.png', 'layer2' => '6showcase-layer2.png', 'layer3' => '6showcase-layer3.png'),
							
							 );
$maxKey = sizeof($aryImgPool);
if(!isset($_SESSION["curnum"]))
 
{
 
  //prefer to set original template as startup
 
  $num = 0;
 
  $_SESSION["curnum"] = $num;
 
}
 
else
 
{
 
   $num = rand(0, $maxKey);
 
   while($num == $_SESSION["curnum"])
 
   {
 
      $num = rand(0, $maxKey);
 
   }
 
   $_SESSION["curnum"] = $num;
 
}
 
?>
<style type="text/css">
 
#bottom { float:left;background-image:url('/templates/<?php echo $this->template ?>/images/theme5/<?php echo $aryImgPool[$num]['bottom']?>'); background-repeat:no-repeat; width:auto; height: auto;font-family:"Trebuchet MS", Tahoma, Verdana, Arial;font-size:9pt; }
 
#feature { float:left; width:auto;height:auto; background-image:url('/templates/<?php echo $this->template ?>/images/theme5/<?php echo $aryImgPool[$num]['feature']?>'); background-repeat:no-repeat;}

#layer1 { float:left; width:auto;height:auto; background-image:url('/templates/<?php echo $this->template ?>/images/theme5/<?php echo $aryImgPool[$num]['layer1']?>'); background-repeat:no-repeat;}

#layer2 { float:left; width:auto;height:auto; background-image:url('/templates/<?php echo $this->template ?>/images/theme5/<?php echo $aryImgPool[$num]['layer2']?>'); background-repeat:no-repeat;}

#layer3 { float:left; width:auto;height:auto; background-image:url('/templates/<?php echo $this->template ?>/images/theme5/<?php echo $aryImgPool[$num]['layer3']?>'); background-repeat:no-repeat;}
</style>

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Fordster55
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ASKER

From what I can tell the randomise feature is working (different numbered files in the page source each refresh) and the file it is trying to pull (templates/rt_vertigo_j15/images/theme5/5showcase-layer3.png) goes to the image it should be.

So its probably one last little thing ive missed....
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Fordster55
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ASKER

EDIT: Ok, i know where the problem is now I just don't know what to do about it. I renamed the original images the header was trying to pull which is why nothing was coming up. With the original images in the folder the header displays as it did before i started. With no randomizing.

So the problem lies in this code actually taking over the headers images...
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Fordster55
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ASKER

Anyone had any luck finding what was wrong with my code?
ASKER CERTIFIED SOLUTION
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dsmile
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Fordster55
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ASKER

Solved.

Last issue was just a css. The original stylesheet was taking precidence to the new css i added.

Just commented out the lines in the original css to fix.

Thanks dsmile for all the help