Dynamically changing font size

[Matt_Parsons]

I am creating a website where i need the ability to increase the size off the font at the click of a button.
My idea was to create two style sheets normal and large then on each page access, get php to display the selected style sheet.

The Normal style sheet is default unless the user clicks large text. The large text then needs to be used on every page they visit. I also thought it would be nice if when they close the website and come back they dont have to increase the font size again as the website remembers the last option they chose.

To do this i thought that i could store a cookie on the users machine if they chose large text. So when each page loads if a cookie is present it will load the large text style sheet, otherwise if no cookie is present it will use the normal default style sheet.

I have little experience with cookies, and when i tried doing this on a lot of machines i get errors, but not on all. I think its a security setting issue, but i cant have people needing to change security settings just to have large text.

Heres my cookie code.

$normaltext='style';
$largetext='bigger';

if(isset($fontsize))
{
$textsize=$fontsize;
}
else
{
setcookie ("fontsize", $normaltext, time() +90 * 86400);
header("Location: $PHP_SELF?COOKIE_SET=1");
}

Any help and suggestions would be appreciated.
thanks

Matt

[edspace]

header("Location: $PHP_SELF?COOKIE_SET=1");

I don't understand why you have cookie_set=1 in the end.
It looks to me like you are assuming that the cookie will be set but you don't know that unless the cookie exists. Some users might have blocked the cookies.

From my own experience with cookies I can say that they are not very reliable. Every time I use cookies I also make sure to use sessions just in case the user cannot accept cookies.
I don't know what errors you are getting from the browser but you shouldn't get any with the default privacy settings in both netscape and IE.

Try setting domain and directory when you set the cookie.

[juschillinnow]

something that you might also look into is getting the ip address but will not work unless they have static ip address.

hmmm, I think you're in a jam

edspace. He has the cookie_set=1 right. I don't think you looked at the whole code.

mmmmm, yep, I think cookies is your only option for this unless you make the person login, then it would be pretty easy to pull up their personnal settings.

Somebody correct me if you think of something

[sijis]

i think cookies could work in this situation.
I've honestly never had a 'real' problem using them.
what i suggest is that they have a cookie from your domain named 'fontsize' on the top of you pages check to see if they have to cookie set or not, which will return their 'font settings'.

// its not thorough nor complete.

file.php
<?php
$font_size = "";

if(isset($_COOKIE['fontsize'])) { 
    // get value from cookie and use that
    $font_size = $_COOKIE['fontsize'];
} 
else {
    // set default value and create cookie with
    // that font_size
    $font_size = "style"; 
    setcookie ("fontsize", $font_size, time() +90 * 86400, ".domain.com"); // expire in whatever time.
    // you want to reload the page so setting takes effect
    // especially if you just created a cookie, so those settings
    // take effect.
    header("Location: $PHP_SELF");  

}

?>

in whatever button they are clicking on it should set the cookie for the user. it should also handle if they have changed the size of their 'display font' and what not.

get some more examples on cookies here (user comments):
http://www.php.net/manual/en/function.setcookie.php

hope this helps.