Setting Cookies

Hamsterpants

Hi All,

Firstly I would like to appologies if my questions have allready been covered, but I have read as much as I could on cookies and can't seem to find what I need.

Basically I have designed a website where people can submit info about their websites and what I would like to do now is to allow visitors to the site the ability to rate the link. I have the rateing bit working but would like to restrict the visitor to only one vote per visit. I am able to set the cookie and retrieve the cookie and if I have allready voted for that link, I am able to stop from voting again.

The problem I have is that when I then vote for another link the cookie value is then changed (at this stage the value of the cookie is set by the link id as a variable).

I then decided to name the cookie with the link id, but I cant work out how I then add the variable i.e. the link id variable when I check the cookie,e.g.

how would I do this - $_COOKIE['ADD THE LINK ID VARIABLE IN HERE'];

I hope I have made sence.

Maybee thi isn't the way I should be doing it, maybee I should be using array when I name the cookie, which I have tried and can do, but again, I am not sure how to retrive the cookie named by the variable.

Thanks in advance
Dill

Hamsterpants

Anyone got any ideas?

Thanks
Dill

The_Chancer

When you use the setcookie('cookiename','var') function - just use the cookie name for each rating...

Then use if ($_COOKIE['cookiename']){
echo "You have rated this";
}

I take it that the rating is done through form submission of some description, so
$COOKIE['".$POST['cookiename']."'] is also an option.

Hamsterpants

Thanks for the reply,

Ok that is what I tried, but the problem I have, and it is probobly a really stupid one, is how do I pass the variable, i.e. the id into the $_COOKIE['cookie name'].

So for example if when I set the cookie I have the following:

<? setcookie ("vote_c[$id]", "$id",time()+3600); ?>

Then when I test to see if that person has allready voted:

if ($_COOKIE['COOKIE NAME HERE']){
echo "You have rated this";
}

We I have COOKIE NAME HERE, how would I add :
vote_cand the variable id?

Tanks
Dill

Hamsterpants

Hi Again,

Just read through the thread again, and maybee should also just mention that, I had previously set up as you have it, but my problem then was that if the person voted for another link, the value of the cookie (i.e. the link id) would then be changed, which means if they go back to the first link they could vote for that one again as the value would have been changed.

Is there something about cookies that I am missing???

As far as I can I understand it, I have to have a way of nameing the cookie dynamically so that it can be linked to a link.

Thanks
Dill

Hamsterpants

Ok,

Let me simplify the whole thing, basically all I need to know is how I call a variable in the cookie name? i.e.

$_COOKIE['VARIABLE NEEDS TO GO HERE'];

What is the syntax that I need to use?

Sorry for being a pain
Thanks
Dill

Sayonara

Originally posted by Hamsterpants
So for example if when I set the cookie I have the following:

<? setcookie ("vote_c[$id]", "$id",time()+3600); ?>

You're on the right track, but you have quotes around the variable you are using as your cookie value.

I think you'll probably have to change "vote_c[$id]" also if you want to use the value of variable $id as part of the name.

"vote_c[" . $id . "]"

Hamsterpants

thanks for the help....all sorted now.

When I named the cookie I hade "[]" around the varaible which was adding them to the name.....removed them and all is fine now

Thanks
Dill