Shuffle Command - Banner Ads

[Anon]

I have 12 banner ads on http://www.startcasino.com - they ALL
appear on the main page and I use the
program below for them to appear in RANDOM order.

The program randomly selects a number between 1 and 12. Based on the result, it gives the corresponding order of the ads.

On Netscape, it works fine. However, in internet Explorer, the number 5 is ALWAYS selected (even after I clear the cache).

I know there is a SHUFFLE command in PHP, but I'm not sure how to program it. Please advise if you know of a better syntax using SHUFFLE instead.

---

<?

$ad = rand(1,12);

$include1 = "img/softnet.htm"; <!-- THESE ARE THE AD IMAGES and HTML-->
$include2 = "img/wiremix.htm";
$include3 = "img/starnet.htm";
$include4 = "img/globalinteractive.htm";
$include5 = "img/conference.htm";
$include6 = "img/gocall.htm";
$include7 = "img/1stgenx.htm";
$include8 = "img/poker.htm";
$include9 = "img/dotcoment.htm";
$include10 = "img/netentertain.htm";
$include11 = "img/goldplay.htm";
$include12 = "img/casinoaffiliate.htm";

if ($ad== "1") {
include ("$include1");
include ("$include2");
include ("$include3");
include ("$include4");
include ("$include5");
include ("$include6");
include ("$include7");
include ("$include8");
include ("$include9");
include ("$include10");
include ("$include11");
include ("$include12");

} else if ($ad== "2") {
include ("$include2");
include ("$include3");
include ("$include4");
include ("$include5");
include ("$include6");
include ("$include7");
include ("$include8");
include ("$include9");
include ("$include10");
include ("$include11");
include ("$include12");
include ("$include1");

} else if ($ad== "3") {
include ("$include3");
include ("$include4");
include ("$include5");
include ("$include6");
include ("$include7");
include ("$include8");
include ("$include9");
include ("$include10");
include ("$include11");
include ("$include12");
include ("$include1");
include ("$include2");

....
etc etc etc etc ........
....

} else if ($ad== "12") {
include ("$include12");
include ("$include1");
include ("$include2");
include ("$include3");
include ("$include4");
include ("$include5");
include ("$include6");
include ("$include7");
include ("$include8");
include ("$include9");
include ("$include10");
include ("$include11");

} else {

echo ("There was an error downloading this page. Please press
RELOAD (Refresh) now");
}

?>

[Anon]

Shouldn't you use a seed first?

[Anon]

You really should learn how to use arrays. It'll clean up your code ALOT.

Here's a small sample(might not be the best way as I've only been learning php for 2 weeks now).

I use this code to get a random celebrity name for a search box.

function search_box() {
$array = array ("Britney Spears", "Melissa Joan Hart", "Jennifer Love Hewitt", "Christina Aguilera", "Jessica Simpson", "Mandy Moore", "Carmen Electra");
srand ((double) microtime() * 1000000);
$size = sizeof($array);
$size = $size - 1;

$ran_num = rand (0,$size);
$search_term = $array[$ran_num];
print("$search_term");
}

You should be able to play around with that code using your include1-12 files and get it to do what you need.