Width & Height
The width and height of the applet are set in the HTML code you add to the web page. Be sure to change the dimensions in the <object> and the <embed> tags.

The applet must be wide enough to display your widest image (if you use images) or your widest text item. It must be tall enough to display all the items you add to the menu.

To avoid the trial-and-error of finding the best size, set the Testmode parameter to 'yes' and click anywhere inside the applet: the minimum width and height will be shown in a tooltip message. You can then edit the HTML code and set Testmode back to 'no'. Remember that adding or removing items, or changing parameters such as the font, may mean that the applet's size needs to change again.

Parameters
The parameters below should be added to your datafile in the form NAME=VALUE (for instance, BgColor=FF0000). Each parameter should be on a separate line. You can leave blank lines in the list to organize the parameters into groups if you want to. The parameter names are not case-sensitive, and neither are the values, so BgColor=FF0000 is the same as bgcolor=ff0000. You can add the parameters to your file in any order. Most parameters have a default value which we show in bold text below: if you don't include the parameter in your datafile, the default value will be used automatically.

ArrowColor
If ShowArrow is set to 'yes', this parameter sets the color of the scrolling arrow that follows vertical mouse movement. The default is F0F0FF (blue-white).

ArrowLocation
A choice of left or right, according to which side of the menu the arrow and vertical line should be placed. The default is right.

ArrowPressColor
If ShowArrow is set to 'yes', this sets the color of the scrolling arrow when an item is clicked. The default color is FF0000 (red).

ShowArrow
A choice of yes or no, according to whether or not you want to show the scrolling arrow.

TransparentArrow
If Transparent is set to 'Yes', this parameter specifies whether the scrolling arrow should be made semi-transparent, to partly show the page background behind it. Values are yes or no, with a default of no.

BgColor
Sets the background color of the applet, when not transparent. The default value is 000000 (black). The BgColor is shown around the edges of the applet, and behind the images if images are used. (Note that CoolStrip can only change the background color after it has loaded. To have the same background color shown before the browser starts loading the applet, change the BgColor setting in the HTML code too.)

DefaultTarget
Every item can link to a separate URL, and it can open it into a separate frame or window: we provide numbered Target parameters for that. However, you probably want most (or maybe all) the links to open into one particular frame. Enter the frame name in this parameter, and every item without its own Target parameter will open the link into this 'default' frame. You can use the HTML names _self, _top, _parent, _blank or _new. If you leave this parameter out of your datafile, links will open into _self (the frame or window containing the applet).

Font
Sets the name, size and style of font to use for the text of items, with each part separated by commas. The default is Sans,8,plain.

• Name: You can include any number of font names, separated by pipe symbols (|), and the applet will use the first font available on the user's system. To ensure compatibility, finish with one of these generic names: Sans, Serif or Typewriter.
  
• Size: The size of the font in points.
  
• Style: The style can be plain, bold, italic or bold-italic.

ImageHeight
This parameter's value should be a number that specifies the height (in pixels) of the tallest image you want to display. The default is 0. If you enter the exact height of the tallest image, CoolStrip will leave a small space between the image and the first menu item. To create a larger gap, just use a higher value here. In other words, this parameter tells CoolStrip how many pixels from the top it should place the first menu item.

ItemSpacing
A number value which sets the amount of vertical space (in pixels) between each menu item. The default is 2.

LineColor
Sets the color of the vertical line placed beside the menu items. (The location of the line is set by the ArrowLocation parameter.) The default color is FFFFFF (red).

LoadProgressBorderColor
While CoolStrip loads any images you are using, it displays a progress bar. This parameter sets the border color of that bar. The default is 606060 (dark gray).

LoadProgressFillColor
This parameter sets the fill color of the progress bar (the part of the bar that indicates the loading progress). The default is 00FF00 (green). (The background color of the progress bar will match your BgColor.)

LoadText
Specifies the text to be displayed while CoolStrip loads any images you are using. The default text is Loading.... The text you choose must be short enough to fit into the width of the applet - CoolStrip does not wrap this text onto a second line.

LoadTextColor
Sets the color of the LoadText shown while CoolStrip loads images. The default is 00FF00 (green).

Name
Specifies a name for this instance of the applet. This is only necessary if you are using the applet in conjunction with our free Satellite add-on, and it's explained in the documentation for Satellite, available from the Cool Focus web site. If you are not using Satellite with this applet, it's best not to include this parameter in your datafile (although nothing bad will happen if you do).

SelectedItem
If Sticky is set to 'yes', this parameter takes a number value to specify which menu item should be shown as 'selected' when the menu starts. This can be a number between 1 and the total number of items you're using. If no item should be selected, use a value of 0, which is the default value.

SelectorColor
If ShowSelectors is set to 'yes', this parameter sets the fill color of the selector rectangle. The default color is 000000 (black).

SeparatorColor
Sets the color of the horizontal separator lines shown on the menu for any items that are used as separators (by entering a hyphen as their caption). The default is FF0000 (red).

ShowSelectorBorders
A choice of yes or no (with a default of yes) to specify whether the selector rectangle should have a visible border.

ShowSelectors
A yes or no parameter, specifying whether or not a selector rectangle should be shown when an item is focused.

ShowVersion
A yes or no value. This parameter is included in all Cool Focus Flash applets, and its default is no. If set to 'yes', the version number of the applet (and other details) will be shown when the applet starts. This is included only for troubleshooting purposes, to help you determine which version of an applet you're using. It should be set to 'no' (or removed from your datafile) before you publish your page.

Note: If the applet is not registered, this information will always be shown when the applet starts, regardless of the ShowVersion parameter's setting.

SoundClick
Specifies the absolute or relative URL of an MP3 audio file to play when an item is clicked. If you don't want to play a sound for this event, just leave this parameter out of your datafile.

SoundHover
Specifies the absolute or relative URL of an MP3 audio file to play when the mouse moves over an item. If you don't want to play a sound for this event, just leave this parameter out of your datafile.

SoundRelease
Specifies the absolute or relative URL of an MP3 audio file to play when the mouse is released after clicking an item. If you don't want to play a sound for this event, just leave this parameter out of your datafile.

Sticky
A choice of yes or no, according to whether the last-clicked item should be shown as selected (and remain selected until another item is clicked). The default is yes. This parameter must be set to 'yes' in order to use the SelectedItem and TextSelectColor parameters, and our PageSync features.

StripColor
Sets the color of the area of the applet where the text of menu items is placed. The default color is 505050 (dark gray). If you don't want a visible 'strip' containing the items, just set this to match your chosen BgColor.

Testmode
A yes or no value, with a default of 'no'. This parameter is included in most Cool Focus Flash applets, and is used to help you determine the best width and height for the applet. (Because of this, it's best to use this parameter when you've got everything in the applet the way you want it.) Set this parameter to 'yes', then view the applet in your browser and click anywhere inside the applet. You'll see the minimum width and height displayed in a tooltip message, and you can copy these values into the page's HTML code. When you're done, remember to set the Testmode parameter back to 'no' or delete it from your datafile.

Note: If you've specified a list of font names in the applet's font parameters, it's a good idea to check that the applet will be big enough whichever of those fonts is used: with Testmode set to 'yes', move each font name to the beginning of the list and refresh the page to see if Testmode reports that larger dimensions are needed.

TextAlign
A choice of left, center or right, setting the alignment of text on the menu. The default is left.

TextColor
Sets the color of items' text displayed by CoolStrip. The default for this parameter is F0F0FF (blue-white).

TextFocusColor
Sets the color of an item's text when the mouse moves over it. The default for this parameter is FF0000 (red).

TextPressColor
Sets the color of an item's text when clicked. The default for this parameter is 800000 (maroon).

TextSelectColor
Sets the text-color of the last-clicked (currently-selected) item, if Sticky is set to 'yes'. The default is 00FF00 (green).

Transparent
A yes or no parameter, with a default of no. If set to 'yes', the applet's background will be made transparent in compatible browsers, showing the HTML content (such as a page background) behind the applet.

Items
The parameters below are the most important ones: they set the text items (and optional images) to be displayed by CoolStrip. You must include at least one Item parameter or CoolStrip will display nothing at all!

The parameters all have numbers after their names, and the numbers you use must be consecutive, starting from 1. If you want to show 10 items, but you forget to include an Item7 parameter, CoolStrip will stop looking for any more, and will only find items 1 to 6.

Item1, Item2, ..., Item_n
These parameters specify the text you want CoolStrip to display for each item. The items will displayed in numerical order, starting from 1, and you can include as many items for each caption as you like. To make an item into a horizontal separator line, set the text of the item to be a hyphen (-). (Separators don't react to mouse-over or click, so don't include URL/Target/Message/Image parameters for this item.)

URL1, URL2, ..., URL_n
The URL to which the Item with the same numeric suffix should link when clicked. To make items behave like links in all respects except linking somewhere (which can be useful for testing), use a dollar sign ($, or when encoded, %24) as the first character of the URL.

Target1, Target2, ..., Target_n
The name of the frame or window into which the URL with the same number should open. If you don't include this parameter, the frame name set in the DefaultTarget parameter will be used.

Message1, Message2, ..., Message_n
An optional text message which will be displayed in the browser's status bar (in compatible browsers) when the mouse moves over the Item with the same numeric suffix.

Image1, Image2, ..., Image_n
CoolStrip can optionally display an image at the top of the applet for each item on the menu. The image is displayed when the corresponding entry is focused. These parameters let you specify the name (and location if necessary) of the image to display for the corresponding item, as an absolute or relative URL. The images are placed at the top of the applet area, centered horizontally, and are not resized or scaled. Use the ImageHeight parameter to tell CoolStrip how much space to allow above the menu for image-display. Note that Flash applets can only load non-progressive JPEG images. To use GIF or PNG images, they must first be converted to SWF format files - see the Image Support topic in Flash Applets for information.