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 panels and captions will always use the full width you set for the applet, but you must make sure the applet is wide enough to display the widest caption and/or item, taking into account the dimensions of icon images, and the indents of icons and text.

The required height depends upon whether Exclusive is set to Yes or No. If Exclusive is Yes, only one panel will be expanded at a time, and the applet's height should be enough that when the panel containing the most items is expanded, it's possible to see all its items and all other captions. If Exclusive is No, the applet should be tall enough that when every panel is expanded it's possible to see all captions and items.

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'.

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.

AnimationAmount
A number between 1 and 100 to set the speed of XPanel's animated expand/collapse effect. The default is 12, and higher numbers result in fewer animation steps being taken (and thus a quicker animation). To switch off animation, set this value to 100.

AnimationDelay
Sets the delay time in milliseconds between each expand/collapse animation step. The default is 5, and higher numbers produce slower animation. Use this in conjunction with AnimationAmount to fine tune the animation effect.

BgColor
Sets the background color of the applet. The default value is FFFFFF (white). (Note that XPanel 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.)

CaptionCornerRadius
A number which sets the radius of the rounded upper corners of the caption areas. This is a value between 0 (for a square corner) and 15. The default value is 5.

CaptionFillColor
Sets the fill color of the Captions, with a default of 0048B4 (blue).

CaptionFillGradientColor
This optional parameter sets a gradient color for the Captions. If this parameter is not included, captions will use a solid CaptionFillColor. If you do specify a color for this parameter, it will be used as the right-most color of the horizontal gradient.

CaptionFont
Sets the name, size and style of font to use for the Captions, 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.

CaptionHandCursor
A choice of yes or no to specify whether a hand cursor should be shown when the mouse moves over a caption. If Yes, the hand cursor will always be shown; if No, it will be shown only if the caption acts as a link (by including a URL parameter). The default is Yes.

CaptionIconIndent
A number which sets the distance in pixels of the caption icons from the left edge of the applet. The default is 6. (This parameter is ignored if LargeCaptionIcons is set to Yes.)

CaptionIndent
A number which sets the distance in pixels of the captions' text from the left edge of the applet. The default is 28.

CaptionTextColor
Sets the color of the text used for the Captions. The default is FFFFFF (white).

CaptionTextFocusColor
Sets the color of a Caption's text when the mouse moves over it. The default is ACCDFF (light blue).

CaptionTextSelectColor
Sets the color of a Caption's text when the caption is selected and expanded. The default is FFB542 (orange).

CaptionPadding
A number which sets the amount of vertical padding (in pixels) to apply to the captions. This can be used to make the caption areas taller; the text and icons are vertically centered within the caption area. The default is 4.

CaptionSpacing
A number which sets the amount of vertical space (in pixels) to place between each caption/panel combination. The default is 8.

DefaultTarget
Every Caption and 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).

Exclusive
A choice of yes or no which determines whether XPanel allows multiple panels to be expanded at once. If Exclusive is set to Yes, expanding one panel automatically collapses any other expanded panel. If Exclusive is set to No, users can expand all panels. The default is yes.

ExpandAll
This is another yes or no parameter, which can be used if Exclusive is set to No. If you set this parameter to Yes, every caption will be expanded when XPanel starts, overriding the setting of the SelectedCaption parameter.

ItemFocusUnderline
A value of yes or no, according to whether or not an Item should be underlined when the mouse moves over it. The default is yes.

ItemFont
Sets the name, size and style of font to use for the Items in each panel, with each part separated by commas. The default is Sans,8,plain. This parameter should be constructed in the same way as CaptionFont.

ItemIconIndent
A number which sets the distance in pixels of the item icons from the left edge of the applet. The default is 12.

ItemIndent
A number which sets the distance in pixels of the items' text from the left edge of the applet. The default is 34.

ItemSpacing
A number which sets the amount of vertical space (in pixels) to place between each item in a panel. The default is 8. (The PanelPadding parameter is used to place additional space above and below a block of items.)

ItemTextColor
Sets the text color of theItems in a panel. The default is 215DC5 (blue).

ItemTextFocusColor
Sets the text color of an Item when the mouse moves over it. The default is 428EFF (light blue).

ItemTextPressColor
Sets the text color of an Item when clicked. The default is FF8418 (orange).

LargeCaptionIcons
A choice of yes or no which specifies how the caption icons are positioned. The default value is no, meaning that the icons will be vertically centered in the caption area, and horizontal offset by the amount in the CaptionIconIndent parameter. If you choose Yes, the CaptionIconIndent parameter is ignored and the icons are placed at the extreme left of the caption. By default they are vertically centered, but you can use the LargeCaptionIconOffset parameter to adjust their vertical positions.

By way of explanation, we assume you would use small 16x16-pixel images for the captions, which are best placed a little to the left of the caption with this parameter set to No. However, if you use larger images (such as 32x32), it can be effective to set this parameter to Yes and move the images upward or downward by a few pixels using the parameter below. (Doing this will small images tends to look like a mistake.)

LargeCaptionIconOffset
If LargeCaptionIcons is set to Yes, this parameter specifies a positive or negative number by which the caption icons are offset vertically from the center of the caption area. The default is -6, which moves the images upward by 6 pixels. This parameter is ignored if LargeCaptionIconOffset is set to No.

LoadProgressBorderColor
While XPanel loads any images you are using, it displays a progress bar. This parameter sets the border color of that bar. The default is 000000 (black).

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).

LoadText
Specifies the text to be displayed while XPanel 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 - XPanel does not wrap this text onto a second line.

LoadTextColor
Sets the color of the LoadText shown while XPanel loads images. The default is 000000 (black).

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).

MaxPanelItems
Sets the maximum number of items to display at once in each panel. You can use this parameter to restrict the heights of the panels. For example, if you set this parameter to 5, any panels containing more than 5 items will be tall enough to show 5, and scroll buttons will be added to allow other items to be scrolled into view. The default value for this parameter is 0. If the value is set to less than 3 it will be ignored, and panels will all be large enough to display all the items they contain.

PanelFillColor
Sets the fill (background) color of the panels containing the items, visible when a caption is expanded. The default is EFF3FF (very pale blue).

PanelFillGradientColor
Sets the lower color of a gradient-filled panel. If a color is specified, each panel will use a vertical gradient fill fading from the PanelFillColor to this color. If no gradient is wanted, leave this parameter out of your datafile, or set it to match the PanelFillColor.

PanelBorderColor
If ShowPanelBorder is set to Yes, this sets the color of the border shown around the left, right and bottom edges of the item panels. The default is FFFFFF (white).

PanelPadding
A number which sets the amount of vertical padding (in pixels) to apply to the item panels. This amount is split equally above and below the items. The default is 18.

SelectedCaption
An optional parameter which specifies the index number of the Caption which should be expanded when the menu first appears (if any). The default is 0, meaning that no caption will be expanded. To expand the 3rd caption, for instance, set this parameter's value to 3. The expanded caption can also by changed dynamically at runtime via scripting (in compatible browsers); see PageSync for details.

ScrollBorderColor
If MaxPanelItems is set to 3 or higher, limiting the heights of the panels, this parameter sets the color of the borders around the scroll buttons added to panels containing more than the specified number of items.

ScrollArrowColor
If MaxPanelItems is set to 3 or higher, limiting the heights of the panels, this parameter sets the color of the arrows in the scroll buttons added to panels containing more than the specified number of items.

ScrollArrowFocusColor
If MaxPanelItems is set to 3 or higher, limiting the heights of the panels, this parameter sets the color of a scroll arrow when the mouse moves over it.

ShowPanelBorder
A choice of yes or no according to whether a border should be drawn around the item panels using PanelBorderColor. The default is yes.

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.

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

SoundItemRelease
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.

SoundCollapse
Specifies the absolute or relative URL of an MP3 audio file to play when a caption is clicked to collapse it.

SoundExpand
Specifies the absolute or relative URL of an MP3 audio file to play when a caption is clicked to expand it.

SoundScroll
Specifies the absolute or relative URL of an MP3 audio file to play when a scroll button is clicked.

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.

ToggleIndent
Sets the indent of the toggle images (specified in the 4 parameters below) from the right edge of the applet. This is the distance in pixels of the right-edge of the images from the applet edge. The default is 4. (The toggle images are always positioned in the vertical center of the caption area.)

ToggleDownImage
The absolute or relative URL of a non-progressive JPEG image or a SWF image to use as the toggle-image for a non-expanded caption. Toggle images are shown only if you specify both a ToggleDownImage and a ToggleUpImage.

ToggleDownFocusImage
The absolute or relative URL of a non-progressive JPEG image or a SWF image to display when the mouse moves over a non-expanded caption or its toggle-down image. This parameter is optional: if you don't specify a 'focus' image, XPanel will continue to display the plain ToggleDownImage in its place. XPanel will only use this image if you also specify a ToggleUpFocusImage.

ToggleUpImage
The absolute or relative URL of a non-progressive JPEG image or a SWF image to use as the toggle-image for an expanded caption. Toggle images are shown only if you specify both a ToggleUpImage and a ToggleDownImage .

ToggleUpFocusImage
The absolute or relative URL of a non-progressive JPEG image or a SWF image to display when the mouse moves over an expanded caption or its toggle-up image. This parameter is optional: if you don't specify a 'focus' image, XPanel will continue to display the plain ToggleUpImage in its place. XPanel will only use this image if you also specify a ToggleDownFocusImage.

Transparent
A choice of yes or no according to whether XPanel should have a transparent background in compatible browsers. The default is no. If set to yes, the area usually filled with BgColor will be transparent. You should also note that when an animated applet is transparent, its animation effect is considerably slower and less smooth due to the huge amount of extra work the browser must do to repaint the content behind the applet at each animation step. (These restrictions and problems don't apply if you are loading XPanel into your own Flash movie, where transparency is usually desirable.)

Captions
The five parameters below create 'captions' — the clickable headers that toggle a panel between expanded and collapsed states. Each 'caption' provides a panel containing linking items which becomes visible when the caption is clicked. As well as toggling the expanded/collapsed state, a caption can also act as a link to a web page or other resource. If you choose, a caption could act as a link only, and contain no panel or items. You must include at least one Caption parameter, or XPanel will display nothing at all!

The parameters all have numbers after their names, and the numbers must be consecutive, starting from 1. If you want to show 5 captions, but you forget to include a Caption4 parameter, XPanel will stop looking for any more, and will only find captions 1 to 3.

Caption1, Caption2, ..., Caption_n
These parameters specify the text you want XPanel to display for each caption. The captions will displayed in numerical order, starting from 1, and you can include as many captions as you like.

URL1, URL2, ..., URL_n
The optional URL to which the Caption with the same number should link when clicked. If you don't want the item to act as a link, don't include a URL parameter for it. 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. Note that the link will be fired every time the caption is clicked; this could be annoying for users, so we don't recommend using captions as links and containers for items.

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 Caption with the same number.

Icon1, Icon2, ..., Icon_n
The absolute or relative URL of a non-progressive JPEG image or a SWF image to use as the icon for this caption. If you don't want to display an icon for the caption, simply leave this parameter out of your datafile.

Items
These parameters create linking items in the panel below each Caption, which are shown when the caption is clicked to expand it. They are all prefixed with a number and a hyphen. The number refers to the Caption you are adding this item to: 1-Item1 is the first item added to Caption1. 1-Item2 is the second item for Caption1 and so on. To add items to Caption3, you would use 3-Item1, 3-Item2, and so on.

The URL, Target, Message and Icon parameters for the item should be numbered exactly the same way as the Item parameter they work with.

1-Item1, 1-Item2, ..., 1-Item_n
These parameters specify the text you want XPanel 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.

1-URL1, 1-URL2, ..., 1-URL_n
The optional URL to which the Item with the same numeric prefix and 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.

1-Target1, 1-Target2, ..., 1-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.

1-Message1, 1-Message2, ..., 1-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 prefix and suffix.

Icon1, Icon2, ..., Icon_n
The absolute or relative URL of a non-progressive JPEG image or a SWF image to use as the icon for this item. If you don't want to display an icon for the item, just leave this parameter out of your datafile.