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Here are some answers to questions which have been asked by users of CLOX WebMaster...
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Last updated: September 2006
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1. You can change the <BODY TEXT> property of the page to a higher value (e.g. if you set it to <BODY TEXT>=WHITE then the text will appear in white). This will normally affect all the text on the page which doesn't have it's own 'FONT COLOR' or style specified.
2. You can use CSS styles to alter the styles of the page or just the text for the weekday and AM/PM indicators, or the captions. Add the line CX.FNT = "CSS" to your script to hand control over to the style sheet and add the classes. WebClox, CloxDays and CloxCaption to your style sheet.
3. Version 3 allows you to set the background of the clock display using a line like CX.BGC = "yellow" and/or CX.BGI = "MyBackground.gif"
4. You can place the clocks in a table cell with a lighter background so that the clocks appear in a rectangle. Alternatively, use a borderless table cell and have a non-rectangular shape as the background, for example by using a Gif image with the edges made transparent.
5. You can individually change the clock captions in the clock script e.g... CX.C3C = "<FONT COLOR=#33FF33>DUBLIN</FONT>" (This will make the clock 3 caption 'DUBLIN' appear in green.)
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Version 3, on the other hand, is a 100% server-side program (an Active Server Component or ASC) which actually runs from the server itself. Once the component (called webclox3.dll) is set-up on the server, a short script in your webpage sends the component its instructions whenever the page is accessed. The script in your page is then instantly and automatically replaced with the up-to-the-minute clock script which displays the clocks in the page.
See the Deployment Comparison Page for more details.
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Your ISP may already have CLOX WebMaster installed and ready go. In this case, you don't need to upload the server component file and you will probably not need to upload the clock images either. All you will need to upload is the web page containing the script.
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This will happen if the script can't locate the clock graphics folder. This can be the result of a simple typing mistake or by having the clock folder in an inappropriate place. The clocks folder should be a subdirectory of where the page script is.
If you're using version 1.1, try entering the Path to Images without any leading slash character. e.g. "clocks/" rather than "/clocks/". If you know where the script is trying to locate the clocks, either move the clocks to that location or adjust the clock path (CP) setting so that it is correct.
Question (CLOX WebMaster 2 or 3 specific)
Question (CLOX WebMaster 2 or 3 specific)
If the file is named correctly and you are still seeing no clocks, compare each line of script in your page with the user guide and the sample script provided. A simple missing letter, or punctuation mark will make the script fail.
Question (CLOX WebMaster 2 / 3 specific)
Where 'special' software IS needed is on the server. It must support Active Server Pages (ASP). The server must have one of the following operating systems... Microsoft NT/IIS4, Windows 95 with PWS, 98, 2000, 2003, ME or MX. There is another requirement too... The standard Microsoft system file MSVBVM50.DLL version 5.00.4319 or later must be installed on the server. If your ISP doesn't have this file installed on the server, ask them to install it for you, it's readily available and it's free! (If you have CLOX 2000 installed, you will find you have a copy of this file in your own Windows/System Folder.)
Question (CLOX WebMaster 2 / 3 specific)
Question (CLOX WebMaster 2 / 3 specific)
The software needs to work in an ASP capable environment, in other words you need a Microsoft Windows web server. The standard Windows folders don't provide the necessary funtionality, however, if you want to set up CLOX WebMaster on your desktop PC there are ways to do it unless you are using Windows ME or XP Home Edition. If you have Windows XP Professional you can use IIS. If you have Windows 95 or Windows 98 you can use Microsoft's free personal web server (PWS). IIS and PWS provide you with folders which behave like a web server with ASP capability. Put your script in one of those folders and navigate to it using root domain set in the server administrator panel. Note that for some reason neither Windows ME nor Windows XP Home Edition provide this functionality so you will have to upload to your Web Server to test your ASP pages.
For this to work, the WebClox3.dll file should be copied into your Windows folder and then regsvr'd by running the command "regsvr32.exe c:\Windows\WebClox3.dll" The clock images will also need to be unzipped into a suitable folder e.g. "C:/Pws/Root/clocks/".
If you just want the clocks on your PC for your own use, use CLOX 2000. (CLOX 2000 is included free with CLOX WebMaster)
Question (CLOX WebMaster 2 / 3 specific)
Question (CLOX WebMaster 2.0 specific)
Question (CLOX WebMaster 1.1 specific)
What skills do I need to be able to put CLOX WebMaster on my site?
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If you have successfully created and uploaded a web page you already have the necessary skills.
I am looking for clock software to use on my own computer. Is CLOX WebMaster a good program for this.
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CLOX WebMaster is designed for putting clocks on web pages. If you want a fully featured clock software package for use on your PC, you can download CLOX 2000 for Windows via this web page here.
What is the difference between CLOX WebMaster version 2.0 and version 3.0
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Version 3.0 has many enhanced features which give you more control over how the clocks are displayed. For example, you can now put any number of clocks you want on a page, from 1 to 100, or more if you like. Version 3.0 is easier to set up and gives you more control over fonts, backgrounds and spacing. You can also choose not to display the Weekday and AM/PM indicators, or choose upper or lower case for the text.
How much does it cost to upgrade to version 3?
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If you are already a registered user of any version of CLOX WebMaster you can upgrade to version 3 free of charge. Just download the package, upload webclox3.dll to your web server and run regsvr32 for it (this usually needs to be done by the system administrator). You will also need to change the part of your clock script which reads MWC2.Clocks to read MWC3.Clocks instead.
Does version 3 use ASP.NET?
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CLOX WebMaster works with both classic ASP and ASP.NET. To use the component in an ASP.NET page you must place the line <%@ Page aspcompat=true %> near the top of the script. You also need to replace the first occurrence of Set CX = Server.CreateObject("MWC3.Clocks") with Dim CX = Server.CreateObject("MWC3.Clocks"). If you are including more than one instance of the clocks object in the page, the subsequent block(s) of the script should have this line replaced simply with CX = Server.CreateObject("MWC3.Clocks") (no 'Set' or 'Dim').
Will CLOX WebMaster work in an HTML table cell?
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Yes, either version will work in a table cell. Just place the WebClox script in the desired table cell in your HTML script and there it will appear.
I want to put the clocks on a dark background on my page but the captions appear in black so they can't be seen. Can I use <FONT COLOR=...> tags to change the way the text looks?
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With CLOX WebMaster 3, there are at least five ways of solving this...
What is the difference between CLOX WebMaster version 1.1 and 3.0?
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Whilst the web page results from the two packages are basically the same, the two versions work in completely different ways. Version 1.1 runs like a normal Windows program. It re-generates your webpage with updated clock information every minute. It runs on a normal Windows desktop but it needs to be able to access the page on the server all the time. In other words, you really need to have permanent connection to the internet to use version 1.x
How do I change to appearance of the clocks, is it possible to have digital clocks?
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A choice of more than two dozen different clock styles are available, including digital clocks. All you need to do is replace the set of clock graphics with the ones you want to use. All registered users have free access to any of the styles and can change them at any time. To see examples of the available clock styles, click here.
Is there a way to make the clocks keep time all the time? All the clocks seem to stop after the web page has been displayed for three minutes.
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To keep page loading times as fast as possible, the clocks are designed to stop after three minutes. To make the clocks go on keeping time, you simply need to include a 'refresh' meta tag in your HTML header'. Simply place the line <META HTTP-EQUIV="refresh" CONTENT="180"> somewhere between the <HEAD> and </HEAD> tags at the top of the page script. This will make the page refresh automatically every three minutes.
Can images be placed behind the clocks without resorting using HTML 4 layers which many browsers don't support?
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Good question! Only a small percentage of internet users have browsers and machines which display HTML 4 layers correctly. CLOX WEBMASTER DOES NOT NEED HTML 4 BROWSERS to display clocks on top of another image. Instead, if you want to put an image behind the clocks, you can simply set an image as the background to a page or as the background to a table frame in which the clocks also appear (or both). To get some ideas of what's possible, take a look at this page. We can also prepare custom backgrounds and clock faces for you if you require them. Contact us for details.
CLOX WebMaster version 3.0 allows you to set a background image for the clock display by adding a line like CX.BGI = "./img/MyClockBackground.gif"
Can the clock image files be uploaded to the server in one go, in the zip file they are supplied in?
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If you have a way to unzip the clock image files on the server then go ahead and do that. However for most people, the quickest way to upload the clock files is to unzip them into an empty folder on your local machine, then, using an FTP client, create a clock folder on the server, highlight all the clock files and upload them (drag them) to the new folder on the server all in one go. Though they will actually be transmitted one at a time, which will usually take quite a few minutes, your FTP software will handle this otherwise monotonous task for you. This method is 720 times easier than manually uploading all the files one by one.
Apart from my web page script which will display the clocks, how many files do I need to upload to the server to make CLOX WebMaster work?
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721, or in the case of CLOX WebMaster 3 - 722. That's the 720 tiny clock image files plus the clock HTML or ASP page. In the case of CLOX WebMaster 2, the additional file to upload is the active server component (WebClox3.dll).
Apart from text and graphics, what else can be included on my web page with the clocks on?
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As far as we know, the clocks can happily co-exist with anything you can put on a web page, tables, frames, forms, active scripts, movies, sound... anything! Unlike various other web page addons, CLOX WebMaster doesn't do anything strange or unusual. It only displays what 99.9% of web browsers were designed to do... display text and graphics.
The clocks on my webpage are hyperlinked to the CLOX website. Can the hyperlinks be removed?
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Yes, the hyperlinks can be removed by following the special instructions which are available to registered users of CLOX WebMaster.
Does CLOX WebMaster use FrontPage Extensions?
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FrontPage is not needed to use CLOX WebMaster but it works happily alongside FrontPage features if you use them.
Does CLOX WebMaster use Java or Javascript?
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No, neither! Many internet users do not have Java features or have them switched-off for one reason or another (e.g. security or instability problems). CLOX WebMaster is designed to be visible to as many viewers as possible so it uses no Java, Javascript or anything else which requires advanced browser features to be enabled. If you can see graphics, you can see the clocks.
Will the clocks appear in older browsers such as Internet Explorer 2 or Netscape Navigator 2, and how can I test to see if a browser will display the clocks.
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CLOX WebMaster clocks work on even the earliest web browsers so unlike other kinds of animated web-based clocks. There is no need to make alternative pages and set up complicated browser checking. CLOX WebMaster clocks can be seen by everyone.
Does CLOX WebMaster require that viewers have Java, Javascript, cookies, Active-X or any other special settings or plugins active in their browsers.
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No. All these things can be turned on or off, it makes no difference!
My ISP doesn't support Active Server pages or ASP components, can I still use CLOX WebMaster to put clocks on my web site?
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You can use the older version 1.1 instead of version 3. v1.1 doesn't use ASP but you would need either direct network access to a server or a permanent internet connection. (Or accept that the clocks can only be displayed when you are connected.)
Which web hosting companies support Active Server pages and ASP components?
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Most Windows Server hosts provide these services. We recommend that you confirm this before buying hosting.
The clocks don't appear. Instead, I just see a row of 'missing graphic' icons where the clocks should be.
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Version 3.0 has new commands which can enable the page to find the clock directory wherever it is on your server.
How can I make the page stop trying to set cookies on the viewer's browser?
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Simple! CLOX WebMaster doesn't need to set cookies at all. You should include the line <%@ EnableSessionState=False %> at the top of your script page. This prevents the ASP script from trying to set unnecessary cookies.
It doesn't work! I have saved the web page as "default.htm", but in the browser, I see no clocks (nothing), or the script appears instead of the clocks... why?
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The file name of the page must be "something.asp". The asp extension tells the server to process the page as an active server page. Simply change the name of the page to "default.asp". The HTML in the page will still work as HTML but by using ".asp" instead of ".htm" or ".html" the server will know that it has to process the ASP script too.
Do I need any special ASP software to use CLOX WebMaster 2.0 or 3.0?
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Any text editor like Notepad will do! Basically you can prepare the script in any editor software you like. Adding the ASP script is simply a matter of copying and pasting the sample script from the instructions document into your HTML page, then saving it with a .asp extension. If you use a wordprocessor, when you save the file you must save it in plain text format. If the file ends up being called something like "yourfile.txt", simply rename the file to "yourfile.asp".
I have uploaded the WebClox2.dll (or WebClox3.dll) and the clock files to the server but the page gives an error message saying "Could not create object". What could be causing this error?
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WebClox2.dll must be uploaded to a server directory which is 'marked for executables' (e.g. your "cgi-bin" folder). You must also ask the server administrator to "regsvr32" it. This only needs to be done once but if this isn't done, the server will not acknowledge that it is there and the clocks won't work.
I know that CLOX WebMaster 2 (& 3) is designed to work on a server. How can I get it to work on my own Windows PC?
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This is usually more difficult than actually putting the clocks on a web server, so unless you like fiddling we recommend that you skip this and run the clocks on your web server where they will be of most use. You don't have to pay to register the software if you are just trying it out on your server for up to 60 days.
My website is on a server in Queensland, Australia which is 10 hours ahead of GMT. I have tried setting one of the clocks to show Hawaii time which is 20 hours behind us (CX.C4O = -20), but that clock just shows Queensland time. What have I done wrong?
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Your script must include the line CX.SO = n. Where n is your local (server) timezone expressed as hours ahead or behind GMT. If you change your script to read CX.SO = 10, this tells the software that your server is 10 hours ahead of GMT. The individual clocks should be set to timezones relative to GMT, not relative to your local timezone, in other words, you should set the Hawaii clock to CX.C4O = -10. This will ensure that your Hawaii clock shows the correct time.
I have set-up CLOX WebMaster 2.0 to display clocks for Los Angeles, Dallas, Toronto, London and Tokyo, but the clocks which display are Seattle, New York, London, Beijing and Canberra! What's going on?
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You are seeing the preset clock display because you have the line CX.RunWebCloxP or CX.RunWebCloxPD in your script. Delete the letter(s) P or PD so that it reads CX.RunWebClox instead. You will then see your desired timezones.
I'm trying to use CLOX WebMaster 1.1 but I keep getting the error "HTML file not valid" when I try to run the clock generator. Do you have an explanation for this?
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Check that the HTML file has an <HTML> tag in the top left-hand corner of the page script.
