Rotate an iframe Source Every 24 Hours

kcelsi · October 12, 2013

Hello,

I am trying to change the source page of an iframe every 24 hours automatically in Eastern Standard time in any browser on any computer. I thought I could do this with javascript, but was told that php is the better way.

I am a newbie to php. I am a web designer and I'm trying to learn more about programming. I have some knowledge of php, but only basic.

Can anyone tell me how to do this? Thank you!

PravinS · October 12, 2013

if you are not going to reload the page then you can use meta refresh tag in iframe source page

kcelsi · October 12, 2013

The source pages need to be there whether the page is refreshed or not. It's for a mortgage company. One day, the page has to be for one broker, the next day the page has to be for the other broker and so on every day. All viewers must be able to see the right broker for that day when viewing the page from any computer.

Edited October 12, 2013 by kcelsi

vinny42 · October 12, 2013

I thought I could do this with javascript

Then try that first. It doesn't matter to the visitor and you'll probably have a working solution much sooner than with PHP.

Just make it intelligent; don't add all the brokers into the HTML and hide all but the current one; use ajax to only load the current one. That way the webserver will also register a hit for every broker loaded and you can prove to your brokers that the all had a equal share of hits, etc...

.josh · October 12, 2013

There are a number of ways you can store the list of brokers and flag the current, one, but here is an example to demonstrate the principle.

Create a text file with the list of brokers. The first broker in the list will be the one for the current day.

brokers.txt

broker1
broker2
broker3
etc..

Code for getting the first broker in the list. This will be what you use on your page to get the current broker for the day.

<?php
$handle = fopen('brokers.txt', 'r');
$broker = fgets($handle);
fclose($handle);

// example:
echo "current broker is: " . $broker . "<br/>";
?>

Now for script that rotates the list. You don't actually include this on the web page, nor does the visitor go to it. Instead, you will create a cronjob to run the script every 24 hours.

rotateBrokers.php

<?php
$file = 'brokers.txt';                             // name of file
$brokers = file($file);                            // get the list from the file
$oldBroker = trim(array_shift($brokers)).PHP_EOL;  // remove the first broker from the list
array_push($brokers,$oldBroker);                   // put it onto the end of the list
file_put_contents($file,$brokers);                 // write reordered list back to file
?>

Barand · October 12, 2013

No need for cron job

$brokers = array (
    'www.broker1.co.uk',
    'www.broker2.com',
    'www.broker3.com',
    'www.broker4.co.uk'
    );                                                      // or use file() as reply^^
$numbrokers = count($brokers);
$dayofyear = date('z');

$todaysURL = 'http://'.$brokers[$dayofyear%$numbrokers];

kcelsi · October 12, 2013

The last post by Barand seems to be the easiest way to go. Couple of questions though. There will only be two rotating web pages so how would I write this specifically to what I need to do. Which parts of this code need to be customized to my specific page. Is it everything in green? If so, can you give an example of what I put in for 'z' and which url (broker 1 or broker2) do I put into the last line.

Also, is there anything that I need to change in the html for the iframe? This is what I have now to show only one source page:

<div id="iframe"><iframe id="iframeHome" src="https://www.broker1.com" frameborder="0">Browser Not Compatible</iframe></div>

Thanks!

Ch0cu3r · October 12, 2013

Is it everything in green?

Not every thing no. That is the forums syntax highlighting

Which parts of this code need to be customized to my specific page.

The urls in the $brokers array. Enter each of your brokers websites into that array. As Barand has demonstrated

If so, can you give an example of what I put in for 'z'

You don't change that, date is a PHP function, z is used to get the curent day of the year

http://php.net/date

Also, is there anything that I need to change in the html for the iframe? This is what I have now to show only one source page:

<div id="iframe"><iframe id="iframeHome" src="https://www.broker1.com" frameborder="0">Browser Not Compatible</iframe></div>

Yes change the iframe code to

 <div id="iframe"><iframe id="iframeHome" src="<?php echo $todaysURL; ?>" frameborder="0">Browser Not Compatible</iframe></div>

Edited October 12, 2013 by Ch0cu3r

Barand · October 12, 2013

If there are only then there will be just two urls in the array

<?php
$brokers = array (
    'www.broker1.co.uk',
    'www.broker2.com'
    ); 
$numbrokers = count($brokers);
$dayofyear = date('z');

$todaysURL = 'http://'.$brokers[$dayofyear%$numbrokers];
?>

 <div id="iframe"><iframe id="iframeHome" src="<?php echo $todaysURL ?>" frameborder="0">Browser Not Compatible</iframe></div>

If a third broker comes along, just add it to the array

jazzman1 · October 13, 2013

Pretty tricky Barand

I never thought about using an array like that.

My first reflection was like .josh's reply with a cron job.

kcelsi · October 13, 2013

Thanks so much. So far it's working, but I won't know for sure until tomorrow to see if it changes. It seems to be showing the second url first. Is that normal? Also, will this change at exactly midnight every night?

Ch0cu3r · October 13, 2013

It should serve a different url for each day.

To simulate the day changing and what url be served on that day you can this code

<?php

$time = time();
if(isset($_GET['time'])) $time = $_GET['time'];
if(isset($_GET['next'])) $time = strtotime('+1 day', $time);
if(isset($_GET['prev'])) $time = strtotime('-1 day', $time);

$brokers = array (
    'www.broker1.co.uk',
    'www.broker2.com',
    'www.google.co.uk',
    'www.phpfreaks.co.uk'
    ); 
$numbrokers = count($brokers);
$dayofyear = date('z', $time);

$todaysURL = 'http://'.$brokers[$dayofyear%$numbrokers];

$dateFormat = date('jS M y', $time);
echo '
On <b>'.$dateFormat.'<b> url will be: <b>'.$todaysURL.'</b>
<p>
  <a href="?prev&time='.$time.'">Previous Day</a> | 
  <a href="?next&time='.$time.'">Next Day</a>
</p>';?>

As you click the links you see the url changing.

Edited October 13, 2013 by Ch0cu3r

.josh · October 13, 2013

One other thing.. you mentioned wanting it to be EST based. If the server isn't located in EST timezone, add this to the top of it:

date_default_timezone_set('America/New_York');

kcelsi · October 13, 2013

I added the code to update the time zone. Thank you all for the help!

kcelsi · November 3, 2013

Hello,

I'm having problems with this again. Here some issues I'm having:

1. I have 7 pages with iframes that are supposed to rotate daily between two web pages from GuaranteedRate.com. They are:

http://www.newjerseyrates.com/

http://www.newjerseyrates.com/Buying-a-Home.php

http://www.newjerseyrates.com/Refinance.php

http://www.newjerseyrates.com/Loan-Options.php

http://www.newjerseyrates.com/Mortgage-Rates.php

http://www.newjerseyrates.com/Calculators-GuaranteedRate.php

http://www.newjerseyrates.com/About-GuaranteedRate.php

For some reason, the pages are not changing any more. I know it was working when I first uploaded the site, but now, only one link shows up and it stays on that one all the time.

2. When you type the url directly to go to the home page, a different page comes up than if you click on any link within the site to get to the home page. Entering the site externally will produce a different home page than getting to the home page internally. I only have one index.php file so this is a mystery to me.

3. When I "view source" in the browser, the code that shows up is completely wrong on all the pages. I checked the file manager from my hosting provider and there, the code for each page is correct. The browser view source is showing the old javascript that I replaced with the php. I thought this could be why it's not working, but I have uploaded the pages several times and the browser is still showing the incorrect code. I have tried clearing the browser cache.

4. I did a test and about 30% of the people I tested that go to the home page, have the main site www.guaranteedrate.com show up in the iframe instead of the link I have in the php code. I'm not sure if this is a problem with my code, an issue with the hosting provider or something related to the Guaranteed Rate site on their end.

I am in a rush to get all this ironed out because my client is pausing their pay per click campaign until it's resolved. Anyone who could shed light on any of these issues, please let me know. Code samples are below. Thank you.

For example, the index.php page should be (this is what shows up in my hosting file manager):

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd">

<head>

<title>New Jersey (NJ) Mortgage Lender, Mortgage Rates, Fha, Refinance & Home Loans</title>

<?php

date_default_timezone_set('America/New_York');

$brokers = array (

'www.guaranteedrate.com/loanoptions/vpname/leezacharczyk',

'www.guaranteedrate.com/loanoptions/vpname/markzacharczyk'

);

$numbrokers = count($brokers);

$dayofyear = date('z');

$todaysURL = 'http://'.$brokers[$dayofyear%$numbrokers];

?>

<style>

@media print {

body {

color: #000;

background: #fff;

}

h1, h3 {

color: #000;

background: none;

}

#header, #footer, #leftNav, #right {

display: none;

}

@page {

margin: 2cm;

}

img {

max-width: 100% !important;

}

ul, img {

page-break-inside: avoid;

}

a {

font-weight: bolder;

text-decoration: none;

}

a[href^=http]:after {

content:" <" attr(href) "> ";

}

</style>

body {

background-image: url(images/BkrdTexture.jpg);

background-repeat: repeat;

}

</style>

</head>

<body>

</div>

<div class="headerRightContactText" id="headerRightContact"><a href="contact.html">Contact</a> NewJerseyRates.com</div>

<div id="headerRightTagline">Customized, Automated NJ Mortgage Rate Quotes <span class="redText">Accurate and Up-to-the-Minute</span>

</div>

<li class="aboutCredit"><a href="About-Credit.html">About Credit</a></li>

<li class="loanProg"><a href="Loan-Programs.html">Loan Programs</a></li>

<li class="survey"><a href="Survey.html">Survey</a></li>

<li class="homeInspec"><a href="Home-Buyers-Info.html">Home Buyers Info</a></li>

<li class="about"><a href="about_us.html">About NewJerseyRates.com</a></li>

<li class="partnerLinks"><a href="links.html">Partner Links</a></li>

<li class="glossary"><a href="gloss.html">Glossary</a></li>

</ul>

</div>

<li class="leftNavBuyHome"><a href="Buying-a-Home.php">Buying a Home<img class="navArrowHome" src="images/navArrow.gif" alt="Nav Arrow" width="11" height="11"/></a></li>

<li class="leftNavRefi"><a href="Refinance.php">Refinance<img class="navArrowRefi" src="images/navArrow.gif" alt="Nav Arrow" width="11" height="11"/></a></li>

<li class="leftNavRefi"><a href="Loan-Options.php">Loan Options<img class="navArrowLoanOpt" src="images/navArrow.gif" alt="Nav Arrow" width="11" height="11"/></a></li>

<li class="leftNavRefi"><a href="Mortgage-Rates.php">Mortgage Rates<img class="navArrowMort" src="images/navArrow.gif" alt="Nav Arrow" width="11" height="11"/></a></li>

<li class="leftNavRefi"><a href="Calculators-GuaranteedRate.php">Calculators<img class="navArrowCalc" src="images/navArrow.gif" alt="Nav Arrow" width="11" height="11"/></a></li>

<li class="leftNavAbout"><a href="About-GuaranteedRate.php">About Us<img class="navArrowAbout" src="images/navArrow.gif" alt="Nav Arrow" width="11" height="11"/></a></li>

<li class="leftNavPreApp"><a href="Pre-Approval.html">Instant Pre-Approval</a></li>

<li class="leftNavCustomRates"><a href="index.php">Customized <br />

Mortgage Rates</a></li></ul>

</div>

<div id="iframe"><iframe id="iframeHome" src="<?php echo $todaysURL ?>" frameborder="0">Browser Not Compatible</iframe></div>

</div>

</div>

<div id="template-footer"> 500 State Rt. 35 Middletown, New Jersey 07701 | <script type="text/javascript">

<!--

var linkText = "Email Us "

var preName = "lee.zacharczyk"

var postName = "guaranteedrate.com"

document.write("<a href=" + "mail" + "to:" + preName + "@" + postName + ">" + linkText + "</a>")

//-->

</div>

</body>

</html>

and the view source of Chrome and IE shows:

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd">

<head>

<title>New Jersey (NJ) Mortgage Lender, Mortgage Rates, Fha, Refinance & Home Loans</title>

var frames = Array('https://www.guaranteedrate.com/loanoptions/vpname/markzacharczyk' 86.4*1000,

'https://www.guaranteedrate.com/loanoptions/vpname/leezacharczyk' 86.4*1000);

var i = 0, len = frames.length;

function ChangeSrc()

{

if (i >= len) { i = 0; } // start over

document.getElementById('iframeHome').src = frames[i++];

setTimeout('ChangeSrc()', (frames[i++]*1000));

}

window.onload = ChangeSrc;

</script>