Random Entities

A Random entity provide content selected by chance from a list of alternatives. For each request, Interaction will pick a random item to embed in the page. This is useful for random ads or if you want to make parts of the site vary from visit to visit.

Interaction makes random content easy, with no need to do any scripting or mess with cryptic files. Each random entity is configured in a dialog that list the various alternatives from which a random item will be selected. The content of each item can be changed at any time in a text field. References for other entities as well as markup can be used in each item, so the possibilities are virtually unlimited in terms of combining entities for various effects. The random value is embedded in one or more documents with a simple entity reference in accordance with standard markup.

For example, here is a random greeting: Reload the page to get another one!

Installing the Random Entities Component

1. Download the Random Entities archive.
2. Unstuff the archive (most browsers will do this for you).
3. Find the appropriate version of the component in the folder that best matches your version of Interaction.
4. Put the component file in the Components folder of Interaction
5. Restart Interaction to activate the component.

Open the Entities dialog from the File menu. Click the New button to create an entity. Select the new entity type from the pop-up menu, and complete the dialog. Repeat at any time to create an unlimited number of Random Entities.