Update Website Ticker Content From Mobile - Easy Guide
The Advantages of Real-Time News Updates for Independent Journalists
A significant benefit of working as an independent journalist is the ability to stay highly informed about unfolding events within a specific area of coverage.
Conversely, this role also necessitates a rapid response to deliver the most current information and news to the online audience before competitors.
Implementing a Breaking News Banner
Large news organizations, such as CNN, frequently employ a scrolling "breaking news" banner at the top of their webpages.
This method enables editors to publish a headline even while the full article is still being researched and prepared for publication.
In the context of breaking news, speed of delivery is paramount, and a ticker-style content display can provide a competitive edge.
The Challenge of Traditional Banner Updates
Historically, updating these banners required direct editing of the webpage's code.
The desire was to replicate this functionality on a personal website, but with the added convenience of updating the banner remotely.
A Mobile-Friendly Solution with PHP and AndFTP
A streamlined ticker content management system was developed utilizing PHP and the AndFTP Android application, a free FTP client.
However, any FTP client – including USB-based options or web-based interfaces – can be used to achieve the same result.
Essentially, any platform capable of FTP access allows for immediate banner updates, offering flexibility and responsiveness.
Key Benefits of this Approach
- Speed: Publish updates rapidly, even before the full article is complete.
- Accessibility: Update the banner directly from a mobile device.
- Simplicity: The system is straightforward to implement and maintain.
- Flexibility: Compatible with various FTP clients and platforms.
Implementing a Dynamic Banner on Your Website
Individuals acquainted with fundamental HTML will likely recognize the traditional Marquee tag, which initiates the scrolling text effect typically seen across the top of a webpage.
Customization of the background and text colors, alongside font styles, is necessary to ensure the banner harmonizes with your website’s design and projects a professional aesthetic. I initially selected colors that approximate my website’s scheme, though further refinement is possible – this serves as a functional demonstration. Essentially, the Marquee element displays the text you embed within its code.
Updating the displayed text necessitates direct editing of the code snippet within your webpage. To automate this process, I substituted the static text with a PHP include statement, directing the PHP script to retrieve content from a text file named "test.txt," located within a subdirectory of my web account’s public HTML folder.
This inclusion is represented by the following PHP code.
Consequently, instead of hardcoded text residing on your webpage, the banner content is dynamically sourced from a file stored on your web server. Any modification to the file’s content will immediately reflect in the website banner text.
This functionality is beneficial; however, I desired the ability to update the banner text without requiring access to my personal computer. Therefore, utilizing a text editor on my mobile phone, I created a text file with the same name as the file hosted on my web server. This file contains the most current news updates.
Whenever changes are made to the text file on your mobile device, simply launch your mobile FTP client – for example, AndFTP – and upload the updated file to the designated subdirectory on the server where the PHP include statement is directed.
The existing file is overwritten, and the new text becomes visible on your website. Updating the scrolling banner now involves modifying the text within the file on your mobile phone, uploading it to your web server, and observing the updated text appear on your site.
Further enhancements to this system are possible, such as synchronizing a DropBox directory with your web server. In this scenario, simply adding the new file to DropBox would automatically update the Marquee. However, this approach is more complex and may necessitate server configuration changes for which you lack permissions.
This method offers a swift and straightforward solution, granting you the flexibility to update scrolling text on your site from any location with FTP access and a text editor. Maintaining your site with the latest information has rarely been simpler.
Have you implemented this technique on your website, and if so, was it successful? What improvements would you suggest – are there ways to refine the PHP script? Please share your insights in the comments section below.
Image Credit: Wally Gobetz