Web Design

Add A Counter To Your .msnw Page
(also applies to Guestbooks and other add-ons)

Before you start: MSN will not support any form of script. Many freebie sites offer "HTML" counters which are a combination of HTML and JavaScript. If the counter code includes words like SCRIPT, JAVASCRIPT, JavaScript, JScript, FORM, or anything other than just plain old HTML inside those pointy brackets: < >, it is not going to work.

Among the known offenders is Bravenet. Bravenet offers many nice tools and some do work on MSN. However, many are driven by JavaScripts and MSN will not allow their use to prevent abuse (and outside/pop-up advertising). Try one of the other counters listed below instead.

You may want to print this to make it easier to follow.

Open a Notepad file to act as a semi-permanent clipboard:
1. Click on your Start Menu.
2. Click the Run... option.
3. Type "notepad" and push [Enter].
This allows you to Copy and Paste the HTML code to a safe spot in case you make a mistake.
It also gives you a spot to record extra details in plain text which you can save until needed.

You may wish to include:
1. The URL/Internet Address of the page to which you will be adding the counter. If in doubt, use your Group's basic address - http://groups.msn.com/YourGroupName - most sites will let you modify this detail later if you choose to move the counter.
2. The semi-disposable e-mail address most sites require to activate your hit counter account.
3. The sign in name you used to join the hit counter site.
4. The password they provide to access/activate your account.
5. The actual code snippet you will receive.
These details may come in handy several months down the road when you finally need to fix something and can no longer remember them. By copying them into the Notepad file, you can Save the text file or print it out for safe keeping.
Review the various counters which will work on MSN (see the bottom of this page) and pick one which seems to suit your style. For most of these, they will ask for some personal details - leave them blank or fill in nonsense to prevent privacy issues. We suggest that you do not sign up for anything offered additionally at the site and read over the Terms of Use/Privacy conditions carefully.
Fill out the registration at the counter site. They may ask you to check your e-mail for a verification letter to activate your counter. Be patient, sometimes they do not arrive in the first 30 seconds, sometimes it takes up to 24 hours.
Once you finish registering and activating your new counter, you will be provided with a snippet of HTML code to add to your page. Do not worry if you are not an HTML junkie yet, it is a simple copy/paste process with only a few extra steps.
Start by copying the complete code they offer (Ctrl+A, Ctrl+C) and Paste it into your Notepad file for safe keeping (Ctrl+V).
Visit the MSN page to which you wish to add to counter - be sure you are signed in as a manager/assistant manager so you will be able to edit the page.
For the What's New Page, there is a special link within the page labelled: Edit Welcome Message.
For all other pages, just click on the page name in the left navigation area and a link will appear below reading "Edit This Page". (This only appears for members of the management team.) Click on the link to edit your page.
At the bottom of the page editor window you will see a checkbox for "Use HTML to create your page." Click this.
You will see a whole bunch of silly words and confusing text - this is HTML code. Scroll all the way to the very bottom of the page. This is very important since it will keep your code in one easy to find place and will not mess up the remainder of the page if something goes wrong.
Copy (Ctrl+C) and Paste (Ctrl+V) your code from the Notepad file into the MSN editor (at the very bottom).
Click the Save Page button.
You now should see your page with the hit counter way down at the bottom. That's o.k. If you want your hit counter to appear in a different spot, you can click the "Edit This Page" link again and use the normal (visual) editor to Cut (Ctrl+X) the counter from its spot in the page and Paste (Ctrl+V) it to any location on the page that you want it and Save it again.
Auntie adds: If the "commented" text portions show on your page after you save it the first time, you can carefully delete that text in the visual editor and Save it again. Also, you may need to Refresh (F5) the web page after saving as the counters sometimes do not show after editing your page.

These instructions work with the counters listed below. You might have to do things differently with others. Beseen and Bravenet counters work unreliably on MSN Groups. Avoid them.

Keep In Mind:

Hit counters will not work on message board pages, chatroom, documents folders, list pages etc. They can only be added to custom .msnw pages.
If a guest uses a link which leads directly to one of those pages rather than the entrance page with the counter, they will not be added to the hits.
Most hit counters can be set to any number. For this reason, surfers largely ignore them and they are not productive advertizing tools. Professional web sites come with discreet, built-in tools which more accurately categorize guests without 3^rd-party privacy issues, so experienced webmasters will not use hit counters.
Most freebie hit counter sites make their money by selling "non-personally identifying information" about your guests and their surfing habits. For this reason alone, experienced webmasters avoid using them. Most experienced surfers will already have security measures in place to block such spying and they will not show up on your daily counts anyway.

Free Counters Which Work Reliably on MSN Groups.
BCentral	Free from BCentral.com - FastCounter, works with MSN Groups and makes use of your Passport to register! Just ignore all the hype about FastCounterPro, it is just a paid version with bells and whistles.	Honesty	Many designs to choose from - be sure to pick "Add Web Counter" from the list of counter types to get the right HTML code for MSN Groups.
Hit Counter	HTMLcounter.com is a free service provided by Admo.net. Just two lines of HTML code and that is it!	Site Meter	Free hit counter from Site Meter.com will work on an MSN page. Detailed stats, easy to use. Requires registration - do not subscribe to any free newletters or ads from them and you will stay spam free. Check the help files for specific code for MSN Groups. Nice features.
Digits Counter	Free hit counter by Digits.com Note: they have taken action against abusers of the free accounts, so do not pad your hits.	Any more? Drops us a line and we will add them to Polls & Tools Links
French Counter	Free (French) counter by Free Compteur.com	English Counter	Nice images and they accept new versions. English version from Free Compteur.com
Live Hit Counter	Another image-based, free, live online counter. Sign up for a regular account at Free Compteur.com and you can enter the Administration area of your account and get a "Who's Online Now" counter which will not work on .msnw pages. It'll still only tell you who's on that page. Special thanks to Jacotte_33 for taking the time to let us know about it.