Web Masters' Guide to X2 Online Crosswords

X2 User Guide

• Home

• Quick Start
  How to get your online crossword up and running right away

• Advanced Design
  How to make your crossword tie in with your site design

• Trouble-Shooting
  Help with any niggly file problems

• Glossary
  A complete, illustrated guide to what all the parameters in X2 do

Introduction

The X2 java applet is a program developed by Sutherland Studios that shows and plays an interactive crossword puzzle on a web page. X2 will run on any web server, in any browser, on any web page, and on any computer.

X2 was developed by Dr Ralph Sutherland using Java, and works with everything from Java 1.3 to Java 6.0.

In a sense, the X2 applet is like an interactive image file that is included in a web page. The html file/web page sets up the java applet and tells it where the crossword puzzle files are, how to display the puzzle with colours, layouts, and any links or graphics through the use of parameters.

The crossword file (.xrd), which contains the grid structure, clues, and answers, is packaged within the X2 applet and not visible to you. The applet can also contain sets of crosswords, ie more than one .xrd file.

The html code which is provided with each puzzle does not have to stand alone (although it can) - it is intended that you would copy and paste the code into your web site page, and then format the puzzle accordingly to make it fit the design of your site.

Even with none of the design paramaters specified, the crossword will still work and look fine. You may choose to specify a few main colours and layout options, leaving most of the parameters out; alternatively, you can specify colours and layout options in much more detail, and get a crossword that links strongly in with your web site design.

You are very welcome to contact us at any time with questions. We do our best to get back to you within 24 hours (and usually sooner!).

Combatting theft

As a special service, we offer domain-restricted versions of the X2 applet, so that your crosswords will only run when accessed on your server. This vastly reduces the chances of your crosswords and applet being stolen and run on other servers. There is a small one-time fee for this service.

Databases

There is another mode of handling the crossword files, which may appeal to high-end users running complex sites (eg newspaper web sites). This involves the puzzle files being served by a database, and running only one copy of the X2 applet. If you are interested in this option, please contact us for more information.