Gore 2000 Web Site Uses HTML Source Code to Recruit Campaign
Code Writers
(September 3, 1999) Only one major Presidential candidate uses comments in the HTML source code to communicate with visitors. The Al Gore 2000 web site has a message buried in the source code which encourages code writers to get involved in his campaign.
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HTML source code is part of a document which a web server delivers to a client browser. It instructs the browser on how to display a page. However, the source code is not visible to people using browsers in the normal mode.
Web page authors sometimes include material in the source code inside the comments tag, <! -- -->. This tag instructs the browser to ignore the material inside of it.
The comment tags are often used by web page authors to describe their work for others who collaborate on the project, or as a reminder if the page is viewed at a later date.
The following comment lies on the home page of the Gore 2000 web site:
Thanks for checking out our source code! I plan to use this space to post special messages to those who are helping to improve our web site -- by making our source code the best it can be. The fact that you are peeking behind the scenes at our site means you can make an important difference to this Internet effort. I'm grateful for your help and support in this campaign. Now let's keep working to build the 21st Century of our dreams!
Al Gore
The Gore 2000 source code also contains a longer message on how to volunteer with HTML, JavaScript, Java, C, Cold Fusion, Active Server Pages, Perl, cgi, or to provide feedback on the design of the site. It states that:
All individual volunteer ideas and submissions will be considered, and successful submissions will be credited as they go on-line. This site is a living document, and we want it to get better every day. Your participation is crucial to its success.
To get involved with the Gore 2000 Volunteer Source Code Project, e-mail us at:
sourcecodevolunteers@algore2000.com
A spokesman for the Gore campaign told Tech Law Journal that they have received positive feedback as a result of these messages, and have implemented some suggestions for improving the web site's design.
In addition, and like all other major presidential campaign sites, the Gore 2000 web site seeks volunteers in a more traditional way: by asking people to fill out an html form. The site also solicits online campaign contributions.The Gore 2000 web site is hosted on a server running Microsoft Windows NT Server, with Internet Information Server. The Gore campaign uses a variety of applications to develop the web site.