[D]Vincent: first of all, i must be losing my mind, because the two blocks of code you just posted appear to be identifcal. unless of course you were trying to be facetious

second: while this would have been about a forty second project for many on these boards....it actually took me a couple of hours to get it all done and together...much of that spent looking through php sites and the online manual for the exact thing i was trying to find. My brain has always been wired a little backwards i guess...so i suppose i honestly would not be surprised to find out that i had done different than the norm. Before my site went to vb, i had actually mastered the art of making cgi changes to UBB....and made at least two i am aware of that the tech staff at infopop said wasn't even possible to do without corrupting the db. Unfortunately, my talent has always been having the ideas for things that would make things better....knowing just enough to know what mechanics would work behind it......and having no clue how to write the code to make those mechanics a reality.
Sorry...i will shut up....i guess i am a bit like a mom defending her first born!