function getname(){
//this is the name of the function
var thiscookie=document.cookie;
//this retrieves the cookie
var location=thiscookie.indexOf("surfername=");
//this is the location of where the information starts
var endlocation=thiscookie.indexOf(":");
//this is the location of the end of the information
if (location != -1){
//this checks to see if the cookie exists
var begin=location+11;
//this gets the location of the begining of the surfer's name
var yourname=thiscookie.substring(begin, endlocation);
//this grabs the value from the cookie
yourname = unescape(yourname);
//this unencodes the surfer's name
return yourname;
//this returns the surfer's name
}
else{
var yourname = prompt("Welcome, please enter in your name.",'');
//this asks for the name
document.cookie = "surfername=" + escape(yourname)+":" + "expires=Fri Dec 10 11:00:00 PST 2009 http://opa-ma.blogspot.com";
// the above line sets the cookie with a name=value pair of surfername=value
// you may modify the expiration date by changing the expires=
}
return yourname; //this returns the surfer's name
}