ABC ~ All 'Bout Computers
The Online Web-azine for Computer Enthusiasts
-- brought to you by

contents page for this issue

Tina's FrontPage News
~~Tina Clarke, AccessFP - FrontPage Resource Centre

Twelve Script Tips

Tip 1     Redirect me 

Want to redirect your old free site to your nice new domain?  

Insert <meta http-equiv="refresh" content="0; url=http://yoursite.com/"> into the meta tags between the head tags or you can do it the FrontPage way. 

NOTE: Replace ‘yoursite.com’ with the site you want to redirect to and replace '0’ with the amount of seconds you want it to take before redirection takes place. 

Some browsers won’t automatically redirect so it is best to insert something on the page like “If this page does not redirect you in 5 seconds press the link below”  Then insert a link to the site you wish to redirect to. 

Using FrontPage to insert a meta tag. 

• Click on the 'Custom' Tab and go to 'User Variables'.

• Click on ‘Add’ and in the 'user variable box', under ‘Name’ insert the meta name, i.e. refresh

• Under 'Value' Insert the Meta content, i.e. 0; url=http://yoursite.com/

• Click OK

Tip 2     No hyperlink decoration 

NOTE:  This script, because it makes use of a style sheet capability, is only viewable in versions 4 and above of both Netscape and Internet Explorer, all other browsers will ignore it. 

To implement this link by link in FrontPage 2002 just select the link and right click | Choose Font and untick the underline box. Press ok  

To implement this for the whole page you will have to insert the style codes directly into the html view. 

NOTE: Copy and paste the code into Notepad FIRST then copy and paste from Notepad to your web page. This removes unwanted formatting. 

To remove decoration for the entire page 

<style>

<!--

a {text-decoration: none}

-->

</style> 

If you don't want to remove all underlined links, but just specific ones on a page. After inserting the above code between your HEAD tags, you can encase the link in question with the following code: 

To remove decoration link by link: 

<a href="yourlink.htm"

style="text-decoration:underline">

click here</a> 

NOTE: Getting rid of the underlines in links throughout a page can only be done in FrontPage 2000/02 by using either style sheets or line style tags, but in FrontPage 98 you can do this directly in the following manner. 

• Select hyperlink

• Click on the Hyperlink Icon or Edit | Hyperlink properties

• Click Style | Text | Decoration

• Select 'None'

• Press ok twice

 Tip 3     Text colour change onMouseOver 

Open your page in FrontPage. Choose the ‘HTML View’. Create a new blank line above the <\head> tag. Insert the code below and OK out. 

<style><!--a:hover{color:red;} // --></style> 

You can change the colour to what you want, e.g. Green. 

or if you want different colours for different links you can do it this way... 

<style><!--a.one {color: black}--></style>

<style><!--a.two {color:blue}--></style> 

Then for your individual links in the body do this: 

<p><a class="one" href="http://www.blah.com">http://www.blah.com</a></p> 

<p><a class="two" href="http://www.test.com">http://www.test.com</a></p> 

This will give you separate colours for each.

Here are a couple of sites where you can learn more about CSS: 

http://css.nu/index.html

http://wdvl.com/Authoring/Languages/XSL/Example/css.html 

Tip 4     Pop up text box or Tool Tip 

Small yellow pop-up messages that appear to explain the function of a button in most windows applications can be made to appear on your website.  Using the 'title' tag. This is designed to be used as an explanatory system for little-known acronyms.  For example, the code -  

<A title="What You See Is What You Get">WYSIWYG</A> 

WYSIWYG   << Put your cursor over WYSIWYG to the left and watch an explanation pop up (viewable only in IE)

Or you can use this in conjunction with a hyperlink like so: 

AnyFrontPage Bytes Ezine   << Mouseover 

- would make a Tool Tip appear when the user places their mouse cursor over the text in their web browser.  

Visit the web site below for more information: 

http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-html40/struct/global.html#adef-title 

This site also provides ways to make pop ups, though in a different way. 

Use this Cool Tool to generate instant pop-up "tip windows" when a user hovers their mouse over a link on your page:

http://www.builder.com/Programming/Kahn/112598/popup-window-tool.html

These two links contain some exciting JavaScript pop up windows when you mouse over links:

http://www.matunuck.com/jwin/help/start.htm

http://www.bosrup.com/web/overlib/  

Tip 5     NoSpam thankee Ma'am 

The HTML Encoder is a service of SiteUp Networks. The Encoder will format your E-mail address in a way that IS NOT readable by any E-mail extractor or search engine. Just enter your E-mail and click the Encode button.  Your SPAM proof address will arrive in your Inbox in a few minutes. 

NOTE: You need to subscribe to use this, however you can unsubscribe at any time. 

http://www.siteup.com/encoder.html 

Tip 6    Ask your visitors to bookmark your site 

Insert anywhere between body tags: 

<a HREF=index.html#&quot; ONDRAGSTART="return false" ONCLICK="window.external.AddFavorite(location.href, document.title);return false" ONMOUSEOVER="window.status='Add to Favorites';return true">BookMark</a> 

Change the text ‘BookMark’ to whatever you want it to say. 

NOTE:  Copy and paste to NOTEPAD before entering into the html view. 

Tip 7    How to recommend a friend 

<span

onclick="location='mailto:?subject='

+top.document.title+'&amp;body=Hi, just visited this page at '+top.location.host+' and wanted to share it with you, take a look: '+top.document.location+''"

style="CURSOR: hand" )>Recommend A Friend</span> 

Insert the above where you want the link to appear, the bits you can edit are in red. 

Tip 8    How to make an email link pop up with a message in the subject line and the body configured. The CC or BCC as well, if you want!

Can be used for Netscape or IE.  Example code: 

TinaClarke@accessfp.net?Subject=Web Site Feedback&Body=Hi, I am just testing your tip&CC=TinaClarke@accessfp.net 

Example Link 

Email the Webmaster (For FP 2002) 

• Type the text you wish to use as link for your Email link. e.g. "Email the Webmaster". Highlight the text and click on Hyperlink in the Insert menu or click the 'Hyperlink icon'.

• Click on the ‘Email address’ icon under ‘Link to:’ in the left-hand pane in the 'Insert Hyperlink' box that pops up.

• Where it says Email address, type your email address.

• Where it says Subject, type Web Site Feedback&Body=Hi, I am just testing your tip&CC=TinaClarke@accessfp.net (substitute your email address and text)

• Where it says Text to Display, be sure it shows Email the Webmaster (if not, type it in, or substitute your own text)

• You can also insert a Tool tip by pressing the screen tip button and entering your text

NOTE: If you also want to include Bcc or Cc you just enter the  (  &  ) command for those as well. Make sure the commands are inserted flush against the last entry as you can see in the code above. 

You can of course just enter the code directly into html view. Make sure you copy and paste to NOTEPAD before entering into the html view. 

Also depending on your email setup you can substitute your usual name before the @. For instance Feedback@access.net. Instead of TinaClarke which I usually use. This way you can channel emails for different aspects of your life. For instance you might want to use Newsgroups with NG Feedback so that you know for certain that is where your feedback is coming from. This can be used for any aspect of your web presence. 

Tip 9    How to track your URL 

http://accessfp.net/?1 

By inserting the ?1 after the URL when you look at your stats you can determine how often this URL at the source you left it at is accessed. This is great for people in business who want to track how a particular promotion is doing. You can insert anything after the ( ? ) Question mark. Clicking the URL takes you to the normal page, it just shows up in your stats enabling you to take count. 

Tip 10    Breaking outta that frame-up 

Stuck in another site's frames? Click here to break out! If you copy this code into your html view at the point you want it to be inserted you can help your visitors come unstuck they will thank you for it.  

<a href="http://www.accessfp.net/" target="_top">Stuck in another site's frames? Click here to break out!</a> 

Tip 11   Framed 

If you want to protect your pages from being opened within a frame, use the following script: 

<SCRIPT>

if (self != top)

top.location = self.location

</SCRIPT> 

This code checks to see if this page is the top page (i.e., that its being loaded into the original window rather than into a frame). If it isn't, the page is set to load into the original window. 

If when you click on an external link the frame does not clear just drag the link to the address bar and press enter. 

Tip 12    Click to Print 

Would you like to have a clickable link that viewers could use to print your pages? If so insert the below code in-between your body tags. 

<a href="#" onClick="window.print()">Print this page</a>  

Tina Clarke - Microsoft MVP - FrontPage, is the Webmaster of AccessFP - FrontPage Resource Centre http://accessfp.net/  and http://addonfp.com  She is also an editor of AnyFrontPageBytes Ezine. Subscribe to the ezine http://groups.yahoo.com/group/AnyFrontPageBytes  and get FREE FrontPage E-Books upon joining. And don't forget to subscribe to get Weekly FrontPage Tips. Tina is also an artist and the owner of http://clarke-abstract-art.com