So You Want To Open A Window, Huh?
By Joe Burns
I can always tell when there is a new command that is in vogue. I start getting all kinds of email asking how to do it. Well, this is the new thing. I don't know why, but everyone wants to know how to create these little windows that pop up. All the Geocities pages have them. Other pages use them as control panels operating the main window.
If you decide to go with this kind of pop up window, use it sparingly. I think they become an annoyance after a while. Sort of like some guy telling you the same joke every time he meets you. It's fun about three times. Then you start yelling at the screen. I do at least. It really scares the cat.
But if you insist on doing one. Let's do it right! We'll start at the beginning.
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The Basic JavaScript Format
Oh yes! This is done through JavaScript. But it's a very simple JavaScript, so don't get worried so soon. Here's the basic format.
Heck, you can almost guess what each of the parts does. Since this is a script, you need the opening SCRIPT LANGUAGE="javascript" statement, and of course the /SCRIPT statement at the end. The are used to hide the text from older browsers that don't read JavaScript. You see, if you didn't have those in there, the text would display. This way it doesn't.
...but it's the stuff in the middle that that makes the magic.
window.open ('page.html') does just what it says. It opens a window (a new browser screen actually) and fills it with the page within the parentheses and single quotes. In the example above the HTML document that fills the window is called page.html.
Is that it?
Technically yes. That little script will work and open a new browser window and you'll get the effect. But wouldn't it be great if we actually had the ability to configure the window any way we wanted? You bet. Here's how.
Configuring The Window
Now we get to the commands I used on this page to get the little window effect. This is exactly what I have:
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(Get all on one line...no spaces)
I can always tell when there is a new command that is in vogue. I start getting all kinds of email asking how to do it. Well, this is the new thing. I don't know why, but everyone wants to know how to create these little windows that pop up. All the Geocities pages have them. Other pages use them as control panels operating the main window.
If you decide to go with this kind of pop up window, use it sparingly. I think they become an annoyance after a while. Sort of like some guy telling you the same joke every time he meets you. It's fun about three times. Then you start yelling at the screen. I do at least. It really scares the cat.
But if you insist on doing one. Let's do it right! We'll start at the beginning.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Basic JavaScript Format
Oh yes! This is done through JavaScript. But it's a very simple JavaScript, so don't get worried so soon. Here's the basic format.
Heck, you can almost guess what each of the parts does. Since this is a script, you need the opening SCRIPT LANGUAGE="javascript" statement, and of course the /SCRIPT statement at the end. The are used to hide the text from older browsers that don't read JavaScript. You see, if you didn't have those in there, the text would display. This way it doesn't.
...but it's the stuff in the middle that that makes the magic.
window.open ('page.html') does just what it says. It opens a window (a new browser screen actually) and fills it with the page within the parentheses and single quotes. In the example above the HTML document that fills the window is called page.html.
Is that it?
Technically yes. That little script will work and open a new browser window and you'll get the effect. But wouldn't it be great if we actually had the ability to configure the window any way we wanted? You bet. Here's how.
Configuring The Window
Now we get to the commands I used on this page to get the little window effect. This is exactly what I have:
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
(Get all on one line...no spaces)
How can I do more with links?
Note: These tips can be used when you are directly editing the HTML of a post or template. They won't work with the Link List widget of Layouts.
The HTML for a basic link looks like this: OUR FATHER WHO ART IN HEAVEN
With this code, someone looking at your webpage will see the word or words you have as the TEXT. This text will be highlighted, and when clicked on, the browser window will go to the address specified by the URL.
You can also create a link that people can use to email you. In the example above, just replace the http:// with mailto: and use your email address in place of the URL. It would looks something like this: Email me!
Sometimes, you may want to link to another webpage, but have it open in a new browser window, leaving the original webpage open beneath it. To do this, you can just add target="_blank" to the link. This tells the browser to make a new, blank window for the link.
The link would then look like this: OUR FATHER WHO ART IN HEAVEN
If you decide you really want complete control over the new windows for your links, you can use JavaScript. Detailed instructions on how to do this can be found at HTML Goodies.
Use these tricks with care, however, since it's easy to go overboard creating too many windows.
PROBLEMS WITH YOUR HARD DISK?
My very first laptop is a Dell Latitude XPi. It was already a second hand unit when I purchased it in 1992, but still it cost me a lot. One thing I really love with this computer of mine is that it had served me well. For many years, when all others fail, it kept my business running. Even until today, it refuses to die of old age and because of the fruitful partnership that we had consistently shared day in and day out in the past, I too could not give up on this good old friend of mine. He is really one hell of a fighter! More than a year ago, I brought it to a computer repair shop and it was diagnosed as having a hard disk failure. This long time friend of mine was confined there for a very long period of time because they could not find a good replacement part. It has already become an obsolete model and the only chance for its survival is to find a usable hard disk from another used laptop. Unfortunately, even used hard disks for this type of a model is also no longer being sold in the market. It is time to give the guy a rest. I brought it back home, cleaned it well and after neatly packing it back to its case, it was ready to be kept for all time. I will never sell it nor will I give it away for it has earned its keep in my heart.
For many months now, I have been using a new laptop but still I never lost hope that one day, my old friend will again be up and running. Then a miracle happened . . .
What is a "PING"?
Professional bloggers say that the basic step to market your blog post is to have your ping list in order. For beginners, what does the term "Ping" really mean?
Accoring to Wikepedia, Ping is a tool that sends an XML-RPC signal to one or more "ping servers," which can then generate a list of blogs that have new material. It further states that many blog authoring tools automatically ping one or more servers each time the blogger creates a new post (or updates an old one.)
Open ping servers, like VeriSign's Weblogs.com and Yahoo!'s blo.gs, let other web-services subscribe to a list of blogs that have recently pinged them.
Blog search engines can provide fresh results very quickly by polling only the newly-updated blogs. Similarly, aggregators use results from ping servers to tell subscribers which items on their subscription lists have fresh material.
A few of the blog aggregators that can be pinged directly include: BulkFeeds, FeedBurner, Google Blog Search, IceRocket, Technorati, and Yahoo
In addition to open ping servers, there are an increasing number of proprietary ping servers that gather information only for their own applications. Most of the major blog search engines operate such ping servers.
There is a conflict of interest here between the blogger--who wants his new post to get the widest possible publicity as fast as possible--and the web-service owner--who wants his search engine or aggregator to have new blog posts long before anyone else.
As a result, bloggers have turned to services such as Ping-o-matic, which pings multiple proprietary ping servers. As the blogosphere has grown, other ping "services" have cropped up, such as Pingoat and BlogFlux Pinger.
BOOSTING CIRCULATION OF BLOGS
THANKS TO FEEDBLITZ!
Why bother blogging to email? Because not everyone's ready for blogging, RSS, Atom, XML, aggregators... The jargon is enough to put all except the most dedicated off. And that means that you're losing readers.
Email is ubiquitous. Everyone has email. When you publish your blog or RSS feed using FeedBlitz you are taking advantage of the one communications medium you know everybody has. And because it's familiar to everyone, it's an easy task to get readers to sign up. You get more readers - in some cases, more than 50%! With FeedBlitz it's simple.
50% Circulation Boost Sign up with FeedBlitz, publicize the feed, and your circulation will increase quickly. Plus, if you link FeedBlitz to FeedBurner, you get all your circulation metrics in a single spot. Think about it. If only 11% of the Internet users are using RSS aggregators, it means that without FeedBlitz you are losing out on up to 89% of your potential readership.
Compatible with You, Compatible with Your Readers
FeedBlitz works with feeds produced by all the major blogging software and services. All you need to know is the URL of the feed XML, in Atom or RSS (any version - and no worries about date formats or having to share your user id and password). Your subscribers sign up using a simple form on your web site / blog template - and that's it. They don't need to know about XML, RSS and aggregation software. It couldn't be easier.
Unless the reader has chosen an anonymous subscription, you get to see who's receiving the emails (if you don't post they won't get an email, so you don't have to worry about cluttering up their inboxes unnecessarily). For business blogs, that's a lead. That's value. If it's a personal blog, you can see that your latest news is reaching your club members, Aunt Doris, and your buddy Dave.
There are also times when even the most ardent blog reader doesn't have access to your content. Many mobile devices don't have decent RSS readers, plus they will need to be synchronized with the user's main system. FeedBlitz solves this problem - email is supported on all modern mobile phone and computing platforms, so you can get your feed updates to your friends' phones or your sales force's BlackBerries automatically using their standard equipment.
FeedBurner Compatibility
If you use FeedBurner to convert your feed XML to alternative formats you'll love FeedBlitz. FeedBlitz works perfectly with FeedBurner feeds (unlike Bloglet), and properly reports circulation numbers back to FeedBurner. You will see the full scope of your FeedBlitz Email circulation integrated with your other FeedBurner metrics!
Innovative Ways to Use FeedBlitz
Here are some ideas that you can make happen now when you sign up with FeedBlitz to syndicate
your content using email.
Reach a broader audience Your Mother may email, but does she RSS? Quite. (But do you want your Mother reading your blog? Hmmm).
Build a newsletter by combining a blog with FeedBlitz and save thousands of dollars over high-cost corporate mailing services.
Announcements Copy your press release or product news to your blog and FeedBlitz ensures all your employees, customers, press partners, investors and analysts get it via email.
Sign up and See for Yourself - It's FREE and EASY
It takes only a few seconds to set yourself up - and then you'll see! So grab the feed URL for your Blog and let's go!
Email is ubiquitous. Everyone has email. When you publish your blog or RSS feed using FeedBlitz you are taking advantage of the one communications medium you know everybody has. And because it's familiar to everyone, it's an easy task to get readers to sign up. You get more readers - in some cases, more than 50%! With FeedBlitz it's simple.
50% Circulation Boost Sign up with FeedBlitz, publicize the feed, and your circulation will increase quickly. Plus, if you link FeedBlitz to FeedBurner, you get all your circulation metrics in a single spot. Think about it. If only 11% of the Internet users are using RSS aggregators, it means that without FeedBlitz you are losing out on up to 89% of your potential readership.
Compatible with You, Compatible with Your Readers
FeedBlitz works with feeds produced by all the major blogging software and services. All you need to know is the URL of the feed XML, in Atom or RSS (any version - and no worries about date formats or having to share your user id and password). Your subscribers sign up using a simple form on your web site / blog template - and that's it. They don't need to know about XML, RSS and aggregation software. It couldn't be easier.
Unless the reader has chosen an anonymous subscription, you get to see who's receiving the emails (if you don't post they won't get an email, so you don't have to worry about cluttering up their inboxes unnecessarily). For business blogs, that's a lead. That's value. If it's a personal blog, you can see that your latest news is reaching your club members, Aunt Doris, and your buddy Dave.
There are also times when even the most ardent blog reader doesn't have access to your content. Many mobile devices don't have decent RSS readers, plus they will need to be synchronized with the user's main system. FeedBlitz solves this problem - email is supported on all modern mobile phone and computing platforms, so you can get your feed updates to your friends' phones or your sales force's BlackBerries automatically using their standard equipment.
FeedBurner Compatibility
If you use FeedBurner to convert your feed XML to alternative formats you'll love FeedBlitz. FeedBlitz works perfectly with FeedBurner feeds (unlike Bloglet), and properly reports circulation numbers back to FeedBurner. You will see the full scope of your FeedBlitz Email circulation integrated with your other FeedBurner metrics!
Innovative Ways to Use FeedBlitz
Here are some ideas that you can make happen now when you sign up with FeedBlitz to syndicate
your content using email.
Reach a broader audience Your Mother may email, but does she RSS? Quite. (But do you want your Mother reading your blog? Hmmm).
Build a newsletter by combining a blog with FeedBlitz and save thousands of dollars over high-cost corporate mailing services.
Announcements Copy your press release or product news to your blog and FeedBlitz ensures all your employees, customers, press partners, investors and analysts get it via email.
Sign up and See for Yourself - It's FREE and EASY
It takes only a few seconds to set yourself up - and then you'll see! So grab the feed URL for your Blog and let's go!
- Register for the service (all you give is a valid email address and a password).
Click the link in the email sent to the address to confirm your registration. - Visit your Newsletter Center
Click the "Create a New Newsletter" link and follow the steps in the setup wizard. - Add the subscription form we give you at the end of the process to your blog template (and your email signature and your other sites and ....) and then republish.
- Shortly after 1:30 AM in the time zone you selected we will send the updates for the day (if any) to your subscribers.
- Encourage your subscribers to sign up! (Writing about your new feature helps to motivate new subscriptions).
- Add widgets to your site.
LEARN THE I.T. TRICK AND TRADE!
Maybe because of the desire to earn additional bucks and the need to manage my regular business affairs more efficiently, I spend a whole lot of time exploring the internet.
These past weeks, I can say that I spent a hell lot of time in this undertaking primarily because it catches my interest as a person and as a businessman.
As a person, what first caught my interest and attention was the usage of blogs. I do love writing and this began when I first maintained a Bible Diary around five years ago. After learning the capabilities of blogs, I thought of also using them for my businesses.
As a businessman, I want to explore the power of the web. I also want the documents of my businesses available to me anytime and anywhere.
With these two main lines of interests, I have learned quite a new few tricks but I know, I still have to explore this vast world of information technology.
In doing so, I need to have a monitoring system where I can compile all my researches and discoveries.
Thus, "Learning the IT trick and trade" was born.
These past weeks, I can say that I spent a hell lot of time in this undertaking primarily because it catches my interest as a person and as a businessman.
As a person, what first caught my interest and attention was the usage of blogs. I do love writing and this began when I first maintained a Bible Diary around five years ago. After learning the capabilities of blogs, I thought of also using them for my businesses.
As a businessman, I want to explore the power of the web. I also want the documents of my businesses available to me anytime and anywhere.
With these two main lines of interests, I have learned quite a new few tricks but I know, I still have to explore this vast world of information technology.
In doing so, I need to have a monitoring system where I can compile all my researches and discoveries.
Thus, "Learning the IT trick and trade" was born.
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SOMEONE IS LISTENING
Express yourself
YOU ARE NOT ALONE
Who is watching you?