Custom Link Bar not opening in new window

[Hyde the darker side]

I have a custom link bar in a single right shared border where the the three
external links I have setup refuse to open in a new window. In addition I
cannot find an option to add a target like you can with hover buttons.

In the head section of the shared border I have <base target="_blank"> but
this isn't doing anything. In fact if I do a view source in a local browser
session the above code is missing. This is without publishing the web.

I also have a left shared border that uses the link bars based on internal
navigation. These open in the same window as I'd expect them to do.

It's just the external links I want to open in a new window.

Any help greatly appreciated.

Regards
Hyde.

 

[Thomas A. Rowe]

FP navigation component do not have the ability for setting the frame target value.

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==============================================
Thomas A. Rowe (Microsoft MVP - FrontPage)
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[Hyde the darker side]

Hi Thomas

So let me get this straight...

FP has a feature for adding external links, but does not support the opening
of those links in a new window?

Please tell me this isn't so.

Back to good ol' hover buttons then.

ShakesHeadInDisbelief

Regards
Hyde.

 

[Thomas A. Rowe]

Correct as far as I am aware.

However that is still not a reason to use the hover button applet which requires that all user to
have a JVM installed, because without it, users can not navigation the site.

You have other options available to use:

Plain text hyperlinks
Image hyperlinks
CSS Mouse over hyperlinks
DHTML (JavaScript/CSS) Menus
JavaScript Mouse over image hyperlinks

The first 3 are the best and will work in all browsers and when combined with the FP Include Page
component can be easily maintained. The 3rd and 4th items will not work for anyone with JavaScript
disabled.

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==============================================
Thomas A. Rowe (Microsoft MVP - FrontPage)
WEBMASTER Resources(tm)

FrontPage Resources, WebCircle, MS KB Quick Links, etc.
==============================================

 

[Hyde the darker side]

I've not had problems with hover buttons when using a browser from other
office/home locations. I can't imagine that they've all downloaded the JVM.

But in any event...

Plain text hyperlinks - No good, doesn't match the theme for the site.
Image hyperlinks - I'm assuming you mean a single image? If so, same reason
as above.
CSS Mouse over hyperlinks - I'm not familiar with this and will investigate.
DHTML (JavaScript/CSS) Menus - Possibly too much bother for 3 links.
JavaScript Mouse over image hyperlinks - As above.

Regards
Hyde.

 

[Thomas A. Rowe]

It really depends on when Windows XP was purchased. On new machines from OEMs, they may have chosen
to install the SUN JVM.

The point here is to not count on it being available for anything that is important as site
navigation.

--
==============================================
Thomas A. Rowe (Microsoft MVP - FrontPage)
WEBMASTER Resources(tm)

FrontPage Resources, WebCircle, MS KB Quick Links, etc.
==============================================


Older machines came with JVM installed, the newer machines don't have it...people would have to
download it from Sun or they will see just gray boxes where your buttons are.

 

[Hyde the darker side]

Well that was short lived...

"CSS Mouse over hyperlinks - I'm not familiar with this and will investigate."

Having just looked up the FP help file, it says...

"Notes

You cannot add effects to a hyperlink if the page uses a theme.
These effects are set for the entire page rather than for individual
hyperlinks.
Hyperlink rollovers use DHTML, so some Web browsers may not support this
feature."

Since my site uses a theme and I want the external link buttons to look the
same as the internal link buttons I'll have to go with the hover button
approach to overcome a massive omission, IMHO, in Microsofts FP
implementation of the custom link bar.

Another D'oh moment!

Regards
Hyde.

 

[Thomas A. Rowe]

Why not copy the theme button image, add your text, re-import back into your web and use it as a
link?

You can also copy the theme background, etc. and create your pages with the same look and not let
the theme control your pages.

There are many way to workaround these issues.

--
==============================================
Thomas A. Rowe (Microsoft MVP - FrontPage)
WEBMASTER Resources(tm)

FrontPage Resources, WebCircle, MS KB Quick Links, etc.
==============================================

 

[Hyde the darker side]

Because the resulting button would not work as it does for those that handle
my internal links. It would be a static image, wouldn't it?

I was going to take the gif's created by the nav bar and use them with the
hover button component. At least that way the button graphic changes when
the mouse is over it, and I get to display the alt text I want.

Am I missing something about the re-import method that would do the same as
the hover button method?

Regards
Hyde.

 

[Thomas A. Rowe]

Correct it would be a static image unless you copy all of the theme buttons and modify them to your
needs, then use JavaScript to create the mouse over function, where you can have the Alt text or
Title assigned to each image/link.

--
==============================================
Thomas A. Rowe (Microsoft MVP - FrontPage)
WEBMASTER Resources(tm)

FrontPage Resources, WebCircle, MS KB Quick Links, etc.
==============================================

 

[Hyde the darker side]

Hi Thomas

Thank you for the clarification. I'll stick with the hover buttons. I'm
just not prepared to spend that length of time overcoming such a massive
shortfall in this product.

I have additonal problems with FP and Hot Linking in another thread. It
turns out that FP Server Externsions will no longer be supported in a Unix
environment after June 2006 for any version of FP.

Accordingly, I'm looking at Dreamweaver to maintain and publish my site in
future.

These are simple matters for the might of Microsoft to overcome, and since
they have no intention of addressing either of these issues at such a
fundamental level, I'm no longer prepared to invest time in this application.

I'd just like to thank you again for the attention and help you've given me
in these posts.

Regards
Hyde.

 

[Thomas A. Rowe]

Hyde,

You are welcome and good luck.

--
==============================================
Thomas A. Rowe (Microsoft MVP - FrontPage)
WEBMASTER Resources(tm)

FrontPage Resources, WebCircle, MS KB Quick Links, etc.
==============================================

 

[Hyde the darker side]

Found my own solution....

Copy the button up & down graphics created by the custom link bar to new
file names of your choice.

Insert the button up graphic where you want it to appear. Apply a mouseover
effect that swaps the image to the button down graphic.

Add a hyperlink to the button up graphic. The hyperlink dialog box allows
you to set the target frame, and add tooltip text of your choice.

OK, it uses Javascript and some users might have this disabled, but it's
simple, quick, and gives me exactly what I want.

My apologies to Thomas for not realising that I can apply the Javascript
mouseover features from within FrontPage. When I first read his suggestion I
thought I was going to have to go on the hunt for some script to make this
work.

Regards
Hyde.

 

[Hyde the darker side]

Beaten you to it I’m afraid…;-)

Some time ago I adjusted the “blocks†theme by extending the length of the
horizontal buttons using an image editor and then re-importing them, so that
I could get the text I wanted, to fit more naturally than many of the
overlaps I had before.

FrontPage forced me to make a copy of the theme anyway before I could adjust
any of the graphics, so there was no chance of messing up the original theme.

Regards
Hyde.