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jdharm
11-06-2002, 10:04 AM
Just a couple useful little tips that I thought I would pass along. Though the following may sound like it, they are not paid advertisements or products of my friends, just usefull things I wanted to share.

I was looking for an easy way to put dynamic popup menus in an html page. Everything involved a lot of javascript programming that I wasn't comfortable with or bulky editors that I didn't want to have to use for just this one little thing. I found <a target="_blank" href=http://www.congreve.com/jjd/popMenu.html>THIS FREEWARE JAVA APPLET</a> that is compact, straightforward, and super-easy to configure for the novice. You will be inserting an object of any size (down to one pixel by one pixel) and color, defining what, if any, text you want displayed on the object, and when the user clicks it a hovering box pops up with whatever menu items you have defined for it.

The other tool comes in handy for posting in forums a lot, as I do. It is the . It is a toolbar for IE. It has a lot of features, but I personally have it trimmed down to nothing more than a box to type a word into. I type in a word in the box of the current IE window and hit enter and a new window opens with the definitions and variations, or a list of words that are close to what I was trying to spell. Note: opening the page in a new window rather than the current one is an option you will have to enable. In doing so you don't have to maually open a new window or risk losing your post that you just slaved over for half an hour when the current window goes to a new page. Very compact and handy. <a target="_blank" href=http://www.cpuaid.com/~jdharm/toolbar.jpg>HERE IS A SNAPSHOT (http://www.merriam-webster.com/tools/toolbar/>Merriam-Webster) of my IE window to demonstrate how it is neat and compact.

Josh

[i]Sorry folks, I'm an idiot. Moose out front shoulda told ya. [i]

Paul S
11-06-2002, 11:06 AM
Thanks Josh /images/forums/icons/smile.gif

<font color=green>Paul</font color=green>

<font color=blue>mailto:paul@winguides.com (paul@winguides.com)</font color=blue>

DanK
11-06-2002, 12:17 PM
That toolbar looks pretty cool

JakeHaze
11-06-2002, 02:59 PM
Just add this to your links bar, and you'll have a javascript shortcut to dictionary.com as a bloat-free alternative to an IE toolbar.

javascript:{void(term=prompt('Enter word to look up at Dictionary.com:',''))}if(term)location.href='http://www.dictionary.com/cgi-bin/dict.pl?term='+escape(term)+'&r=1'

JakeHaze
11-06-2002, 03:04 PM
This one's a gem for IE: http://www.iespell.com/</font color=blue>[/b] (http://www.iespell.com/>[b]<font)

Freeware spell check for IE for all those webforms like the one used to create this post.

DanK
11-06-2002, 03:27 PM
Thanks jake, i'm gonna give that a try

Nana
11-06-2002, 04:39 PM
Jake,
I saw this one on Tech TV's "The Screen Savers". They all liked it, too. Have you tried it yet?

I must get something as the system (??) I use now when I write forum posts is beyond stupid. I compose my posts in an OE New Message window so I can use its spell checker. Then I copy & paste it here. Rdiculous or what?

Time for an improvement, do you think?
Nana /images/forums/icons/laugh.gif

tom_keefer
11-06-2002, 06:05 PM
Hey, Jake ...

I just installed and road tested ieSpell. Awesome!!

It wurks great. /images/forums/icons/laugh.gif

<font color=purple>Tom</font color=purple>

the oxen are slow ...
but the earth is patient

Nana
11-06-2002, 06:15 PM
Tom,

Your recommendation is good enough for me. I'm going to download it now.
Anyone who rides their yak 'cross country to add crown molding to my ceilings has to be believed about everything!

Nana /images/forums/icons/smile.gif

JakeHaze
11-06-2002, 07:42 PM
I dig it. You might too.

As far as your OE solution, it seems no more convoluted than anything else I can think of. It's what I used to do, as a matter of fact.

JakeHaze
11-06-2002, 07:44 PM
No problem. As much as I'm afraid to suggest this, what do you think about a new forum devoted to users' top freeware tips? I used to be quite the freeware fanatic, and I'm always looking to find that next great freeware that makes my life easier.

DanK
11-07-2002, 06:31 AM
IE Spell is cool /images/forums/icons/smile.gif

I'm a big fan of the little freeware programs, some are really useful

Nana
11-07-2002, 09:48 AM
Thanks for the iespell link, Jake.

Regarding a new forum for freeware, Simon is the one to ask about this. I have forwarded your request to him.

Nana /images/forums/icons/smile.gif

JakeHaze
11-07-2002, 10:27 AM
I know it's a can of worms, but I also know how many little gems I've found because of threads like these. Who know? Maybe finding the gems in threads like this is actually better, since it's on-topic, and not a place for spammers to put links to bogus freeware...

Just thinkin' out-loud.

Nana
11-07-2002, 11:46 AM
"....a place for spammers to put links to bogus freeware..."

Perish the thought! /images/forums/icons/frown.gif
Nana

Simon Clausen
11-07-2002, 03:37 PM
Thanks for the suggestion Jake, it's a good idea actually -- the only problem as you mention is that spammers may try and use it for free-for-all advertising.

One option may be to make the forum pre-moderated (which means that posts are only visible once approved by a Moderator).

If there are any (probably needs at least a few) takers for a software Moderator position then please <a target="_blank" href=http://www.winguides.com/forums/sendprivate.php?Cat=&User=Simon%20Clausen>drop me a note</a> and I'll see about setting a new forum up!

Thanks,

Simon Clausen
---
WinGuides.com - Windows Guide Network
<a target="_blank" href=http://www.winguides.com/>http://www.winguides.com/</a><P ID="edit"><FONT class="small">Edited by Simon Clausen on 11/07/02 15:38.</FONT></P>