Everyday Blog

In addition to popups that cause a new window to open in order to display an advertisement, javascript can also be used to create a popup menu, also called a drop down menu. Such a javascript menu is usually not intended for selling a product or to induce window shopping or impulse buying; rather these secondary menus are intended to appear when a primary menu button is rolled over.

Rolling the computer mouse over a primary menu button will cause the secondary popup menu to appear. Different scripting methods are used to enable this type of popup, or drop down menu to appear. These include CSS javascript and javascript PHP, along with Ajax applications. Together these applications work to display the menu above the webpage text that the user is viewing. Unlike a normal popup window, the menu does not need to be closed in order for it to disappear from the web page. Once the user moves their mouse or clicks on one of the buttons contained in the menu, the drop down box will disappear.

Pop up images may be displayed similarly to the menus; rather than requiring a click to close or display an ad, a popup image may be shown when a keyword is rolled over that an image has been linked to. Menus may also be triggered by keywords, rather than menu buttons. An example is easily found on the popular www.myspace.com website. When at a user’s homepage there are headings displayed near the top of the screen, below an ad space; the buttons include such things as “Home”, “Mail” and “Profile,” and as each of these are rolled over with the mouse, a menu pops up underneath with sub headings, making navigation easier. Rather than clicking on the mail link before, waiting on a new page to load, then clicking on another link to send a message and then waiting for another page to load, the menu makes direct connections easier and more efficient.

While a popup menu is often referred to as a popup, it should not be confused with popup advertisements. Pop up ads can be blocked by a popup killer or a pop up blocker, while pop up menus will not be affected at all. Programs that work to block pop up ads can differentiate between these different types of applications and will not block a menu. Pop up menus will also not be disabled if javascript is not running on a computer. This is not the case for pop up ads, if javascript is not present and active on the computer, the pop up ads will not be displayed.

Rene Lacape is a seasoned insurance agent. He has been dealing with both corporate and individual accounts for several years up to the present. If you need him, you can check his website and give him a call. Act now.