Mouseover Madness, Or, The Terrible Title.

April 21, 2003 6:54 PM

Mouseover Madness, Or, The Terrible Title.

I applaud the use of the title attribute, but here the text is so long there isn't time to read it before the browser hides it again.
posted by i_am_joe's_spleen to Etiquette/Policy at 6:54 PM (24 comments total)

I say we lynch him.
posted by crunchland at 7:01 PM on April 21, 2003

First off, here is a thread where Matt implemented a mouse-over feature that allowed users to see the titles without them disappearing. One might one to use a newer browser or Mozilla to use the feature.

I noticed that all the titles, however, in y2karl's post were cut off after too many characters. Is there any reason for this? I'm using mozilla.
posted by elwoodwiles at 7:03 PM on April 21, 2003

mouse goes on,
mouse goes off,
mouse goes on,
mouse goes off...

You can read slow as you want that way.
posted by y2karl at 7:06 PM on April 21, 2003

In IE6, as well, the title field disappears after a short time, even if you keep the mouse on it.
posted by Yelling At Nothing at 7:07 PM on April 21, 2003

You can always view the source code if it bugs you, which is what I used to do. I agree that it is irritating to read if your browser doesn't handle the popup title script.

Yelling, I'm using IE6 with no problems whatsoever.
posted by ashbury at 7:14 PM on April 21, 2003

mouse goes off,
mouse goes on,
mouse goes off...


Sure. I just find that a pain. Especially because I still have to skim through the bit I just read in order to find my place. That's my point, I guess: I can't easily absorb what I'm hoping is interesting text because of the disappear/appear behaviour.

<cardoso> I admire the way you push the posting envelope, honest. And may I compliment you on your speed-reading, because I just cannot voom through either the first or the third links' mouseover texts before they disappear.</cardoso>

elwood: I'm at work with a controlled desktop. I can't upgrade even for security patches, never mind cosmetic reasons. :(
posted by i_am_joe's_spleen at 7:22 PM on April 21, 2003

elwoodwile, I just discovered that I had the dhtml title feature turned off. It works with IE 5.5, so I shall Stop Whining Now.

I think the point still holds for anyone with an older browser (or aesthetic qualms).
posted by i_am_joe's_spleen at 7:26 PM on April 21, 2003

I just hope those aren't cardoso tags I'm seeing because that IS taking it too far, joe's spleen! ;)
posted by MiguelCardoso at 7:30 PM on April 21, 2003

I just discovered that I had the dhtml title feature turned off. It works with IE 5.5, so I shall Stop Whining Now.

Ah, good - you got my e-mail. :)
posted by MiguelCardoso at 7:32 PM on April 21, 2003

I think the dhtml titles have really changed the way we can write posts, and I know that I've started using them as a new-media kind of parenthetical... Methinks the dhtml-style titles should be the default, lest it seriously impair the reading posts such as y2karl's.
posted by kaibutsu at 8:12 PM on April 21, 2003

I just discovered that I had the dhtml title feature turned off.

im using IE6, how would i go about turning this feature on?
I had a hunt thru internet options, but couldnt find anything that looked relevant...
posted by juv3nal at 8:29 PM on April 21, 2003

Sometimes this is enough. Understatement, brevity, et cetera.
posted by hama7 at 8:30 PM on April 21, 2003

juv3nal, on the Mefi Customise page look for "show dhtml titles" and select "yes".
posted by i_am_joe's_spleen at 8:39 PM on April 21, 2003

silly me. thought it was a browser feature.
thanks.
posted by juv3nal at 8:51 PM on April 21, 2003

my problem witht dhtml tags is that when I click the link the tag stays there. I'm using Internet explorere version 6.0.2800.1106
posted by philcliff at 8:57 PM on April 21, 2003

More than just a browser timeout issue, big title tags cause those of using 800X600 laptops to have to scroll, rendering the mouseover useless. That really irks me when I'm surfing on the toilet.
posted by machaus at 9:05 PM on April 21, 2003

toilet surfing
posted by madamjujujive at 9:17 PM on April 21, 2003

Is it just me, or did all the fonts change?
posted by inpHilltr8r at 12:35 AM on April 22, 2003

inpHilltr8r - I'd say it was just you but after madamjujujive's post the fonts do loo a bit flushed.
posted by DBAPaul at 2:59 AM on April 22, 2003

Arrgghh, freudian slip, "look a bit flushed".
posted by DBAPaul at 3:01 AM on April 22, 2003

It was me, or rather, it was the wife going nuts with a new font manager.
posted by inpHilltr8r at 1:42 PM on April 22, 2003

You let your wife touch your computer? Wow, you are really trusting.
posted by dg at 3:13 PM on April 22, 2003

How do you get Mozilla to actually show all the text of a mouseover? It gets cut off after 50 characters or so for me...
posted by badstone at 4:02 PM on April 22, 2003

The only way I have been able to read all of a long title tag in Mozilla is to choose to show the dhtml tiles on the customise page, as linked to above. They look cool as well, so you get a double bonus :-)
posted by dg at 7:57 PM on April 22, 2003