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TICKET ARCHIVE -> Microsoft Word webpage question

RobinS - Apr 27, 2007 - 3:48 pm

Using Word 2004, latest OS X 10.4.9. I've made a webpage and was hoping to have the links opening in new windows. Is there a little html code I can insert or perhaps an option in Word for facilitating this?

dl33 - Apr 27, 2007 - 6:59 pm

I do not know how to make Word open links in new windows, however, you can add a little html manually.
Include an extra attribute in the tag: target="_blank"

If you ever need any help with html in general, I advise you to look at http://www.w3schools.com/html/default.asp This is a fairly comprehensive guide to html and covers most of the basics.
Also I advise you not to use Microsoft Word as an HTML generator as its markup is absolutely horrid. Applications such as Dreamweaver might be a better solution, yet it is always the best to code html by hand. Even though this might sound troublesome in the beginning, it will produce shorter load times, more accesible, better looking websites, less costs in maintaining the site and eventually more revenue. (Of course only if you are a business;-)

RobinS - Apr 28, 2007 - 12:28 am

> Include an extra attribute in the tag: target="_blank"

I don't understand. In the hyperlink in Word, it gives 3 possible areas to use:

Link to
Display
Anchor

Do I insert target="_blank" before the address to make it open in a new window? Like this?
target="_blank"http://mywebpage.com/picture

RobinS - Apr 28, 2007 - 12:54 am

I found a possible answer. Would you agree with this?

http://forums.seochat.com/html-codin...code-5421.html

dl33 - Apr 28, 2007 - 4:23 am

Yes:

A Link like this:

<a href=YOUR LINK"> Your Link Text (display)</a>

will open in an extra window if you change it like this:
<a href=YOUR LINK" target="_blank">Your Link Text (display)</a>

For more info also have a look at http://www.w3schools.com/html/html_links.asp

RobinS - Apr 28, 2007 - 10:42 am

Well I changed my link from this:
www.mywebpage.com
to
Anchor text

I don't understand the href stuff, target, etc. Could you just please add the code to my hypothetical link:

www.mywebpage.com

When I added
TARGET="_blank"
to the link it saved it as this:
TARGET=%22_blank%22

As you can plainly see, I don't understand HTML a bit, so if you could just convert my link to a link opening in a new window, that will solve this problem completely. In the mean time I'm going to start reading about web page authoring programs. For obvious reasons!

RobinS - Apr 28, 2007 - 10:45 am

My previous response with the link (now Anchor text) is not what I wrote. Should I put it in < >'s so it doesn't hyperlink?

I wrote
Anchor text

I'm going to test this and see how the Macosx website convets it.

RobinS - Apr 28, 2007 - 10:46 am

Well that didn't work at all. I don't know why this website can't just display what I wrote. This time I'll try it without the < at the beginning and the > at the end.
a href=www.mywebpage.com TARGET="_blank">Anchor text

RobinS - Apr 28, 2007 - 10:48 am

ok that worked. Maybe if you put some character before my hypothetical link and let me know what that character is, that might work. Isn't there just some simple letters I can add to a link to make it open in a new window?

RobinS - Apr 28, 2007 - 10:57 am

You didn't answer my previous question: Where do I type in the link in the Word Hyperlink editing window? It looks like there are 2 possibilities:
Link to
Anchor

Also, do you know why MS Word adds this:
%20TARGET=%22_blank%22%3EAnchor%20text%3C/A
when I typed in something completely different.
This happens once I saved it.

dl33 - Apr 28, 2007 - 12:00 pm

Link to is the URL of the site that you want to link to
Display is where you want it to say in the link (eg: Click here)

Anchor is an identification withing a page. You can use them to for example scroll to the top of the page...
Again, if you want to read more about these you can visit http://www.w3schools.com/html/html_links.asp
Word automatically creates anchors when they are needed. Should you want to link to an anchor within the current document simply click on the Locate button and select an element that you want to use. Word will include it in the link and create an appropiate anchor at the source.

As far as I know the target attribute _blank cannot be added automatically in word. This has to be done manually. (At the same time I still recomend you not to use Microsoft Word as a webpage editor. Should you have any more questions about this, don't hesitate to reply.)

dl33 - Apr 28, 2007 - 12:03 pm

about inserting html tags into this webpage: Unfortunately it doesn't work as the browser thinks it is part of the code. This is currently a bug in this site
A workaround is as follows:

Use &#60; instead of <
and use &#62; instead of >

RobinS - Apr 28, 2007 - 12:09 pm

OK - thanks. Lots of reading ahead. At least when I type a hyperlink in the future I can control how it looks.

dl33 - Apr 28, 2007 - 12:09 pm

Again to clarify:
You cannot simply add a little text in the word dialogue to make a link open in a new window. You actually have to edit the html. To do this go to view->html source
Then you can add the target="_blank" before the first > of your link.

RobinS - Apr 28, 2007 - 4:00 pm

Got it. Well explained. Many thanks. Thank goodness for the Find command! Otherwise I'd never find anything in what looks like a foreign language to me.

RobinS - Apr 28, 2007 - 4:28 pm

I just about fell over in my chair when I realized, after I clicked my infamous link (that I have done so many, many times today) that there was no "back" command available for that window. The full realization of success wafted over my moistened retinas as I gasped for respiratory sustenance. In glee I jumped for joy, losing my balance and fell headlong out of the window to the cold pavement far below, waiting menacingly for my demise.

Actually, it just worked. Thanks! The View HTML thing was kind of odd but after ignoring the saving warnings about lost formatting (I don't know enough to use complicated formatting) it did open in a new window.

The only downside now, is that I had some privacy with a forwarded URL going to my ISP's free webspace. The pictures show my real URL. I guess there is no way around that unless I forward each and every picture....maybe too much work for something not needed now anyway. Hey, a little paranoia goes a long way on the internet.

dl33 - Apr 28, 2007 - 5:52 pm

I am glad that everything worked out. Thanks for the poetic note... You don't get to hear that too often... Should you need any more support with webpages, let me know; I designed quite a few up to now and I am more than willing to help...

RobinS - Apr 28, 2007 - 8:35 pm

Well it DID work out before, but now its not. Word has erased the
target="_blank"
insertions I put in.
Bizarre. It WAS working. Any ideas? Besides toss Word in the garbage?

RobinS - Apr 28, 2007 - 11:47 pm

So what software do you recommend? I want to copy and paste my text document from MS Word to the web page authoring software. I'm trying Rapidweaver 3.5.1. But this looks like it was made for people with 14" monitors at 640 x 480. The text line width is about 35% of the width of my 1280 x 1024 19" LCD 4:3 screen. Have you used it? If not, what do you suggest? I need my text from side to side, not huge blank areas wasting space with no space wasting margins and headers. I need to cram the maximum amount of information in the smallest amount of space. Later I'll make it pretty and stylish.

dl33 - Apr 29, 2007 - 5:26 am

Yes I have used Rapidweaver before. It is a very nice programm that unlike most others creates valid code. Unfortunately you are imited to their templates, unless you know proper html. However, it is a nice way to get started. If you want to maximise you screen estate, just click the the green button at the top left of the window. (If you mean that the templates are optimised for resolutions of 800x600, yes, that's true, but actually quite nice: There is still a vast majority of users who keep their windows in this size. Should you think otherwise, as far as I know there is only one fluid theme included: Simple Business. This one will use your own screen. To switch themes, simple choose Theme View from the View menu.)
A much more professional option is Adobe Dreamwaver, with a much higher pricetag. With this you can do almost anything, however, I do not recommend it to the starting user.
Additionally there is Taco HTML Edit. This is a nice programm for editing html as it has a very small focus compared to other applications. This is a very nice programm to actually learn html.
Personally I use a programm called textpattern, but I would definetely not recommend it, since it doesn't generate code: it is more of a texteditor.
I also just read about Sandvox, which seems to make a nice impression. It is similar to Rapidweaver.
There are tons of applications out there: If I were you I would have a look at http://www.apple.com/downloads/macos...net_utilities/

RobinS - Apr 30, 2007 - 3:32 pm

In Rapidweaver I didn't see anything called Simple Business. They do have Styled Text but when I copy wide text lines into it it only uses up about 1/3 of the page. Its like a ruler is activated or a margin. Its not from Rapidweaver though, because when I copy internet text into it, the full width is retained. So its something in Word. When I copy it to Pages, then copy it from there to Rapidweaver the width is retained. Go figure... Can you think of anything in Word (I have it set to Wrap to Window) would cause this?

As for 800x600 users, I want my text to wrap using shorter line lengths, so it looks right for everybody. It should display wide for large monitors and short for smaller monitors. When people use ads on the sides, I can see their point. Thankfully, greedy commerce has not yet smiled down on me.

I'll check out more stuff. Thanks.