This month ... mouse overs ...

Have you ever wanted to make your webpage magically pop up windows based on the mouse being "over" a button rather than having the user of your stack "click" on the button? Just like on some Internet web pages? Well, it can be done. The terminology is very Hyperstudio-ish versus Internet-ish. The effect is spectacular!

Here we go. I'm designing my personal history portfolio and I'd like to introduce the viewer of my stack to my heritage as a Huron County lad. First thing I need is a map of Huron County. Fortunately, Mapquest provides detailed maps very quickly. Unfortunately, Clinton isn't one of the places that it recognizes. Fortunately, Stratford is a place that it uses as an anchor point and I grab the map as shown below. (Remember to right click on any image and you can save it on your computer as a file.) From the Objects menu, I'll add the map as a graphic object.

Now, I'd like people to explore my stack by moving the cursor over the map and, at appropriate moments, pop up a dialogue box explaining the significance of the location. For example, when the cursor moves over the town of Clinton, I'd like a pop up box to explain why teachers at Clinton Public School and Central Huron Secondary School have nervous twitches.

Again, from the Object menu, I select a text object. I'll move the object to appropriately display on the map and resize it accordingly. I didn't want scroll bars but I did want a frame. The object needs to be named. I called it Clinton.

Back to the Object menu. This time, I'll select an invisible button object and place it over the town of Clinton. I need an action for this button. I'm going to use an NBA and select the HideShow 2 NBA. It's a text object and what I really want to do is to Flip it. The first time the mouse goes over, the window should appear; the second time, the window should disappear. For a touch of class, I told the NBA to do an Iris Open and Iris Close as it displays the windows.

We're almost there. The window opens and closes as I'd like but I want to add one feature. Right now, the person viewing the stack has to actually click on Clinton on the map. My final touch is to tell Hyperstudio to display the windows automatically. At the Button Appearance window, I click on the Features button where there is a click box entitled No click. Select it, and we're ready to roll.

That's the technique. Of course, if one is good, then many are even better! My biggest concern is getting the buttons for Holmesville and Clinton separated.

Want to try out my stack? Click here.