keep pop-up window on top

Forum Moderators: open

Message Too Old, No Replies

keep pop-up window on top

danlott

3:07 pm on Jun 16, 2003 (gmt 0)

hi all,
i'm just working on an ecommerce site, and the client wants all the shopping procedure to happen in a pop-up window (dont ask me why!).
this is fine, but if the user is looking in their cart (which is in the pop up) then clicks somewhere else on the screen so the pop-up loses its focus, the window that has the cart in is minimised to the task bar, and the user has no way of finding their cart unless they figure out its been minimised to the task bar (lots of internet users arent net savvy).
my question is: is there any way to keep a browser window always above the main one, or has anyone any ideas!
many thanks
- D

danlott

3:08 pm on Jun 16, 2003 (gmt 0)

sorry, i may have posted that question in the wrong forum category!

korkus2000

5:58 pm on Jun 16, 2003 (gmt 0)

AFAIK there is no real cross browser support for this. JS has the window.onblur method to fire off functions when the window is blurred. Does not work the way you would expect though.

tedster

6:48 pm on Jun 16, 2003 (gmt 0)

I've run into major cross browser problems with keeping one window on top. With some browser versions you cannot have any functionality in the "underneath" window, even for a split second.

I think you'll need to consider how to have a "view cart" button on your selling pages to bring focus back to the shopping cart.

danlott

8:25 am on Jun 17, 2003 (gmt 0)

the clients not bothered wether this just works in IE, so i'm ok on the cross-browser issue.
does anyone have any ideas how i can keep this window on top?
btw, i tried sticking an onBlur="window.close" event in the body tag, but this seems to close the window even if you click on the scroll bar or anywhere within the window. i've had this problem a few times this year, anyone else? why would that not be working!?
- D

grahamstewart

8:40 am on Jun 17, 2003 (gmt 0)

To be honest I'd tell your client that this is a bad idea.

Around 10% of people surf with javascript turned off.

And a growing number use pop-up killers and will never see the shopping cart.

danlott

8:56 am on Jun 17, 2003 (gmt 0)

i've tried telling the client this, but theyre quite adamant about it (hey what do i know, i'm just the web designer!)
- D

liwei

9:13 am on Jun 17, 2003 (gmt 0)

why not pop up a maximized window for the shopping cart?
One can only change to other window via the tool bar. If he did it, he knows the way back.

mattur

9:42 am on Jun 17, 2003 (gmt 0)

danlott, I think you need to grab the bull by the horns on this one.

The client maybe adamant that this is the way it should "work", but this could significantly decrease the effectiveness of the site. It could be the difference between 1000s of sales and 10s of sales.

Ecommerce isn't new anymore. Ecommerce sites generally don't work like this. Visitors spend 99% of their time on other peoples web sites. So make a site that works like other web sites.

You also have to think about how the site will reflect on you/your company. Do you want a failed ecommerce site in your portfolio?

It can be difficult, but imho client education is an essential part of the job. If a potential client is adamant about things working their way, I explain the pros and cons then if there'll still adamant I explain that they may be better off with another, less-experienced, web developer ;)

You have to consider your own reputation. Good clients often come by word of mouth...

waldemar

9:54 am on Jun 17, 2003 (gmt 0)

Just to bring in a line of code here, you could try if <body onBlur="self.focus()"> helps your problem.

Still, I agree with everybody here -> don't do it :-) Personally I ran into more and more problems with clients who insisted on pop-ups - they had an overall weird way of looking at www technology and are probably better on with my-neighbor's-son-can-do-that-development...

joshie76

10:10 am on Jun 17, 2003 (gmt 0)

Well the whole thing sounds like madness BUT... if that's what he/she wants and you've given up trying to change their mind you could always look at IE's showModelessDialog functionality.

It's like a 'modal' dialog but it allows you the user to interract with the main window whilst the 'modeless' window floats on top. I personally haven't done much work with this but you can find out all about it on MSDN: [msdn.microsoft.com...]

If you get stuck - don't hesitate to give me a shout :)

Josh

Edit: Just found this which is also a good page on the subject:
[home.att.net...]

PS - I can't say enough that you really should try and persuade the client otherwise!

danlott

11:45 am on Jun 17, 2003 (gmt 0)

hi everyone,
thanks for everybodys input. the client has been subdued and is allowing me to incorporate the shopping process within the main window (which means a lot of copying and pasting of code! but hey ho...)
i did have a look at modal windows, though decided against it. i didnt know about modal windows before, so that was interesting.
i still dont know why the onBlur="window.close" didnt work, but i think thats for a different post.
many thanks
- D