Onmouseover in IE7 (& Firefox)

window.status option not working

[v_michiel]

Already quite some time I use the code below to adjust the message in the status bar. Basically just because the url that would otherwise be displayed is too long and ugly.

<a href="..." onmouseover="window.status='Page name or other message goes here'; return true;" onmouseout="window.status=''; return true;">

Now I noticed this doesn't work in IE7, and probably never has worked at all in Firefox. (Note it did work fine in IE6)

My question is if someone knows how to fix this. Or maybe someone knows an alternative way to get the same result? (maybe with CSS?)

Tnx in advance!

[Achernar]

Firefox has a javascript security setting (on by default) that prevents a script from changing the text in the status bar.

[v_michiel]

Hmm ok. And for IE7? Is there a way to make it work there (by default)?

[tedster]

We've had several discussions on this topic, and the concensus is always the same. Over-riding the end user's browser settings, even where it can be done, is a hack -- not an idea we want to promote. The status bar has important standard functions that users expect and depend on. Over-riding those function is not a good idea. It may even cause your site to trip anti-phishing filters and loose trust with search engines.