"Make Us Your Homepage" HTML/Code

Set Current as Home Page by Clicking a Link

[EliteWeb]

Hello WebmasterWorld!
On many sites I'm seeing links that say set as homepage and upon clicking the link it will change your start page. I remember in the old days those links would take you to step-by-step instructions of how to do it.

Now I'm looking to have this functionality on my site and am looking for a solution or a good way to impliment this. Any suggestions would be nice, I already have the 'add to bookmarks/favorites' link but now im wanting to dominate the world by allowing them to set it as their homepage in a automated sort of way.

Thanks
EliteWeb

[tedster]

Gene, one of our members, gave us a thorough look at this in his post last summer [webmasterworld.com]. As you'll read there, the basic function is specific to IE (ver 5+) and it gets gnarly with other browsers.

The basic IE approach is this:

<a HREF onClick="this.style.behavior='url(#default#homepage)';this.setHomePage('http://www.example.com');"><img src="house.gif"> Click here to make us your Home Page</a>

[edited by: tedster at 6:41 pm (utc) on April 19, 2003]

[SinclairUser]

I was thinking of adding one of those buttons to my website - but are they really effective? Any comments would be appreciated as to the pro's and con's of this "device".

[trillianjedi]

Personally, I think it's an incredibly annoying and unprofessional thing to have on your website.

If you build a really good content slick website for a particular sector, people using it will make it their homepage anyway (if they want to). And if they don't want to you'll never make them.

I'd leave it out. It just looks a little "desperate", unless you're google.com in which case maybe it's convenient....

TJ

[EliteWeb]

Thank you tedster for the referral to the prior post and the code. :D I think if your site has a following you should offer a homepage link automation script. (: Not every page should have it.

[SinclairUser]

TrillianJedi,

Thanks for the feedback - you confirmed what I suspected. However, are the moral minority just losing out to the "hucksters" out there who will use any means to drive traffic to their site.

<note>this is not a reflection of the prior question - just my personal journey to find what is right/wrong for each individual to use as a tool to bring in new traffic</note>

Thanks, Chris.

[trillianjedi]

I don't think so - I think it's desperate however you do it.

People can make a page their homepage simply with a couple of clicks in their browser. They don't need a site to help them do it.

Have a look at the quality of the sites that actually do that. If you find a good quality one with that kind of a button or auto-script - sticky-mail me and I'll eat my words!

(Quality: as in good site, good content and not just high page rank).

TJ

[mack]

google.com yahoo.com lycos.com eating words yet :)

[g1smd]

seen on www.bbc.co.uk - and on many of their subsites.

I think it is a convenience for users, and should be done with vey small text for the link. Making it a <h1> item does show desperation.

[trillianjedi]

Sorry, should have been a bit more clear - see my earlier message about google.com et al. I agree, they're sites that people would obviously want to make homepages (google is mine, BBC News used to be).

But I doubt the original poster is in that category or he wouldn't be posting the question on here!

TJ

[mack]

on a small site that isnt likely to attract people wanting it as home then I think the "make us your home" link is a waste of page space.