> We have an upcoming project that will require the use of those rollovers
> that, when you mouseover an icon on one area of the page, pop up an image
> on another area of the page. We have the code for it, so that's
> no problem.
> What I'm looking for is sources of inspiration, URLs for other sites that
> have used this trick effectively.
>
> In particular, we'll be using the pop ups to provide fuller explanation on
> the topic for each icon so that we can keep the text in the icon as short
> as possible. Have any of you folks got bookmarks for sites that do this
> well?
Well, I just passed a few on in another post, but wanted to bring up a
little semi-peeve that I have with some mouseovers where an image changes
that's not under your mouse or near it. Wish I had a few examples to show
(they never earned bookmark status), but I'll try to get my point across.
Occasionally I'll come across a mouseover where you pass your mouse over an
image or link and something a few inches away from the mouse (not right next
to it or under it) changes. Sometimes the thing that changes is 1) a bit of
descriptive gif text, 2) or a photo, 3) or some other little thing that
doesn't serve much of a purpose other than entertainment value.
In case #1, "descriptive text", I think it's important to have the text as
close to the mouse pointer as possible, but never obscured by it (well, we
can't really control some of the "custom" mouse pointers that people
install, but anyway...). By having the text near the pointer, the user's eye
does not have to stray very much to read the text...and hence they can keep
track of where the mouse pointer is and are less likely to drift away from
the mouseover point while they are reading.
Once in a while, the descriptive text will seem like a link. Problem is,
when the mousepointer is moved away from the mouseover image, the seeming
"link" goes poof! Vanishes back into the javascriptOFF ether. On a few sites
I've visited, the changed image actually looked like a list of subcontent
sections, really tempting someone to try to click on the appropriate
subsection to give it a visit. Problem is, when the user goes to click on
one of the listed items in the changed image the link list disappears before
they can get their mouse to it (because they've moved off the image that
triggered the mouseover). I know this problem can be avoided, but in the
poor implementations I've seen, it seems like the designer was more
interested in the grooviness of the effect than the way the user would
interpret and use it.
Look ma, you put your mouse over here and you get a list over there. Now
let's play try to get to the list. And if it's just a description, but it's
way over there, well ma, don't you go trying to click on the description,
cause it won't be there anymore when you reach for it.
Jack
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