Comments on: Hypertext & Print.css http://www.8164.org/hypertext-print-css/ Jin Yang's blog on web design, philosophy of Taoism and life in general. Thu, 11 Mar 2010 15:15:36 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.2 hourly 1 By: Using Print Stylesheets Effectively « Night Prayer http://www.8164.org/hypertext-print-css/comment-page-1/#comment-925 Using Print Stylesheets Effectively « Night Prayer Sun, 21 Dec 2008 14:41:44 +0000 http://www.8164.org/?p=784#comment-925 [...] http://www.8164.org/hypertext-print-css/ [...] [...] http://www.8164.org/hypertext-print-css/ [...]

]]> By: Mark Aplet http://www.8164.org/hypertext-print-css/comment-page-1/#comment-399 Mark Aplet Tue, 04 Nov 2008 02:10:55 +0000 http://www.8164.org/?p=784#comment-399 I was actually trying to figure this out using jQuery but never came to a conclusion though. It should be pretty easy (for someone more experienced than I) to pull the links from a divor the entire page and stick them into a content footer. I am sure if you put this idea before the jquery folks they could probably figure it out in no time. I was actually trying to figure this out using jQuery but never came to a conclusion though. It should be pretty easy (for someone more experienced than I) to pull the links from a divor the entire page and stick them into a content footer. I am sure if you put this idea before the jquery folks they could probably figure it out in no time.

]]> By: Jin http://www.8164.org/hypertext-print-css/comment-page-1/#comment-397 Jin Tue, 04 Nov 2008 01:18:57 +0000 http://www.8164.org/?p=784#comment-397 @Quatl, thanks! Meanwhile I'll work on a client side version or an asp.net version of time permits. @Quatl, thanks! Meanwhile I’ll work on a client side version or an asp.net version of time permits.

]]> By: Quatl http://www.8164.org/hypertext-print-css/comment-page-1/#comment-396 Quatl Tue, 04 Nov 2008 01:01:32 +0000 http://www.8164.org/?p=784#comment-396 Actually this is an interesting problem, and I need PHP and AJAX practice. If I produce something usable (with either or both methods) before being distracted by the next shiny object I'll send you the code. Actually this is an interesting problem, and I need PHP and AJAX practice. If I produce something usable (with either or both methods) before being distracted by the next shiny object I’ll send you the code.

]]> By: Quatl http://www.8164.org/hypertext-print-css/comment-page-1/#comment-395 Quatl Tue, 04 Nov 2008 00:57:23 +0000 http://www.8164.org/?p=784#comment-395 " Listing URLs as footnotes is a better choice. But this requires extra custom job for each page that goes beyond CSS." That's what PHP (or what ever boat flotation device you prefer) is for. Just parse the links in the article out into an array, and generate the footnotes from that. ” Listing URLs as footnotes is a better choice. But this requires extra custom job for each page that goes beyond CSS.”

That’s what PHP (or what ever boat flotation device you prefer) is for.
Just parse the links in the article out into an array, and generate the footnotes from that.

]]> By: Jin http://www.8164.org/hypertext-print-css/comment-page-1/#comment-385 Jin Sun, 02 Nov 2008 19:17:29 +0000 http://www.8164.org/?p=784#comment-385 @Bryan, Joshua, Victor, Mark Thank you for the comments. I agree in most cases, this feature isn't needed. Right now I'm trying to think of a solution for sites that do need it. Namely the government sites I work on, targeted for attorneys and local agencies. Currently the links are spelled out fully in HTML. It not only they clutter the screen, but also not as friendly to read when printed out. I want to create a footnote type of solution for pages that do need this. There are couple of ways of doing it. First would be doing it on the server side to generate a block of footnotes that are hidden to the screen(some pages' content are static and some are dynamic), and have the inline links with names and labeled with a numeric citation. This method would eliminate browser compatibility issue, however it's quite labor intensive and not as maintenable. The other method is to do it on the front-end, using Javascript. In the defined DIV that contains the article links, loop through all the A tags with href attributes, and manually construct a HTML string as a print only block. This method is re-usable on every page and very easy to implement and maintain. However, it runs into accessibility issues when people use IE or have JS turned off. @Bryan, Joshua, Victor, Mark

Thank you for the comments. I agree in most cases, this feature isn’t needed.

Right now I’m trying to think of a solution for sites that do need it. Namely the government sites I work on, targeted for attorneys and local agencies. Currently the links are spelled out fully in HTML. It not only they clutter the screen, but also not as friendly to read when printed out. I want to create a footnote type of solution for pages that do need this.

There are couple of ways of doing it. First would be doing it on the server side to generate a block of footnotes that are hidden to the screen(some pages’ content are static and some are dynamic), and have the inline links with names and labeled with a numeric citation. This method would eliminate browser compatibility issue, however it’s quite labor intensive and not as maintenable.

The other method is to do it on the front-end, using Javascript. In the defined DIV that contains the article links, loop through all the A tags with href attributes, and manually construct a HTML string as a print only block. This method is re-usable on every page and very easy to implement and maintain. However, it runs into accessibility issues when people use IE or have JS turned off.

]]> By: Mark Aplet http://www.8164.org/hypertext-print-css/comment-page-1/#comment-384 Mark Aplet Sun, 02 Nov 2008 18:20:36 +0000 http://www.8164.org/?p=784#comment-384 When I read about this technique on ALA I started to include this in my print style sheet. I thought it would be useful to people. Soon after I started launching sites with this method I actually started to get complaints that the page was messed up when printing. Turns out the lack of familiarity with this approach left many people confused or upset. My approach now is to only print url's for clients that request this feature, or when it is absolutely necessary (rarely) to understand the context of the article. When I read about this technique on ALA I started to include this in my print style sheet. I thought it would be useful to people. Soon after I started launching sites with this method I actually started to get complaints that the page was messed up when printing. Turns out the lack of familiarity with this approach left many people confused or upset. My approach now is to only print url’s for clients that request this feature, or when it is absolutely necessary (rarely) to understand the context of the article.

]]> By: Useful Links (01/11/2008) | Apramana http://www.8164.org/hypertext-print-css/comment-page-1/#comment-376 Useful Links (01/11/2008) | Apramana Sat, 01 Nov 2008 04:49:30 +0000 http://www.8164.org/?p=784#comment-376 [...] Hypertext & Print.css [...] [...] Hypertext & Print.css [...]

]]> By: Victor http://www.8164.org/hypertext-print-css/comment-page-1/#comment-369 Victor Fri, 31 Oct 2008 01:18:05 +0000 http://www.8164.org/?p=784#comment-369 I personally ignore most URLs in any print media unless it's a simple URL such as www.microsoft.com or www.TaskPilot.com. Printing a long URL takes away from the readability to me of anything I'm trying to understand or enjoy. I personally ignore most URLs in any print media unless it’s a simple URL such as http://www.microsoft.com or http://www.TaskPilot.com.

Printing a long URL takes away from the readability to me of anything I’m trying to understand or enjoy.

]]> By: Joshua Richardson http://www.8164.org/hypertext-print-css/comment-page-1/#comment-368 Joshua Richardson Thu, 30 Oct 2008 15:09:29 +0000 http://www.8164.org/?p=784#comment-368 As soon as I read this I also thought of adding footnotes, but I guess it comes down to how good you are at programming (though I'd bet there is a plugin that does this already). This means that you'll need a link to a printer friendly version and comes with all sorts of other issues. I.e. the fact that the links will appear on the final printed page and not at the bottom of each and changing this is near impossible. As soon as I read this I also thought of adding footnotes, but I guess it comes down to how good you are at programming (though I’d bet there is a plugin that does this already).
This means that you’ll need a link to a printer friendly version and comes with all sorts of other issues. I.e. the fact that the links will appear on the final printed page and not at the bottom of each and changing this is near impossible.

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