[CLUE-Tech] web site usability

[David Anselmi]

Jed S. Baer wrote:
[...]
> One area where I do think JavaScript is OK is things such as help windows,
> where the information really is tangental, or a sidebar, to what's in the
> main window. In this case, using a seperate window maintains the flow of
> presentation in the main window, and overall, I think that's a good thing.

This is what I would say as well.  If the tour is "oh, let me look over 
here for a second and then look back to where I was", I would use a 
pop-up for it.

The only other reason I'd do it is if the tour window needed something 
special that the main window wouldn't have -- remove the various tool 
bars, set a particular size, etc.  Now I absolutely hate it when windows 
pop up to remove functionality from my browser (like removing tool bars, 
and worst of all disabling features like right click to view source, or 
ctl-p to print).

But suppose you had a page that only looked good using all the screen 
real estate.  Then your users would almost always maximize their browser 
window and roll up their tool bars and so on.  Then a pop up that does 
all that for them might be a good idea.  (This is contrived, with the 
wide variation in monitor resolution you can't count on the available 
screen real estate.)

Dave