HTML Alt Text NOT Displaying

[+infiniteMPG]

I have a cache called Crossed Words and it's written in HTML. The whole theme of the puzzle is dependent upon ALT text for hotspots on the puzzle image. When I wrote this it worked perfectly, if you hovered over certain areas on the crossword puzzle, a small box would pop up on your mouse with a three digit number in it. Worked enough to get over a dozen finds.

 

Then GC updated their website. Now the ALT text doesn't work anymore and the whole puzzle part of the puzzle is broken, doesn't work... click-click-boom. Any way to get ALT text to start displaying again when a cache page is written in HTML????? This is sample code for a hot spot on the image :

 

<area shape="rect" coords="49,260,90,297" href="#" alt="319">

 

Used to work... now it don't.

[+infiniteMPG]

Oh yeah, if I copy the code directly from the GC webpage and paste it into Dreamweaver, then view that with IE7, it works perfectly. View it on the GC site and NO ALT TEXT DISPLAY....

[Mr.Yuck]

Oh yeah, if I copy the code directly from the GC webpage and paste it into Dreamweaver, then view that with IE7, it works perfectly. View it on the GC site and NO ALT TEXT DISPLAY....

 

I'm sure someone else will come along, but I remember this being stripped several months ago? I used it for an extra hint to a puzzle cache, but it certainly wasn't dependent on it.

[+Prime Suspect]

I have a cache called Crossed Words and it's written in HTML. The whole theme of the puzzle is dependent upon ALT text for hotspots on the puzzle image. When I wrote this it worked perfectly, if you hovered over certain areas on the crossword puzzle, a small box would pop up on your mouse with a three digit number in it. Worked enough to get over a dozen finds.

 

Then GC updated their website. Now the ALT text doesn't work anymore and the whole puzzle part of the puzzle is broken, doesn't work... click-click-boom. Any way to get ALT text to start displaying again when a cache page is written in HTML????? This is sample code for a hot spot on the image :

 

<area shape="rect" coords="49,260,90,297" href="#" alt="319">

 

Used to work... now it don't.

First off, your using the wrong HTML element. You should be using TITLE, not ALT. That IE show alt text, which is meant to be displayed as a replacement for images that can't be displayed (for whatever reason), as hover text, is just one more out-of-standards example that IE is famous for. If you use TITLE, it will work on all browsers. However, if HTMLTidy is tripping out ALT and TITLE, you're hosed. Your only solution is to host it on another site, and link to it on your cache page.

[+globalgirl]

 

<area shape="rect" coords="49,260,90,297" href="#" alt="319">

 

Used to work... now it don't.

PS is right, you need to use the title tag to accomplish what you seek. But even they won't work in your area tags (not even in IE). You need to put the title="319" inside the img src tag of your image map.

 

e.g. copying the code from your crossword puzzle cache page (via right click and "View Source"), this is the tag you need to change:

 

From this: (your current tag)

<img src="http://mysite.verizon.net/res02mt8/puzzle1.jpg"

width="435" height="376" border="0" usemap="#map" />

 

To this:

<img src="http://mysite.verizon.net/res02mt8/puzzle1.jpg"

width="435" height="376" title="319" border="0" usemap="#map" />

 

Leastwise it works just fine that way on my Collage cache - both in IE6 and FF3.0.4

 

Though I use the title tags only as an extra hint - the puzzle isn't dependent on the tag.

[+globalgirl]

uh-oh! It just occurred to me that you probably want at least two of those "319" numbers, yes?

 

Sorry, but - again, leastwise on my Collage cache that also uses an image map - even the title tags won't show up in your individual area tags.

 

As an alternative (albeit more digitally dicey), you could slice your crossword puzzle into however many image chunks you need separate numbers for, and then set them in a table - again, with title tags for each of the diced images.

 

HTH...

[+infiniteMPG]

uh-oh! It just occurred to me that you probably want at least two of those "319" numbers, yes?

VEry much yes... dozens of them. Many squares on the puzzle had ALT text so as you moved your mouse around the puzzle, little boxes would pop up at your pointer with different numbers in them.

 

Sounds like I need another way of doing it. Rollover images might work but to change the puzzle into a hundred or so individual images might be too much work for the purpose. Worked fine before. Maybe what I'll do is have them solve the puzzle then go to another webpage (I'll host) to solve the puzzle.

 

Why is it the more we seem to "progess" the less options we have?

[+trainlove]

http://forums.Groundspeak.com/GC/index.php...p;#entry3570735

shows what you can use.

[+infiniteMPG]

http://forums.Groundspeak.com/GC/index.php...p;#entry3570735

shows what you can use.

THANKS! That helps a lot. I did find a unique way of getting around the problem yesterday that I'm kind of proud of CROSSED WORDS

 

Things are not always what they seem.... even errors....

[+globalgirl]

I did find a unique way of getting around the problem yesterday that I'm kind of proud of CROSSED WORDS

 

Things are not always what they seem.... even errors....

Yes, very clever (especially the one that's actually numbered "404" - the quintessential page not found).

 

Then again, you could get the same effect w/o the trouble of creating the bogus pages. i.e. w/o the actual pages, folks will still get a real page not found, yet still be able to view the numbers via a mouseover showing the broken link at the bottom of the page.

 

But... what I'm wondering is - what significance is/do I do with all those many numbers?

 

And meanwhile, bear in mind that folks can derive all the numbers w/o mouseover nor clicking anything via viewing the page source. Indeed, they could have all along even when your area alt tags ceased to work.

 

And of course now you needn't have the dreaded "only works in IE" qualifier" on the cache page - all will work fine in both IE, FF, etc.

[+infiniteMPG]

Yes, very clever (especially the one that's actually numbered "404" - the quintessential page not found).Then again, you could get the same effect w/o the trouble of creating the bogus pages. i.e. w/o the actual pages, folks will still get a real page not found, yet still be able to view the numbers via a mouseover showing the broken link at the bottom of the page.

Had to come up with something quick.

 

But... what I'm wondering is - what significance is/do I do with all those many numbers?

Ahhhh, if you read the text you have to solve the puzzle and then figure out what specific squares to reference. That's the puzzle part.

 

And meanwhile, bear in mind that folks can derive all the numbers w/o mouseover nor clicking anything via viewing the page source. Indeed, they could have all along even when your area alt tags ceased to work.

I don't really care how they get the numbers as it used to be ALT numbers that popped up as you moved your mouse over the squares. The secret is knowing which numbers are the ones to use. You can't get them by the numbers alone, and you can't get them by solving the crossword puzzle alone, you have to know how the two work together.

 

And of course now you needn't have the dreaded "only works in IE" qualifier" on the cache page - all will work fine in both IE, FF, etc.

Ooops, you're right. Now that it's sub-pages I don't need that qualified because the ALT text would only work with IE. THANKS!