Showing hidden answer when question clicked?

[Nigel Molesworth]

I've Googled, but can't find what I need, perhaps I asking the wrong
question!

I want a "FAQ" page on a web site, I hate those pages that scroll you to
the answer so and I figured that a good way to do it would be to have
hidden content under each question, something like this [the text in the
brackets should appear when the question is clicked]:

What is the first letter of the alphabet?
[The first letter of the alphabet is "A"]

What is 5 + 5?
[5 + 5 is 10]

I'd like to have each answer loaded, so it appears straight away, and
ideally in a form that I can easily edit.

Any suggestions?
--
Nigel M

"Time may be a great healer,
but he's a lousy beautician"

[Jukka K. Korpela]

Nigel Molesworth <re***@thegroup.com> wrote:

I've Googled, but can't find what I need, perhaps I asking the
wrong question!
Maybe people who asked or answered the same question also used the
X-No-Archive: yes header. Does this give a clue?

Actually, the question has been asked so often, and it's really not
about HTML, so I composed a short answer and sent it by E-mail
to the address in the From field of your message (it had a Reply-To
field, but it was syntactically malformed).

D
o
e
s

t
h
i
s

g
i
v
e

a

c
l
u
e
?

Okay, okay, I'm awfully nice today, so despite your destructive Usenet
conduct I'll give a few more clues:
I want a "FAQ" page on a web site,
Fine. Create it, using pure HTML, and if you want some extra sugar on
it, ask in a suitable group (maybe comp.lang.javascript). Don't forget
to post the URL.
I hate those pages that scroll you to the answer
If your personal dislikes matter that much, you are not prepared to
become the author of a (useful) FAQ.

Besides, use links, Luke. You can easily create a list of questions,
making them links to answers, on the same page (with the questions
repeated of course), or on separate pages (often a good idea if the
answers are long, perhaps with illustrations etc.).
so and I figured that a good way to do it would
be to have hidden content under each question,
That was a wrong idea.
What is the first letter of the alphabet?
[The first letter of the alphabet is "A"]
In some cases, it might make sense to combine the simple, robust, and
useful link idea with an advisory optional "quick answer" using the
title attribute (or some JavaScript or "DHTML" technique). For example:

....
<li><a href="first.html" title=
"The first letter of the alphabet is &quot;A&quot;. It comes from..."What is the first letter of the alphabet?</a></li>

....

where first.html repeats the question and the short answer, then
proceeds to explaining how "A" comes from Greek letter alpha, which in
turn etc. etc.

--
Yucca, http://www.cs.tut.fi/~jkorpela/
Pages about Web authoring: http://www.cs.tut.fi/~jkorpela/www.html

[Nigel Molesworth]

In comp.infosystems.www.authoring.html, Jukka K. Korpela wrote:

Actually, the question has been asked so often, and it's really not
about HTML, so I composed a short answer and sent it by E-mail
to the address in the From field of your message (it had a Reply-To
field, but it was syntactically malformed).

OK, apart from the fuckwit, has anyone got an suggestions?
--
Nigel M

"Time may be a great healer,
but he's a lousy beautician"

[Roy Schestowitz]

Jukka K. Korpela wrote:

Nigel Molesworth <re***@thegroup.com> wrote:

I've Googled, but can't find what I need, perhaps I asking the
wrong question!
Maybe people who asked or answered the same question also used the
X-No-Archive: yes header. Does this give a clue?

Actually, the question has been asked so often, and it's really not
about HTML, so I composed a short answer and sent it by E-mail
to the address in the From field of your message (it had a Reply-To
field, but it was syntactically malformed).

Perhaps this was intentional?

Okay, okay, I'm awfully nice today, so despite your destructive Usenet
conduct I'll give a few more clues:

I want a "FAQ" page on a web site,
Fine. Create it, using pure HTML, and if you want some extra sugar on
it, ask in a suitable group (maybe comp.lang.javascript). Don't forget
to post the URL.

JavaScript is probably on-topic here.

http://openrico.org/demos.page?demo=ricoAccordion.html

This is AJAX-based. You'll find plenty of nice widgets and effects there.

I hate those pages that scroll you to the answer

If your personal dislikes matter that much, you are not prepared to
become the author of a (useful) FAQ.

I actually agree with the OP. However, the advantage of non-hidden text is
that all content is searchable.
Besides, use links, Luke. You can easily create a list of questions,
making them links to answers, on the same page (with the questions
repeated of course), or on separate pages (often a good idea if the
answers are long, perhaps with illustrations etc.).

I totally agree that it's worthwhile if the answers are lengthy. A whole
page load for 1k of text is unnecessary. It's excessive fragmentation.

so and I figured that a good way to do it would
be to have hidden content under each question,

That was a wrong idea.

What is the first letter of the alphabet?
[The first letter of the alphabet is "A"]

In some cases, it might make sense to combine the simple, robust, and
useful link idea with an advisory optional "quick answer" using the
title attribute (or some JavaScript or "DHTML" technique). For example:

...
<li><a href="first.html" title=
"The first letter of the alphabet is &quot;A&quot;. It comes from..."

What is the first letter of the alphabet?</a></li>

...

where first.html repeats the question and the short answer, then
proceeds to explaining how "A" comes from Greek letter alpha, which in
turn etc. etc.

Overall, one could go either way. It's rude to completely rule out somebody
else's incentives.

Roy

--
Roy S. Schestowitz
http://Schestowitz.com

[Stan Brown]

On Tue, 14 Jun 2005 00:41:22 +0100, Roy Schestowitz
<ne********@schestowitz.com> wrote:

JavaScript is probably on-topic here.

s/probably/not/
--
Stan Brown, Oak Road Systems, Tompkins County, New York, USA
http://OakRoadSystems.com/
HTML 4.01 spec: http://www.w3.org/TR/html401/
validator: http://validator.w3.org/
CSS 2.1 spec: http://www.w3.org/TR/CSS21/
validator: http://jigsaw.w3.org/css-validator/
Why We Won't Help You:
http://diveintomark.org/archives/200..._wont_help_you

[Leif K-Brooks]

Nigel Molesworth wrote:

Jukka K. Korpela wrote:

[...]

OK, apart from the fuckwit, has anyone got an suggestions?

Plonk.

[laurence]

> What is the first letter of the alphabet?

[The first letter of the alphabet is "A"]

Perhaps table with <tr> or <tbody> segments with style attribute display set
to 'none', which the question anchor toggles to an expty string.
Something like:

function toggleAnswer(id) {
elem = document.getElementById(id);
elem.style.display = (elem.style.display == 'none')? '' : 'none';
}
....
....
<table>
<tbody>
<tr><td><span onclick="toggleAnswer('answer1');">What is the first
letter of the alphabet?</span></td></tr>
</tbody>
<tbody id="answer1" style="display:none;">
<tr><td>[The first letter of the alphabet is "A"]<td></tr>
</tbody>
</table>
Probably display:none could be applied directly to row element, dispensing
with additional tbody. Check CSS spec.

If some of these details are less than ideal, the list nazis will be sure to
help out.

Laurence

[laurence]

>> I hate those pages that scroll you to the answer

If your personal dislikes matter that much, you are not prepared to
become the author of a (useful) FAQ.

Are you an idiot? I only ask because it is obvious that your views on what
some else's FAQ should or should not be like are irrelevant to this group,
as are your opinions on who is qualified to author one. If you must be a
nazi, restrict yourself to comments about which it is actually possible to
be correct.

Better yet, don't be a nazi at all, just be helpful.

Laurence

[Roy Schestowitz]

Stan Brown wrote:

On Tue, 14 Jun 2005 00:41:22 +0100, Roy Schestowitz
<ne********@schestowitz.com> wrote:

JavaScript is probably on-topic here.

s/probably/not/

The original discussion did not mention JavaScript specificly. In fact, I
suspect that the OP was looking for a pure-CSS solution. But I agree,
technicalities of JavaScript are definitely off-topic. I was offering just
a link to one possible solution, which happened to involve XML and
JavaScript.

Roy

--
Roy S. Schestowitz
http://Schestowitz.com

[Jukka K. Korpela]

"laurence" <la*******@iprimus.com.au> wrote:

Are you an idiot?

No, but you are a coward in addition to being a nuisance.
(Using first-name only when insulting someone in public.)
Please keep your malformed From field before you start to behave.
Thank you in advance.

--
Yucca, http://www.cs.tut.fi/~jkorpela/
Pages about Web authoring: http://www.cs.tut.fi/~jkorpela/www.html

[Joel Shepherd]

In article <42********@news.iprimus.com.au>,
"laurence" <la*******@iprimus.com.au> wrote:

I hate those pages that scroll you to the answer
If your personal dislikes matter that much, you are not prepared to
become the author of a (useful) FAQ.

Are you an idiot? I only ask because it is obvious that your views on what
some else's FAQ should or should not be like are irrelevant to this group,
as are your opinions on who is qualified to author one.

Uh, sorry, but that's BS. You don't need to agree with Jukka's opinions,
but it's a discussion group -- not a help desk -- and he has as much
privilege to express them here as does anyone else. And if you were to
put aside your aggressive demeanor long enough to get past his surly
side, you might actually learn something.
If you must be a nazi...
Get a grip.
Better yet, don't be a nazi at all, just be helpful.

You might be getting more help if you tried to listen more and take
offense less. Just a thought.

--
Joel.

[laurence]

"> Uh, sorry, but that's BS. You don't need to agree with Jukka's opinions,

but it's a discussion group -- not a help desk -- and he has as much
privilege to express them here as does anyone else. And if you were to
put aside your aggressive demeanor long enough to get past his surly
side, you might actually learn something.

As a matter of fact, Jukka constantly criticises others for the relevance of
their posts.
Nothing aggressive about my demeanor at all. It was a fair question, given
his conduct.

If you must be a nazi...

Get a grip.

He, and many others DO behave like nazis.

It is they, and apparently you, who seek to muzzle, control, restrict, and
generally bully innocent posters.

Laurence.

[laurence]

"Jukka K. Korpela" <jk******@cs.tut.fi> wrote in message
news:Xn*****************************@193.229.0.31. ..

"laurence" <la*******@iprimus.com.au> wrote:

Are you an idiot?

No, but you are a coward in addition to being a nuisance.
(Using first-name only when insulting someone in public.)
Please keep your malformed From field before you start to behave.
Thank you in advance.

That's LAURENCE HEYWOOD, sunshine. la*******@iprimus.com.au. Mobile phone
number: [phone]. Almost every post you make contains an insult.
Even if attempting to be helpful, you can't stop yourself being insulting.
It stems from your insecurity. You cling to groups like this, insulting
willy nilly, in an adolescent attempt to feel important.

As I say, just be helpful, as you most clearly can be.

Your pal,
Laurence

[laurence]

OK, apart from the fuckwit, has anyone got an suggestions?

Hear Hear.

[Roy Schestowitz]

laurence wrote:

"Jukka K. Korpela" <jk******@cs.tut.fi> wrote in message
news:Xn*****************************@193.229.0.31. ..

"laurence" <la*******@iprimus.com.au> wrote:

Are you an idiot?

No, but you are a coward in addition to being a nuisance.
(Using first-name only when insulting someone in public.)
Please keep your malformed From field before you start to behave.
Thank you in advance.

That's LAURENCE HEYWOOD, sunshine. la*******@iprimus.com.au. Mobile phone
number: +xxxxxx. Almost every post you make contains an insult.
Even if attempting to be helpful, you can't stop yourself being insulting.
It stems from your insecurity. You cling to groups like this, insulting
willy nilly, in an adolescent attempt to feel important.

As I say, just be helpful, as you most clearly can be.

I once pointed out some similar observations. He did that in css-discuss and
alt.html. He intimidates posters, which is unhealthy to a community of
mutual support and constructive, friendly discussion.

Roy

--
Roy S. Schestowitz
http://Schestowitz.com

[Jan Roland Eriksson]

On Tue, 14 Jun 2005 17:54:14 +1000, "laurence"
<la*******@iprimus.com.au> wrote:

If you must be a nazi...

Get a grip.

He, and many others DO behave like nazis.

According to long time usenet tradition, this thread has ended and you
have lost the debate by default.

You may want to look here to understand why.

<http://members.tripod.com/~goodwin_2/law.html>

--
Rex

[Harlan Messinger]

Jukka K. Korpela wrote:

Besides, use links, Luke. You can easily create a list of questions,
making them links to answers, on the same page (with the questions
repeated of course), or on separate pages (often a good idea if the
answers are long, perhaps with illustrations etc.).

Exactly--not if the answers are short. For a perfectly awful FAQ
implementation (about the country singer Dierks Bentley), see

http://www.dierks.com/?content=faq.

[laurence]

"Jan Roland Eriksson" <jr****@newsguy.com> wrote in message
news:pf********************************@4ax.com...

On Tue, 14 Jun 2005 17:54:14 +1000, "laurence"
<la*******@iprimus.com.au> wrote:

If you must be a nazi...

Get a grip.
He, and many others DO behave like nazis.

According to long time usenet tradition, this thread has ended and you
have lost the debate by default.

You may want to look here to understand why.

<http://members.tripod.com/~goodwin_2/law.html>

--

Nice. Thanks for link. He's still a nazi.

Rex

[laurence]

"Jan Roland Eriksson" <jr****@newsguy.com> wrote in message
news:pf********************************@4ax.com...

On Tue, 14 Jun 2005 17:54:14 +1000, "laurence"
<la*******@iprimus.com.au> wrote:

If you must be a nazi...

Get a grip.

He, and many others DO behave like nazis.

According to long time usenet tradition, this thread has ended and you
have lost the debate by default.

You may want to look here to understand why.

<http://members.tripod.com/~goodwin_2/law.html>

Nice link, though irrelevant in this case. Note the capitalisation. My use
of the term in question is not capitalised, and is used in the way of simile
(and accurately, in an informal sense) while the good professor's concern
was with reference to and discussion of certain actual and particular
distasteful persons in history.

I appreciate your general concern, and am in accordance with you on it.
Indeed I support you, and all those who desire to see these groups operate
in a harmonious, helpful, useful way. That has been my whole point. Why so
many think it appropriate to be obnoxious, surly and intolerant in these
discussions is beyond me. Why so many others defend their disgusting
behaviour is an even bigger mystery.

[Stan Brown]

On Wed, 15 Jun 2005 03:51:57 +1000, "laurence"
<la*******@iprimus.com.au> wrote:

"Jan Roland Eriksson" <jr****@newsguy.com> wrote in message
news:pf********************************@4ax.com.. .

<http://members.tripod.com/~goodwin_2/law.html>

--

Nice. Thanks for link. He's still a nazi.

*plonk*

I gave you three chances to start making sense, but instead you just
keep bleating"Nazi".
--
Stan Brown, Oak Road Systems, Tompkins County, New York, USA
http://OakRoadSystems.com/
HTML 4.01 spec: http://www.w3.org/TR/html401/
validator: http://validator.w3.org/
CSS 2.1 spec: http://www.w3.org/TR/CSS21/
validator: http://jigsaw.w3.org/css-validator/
Why We Won't Help You:
http://diveintomark.org/archives/200..._wont_help_you

[Andy Dingley]

On Tue, 14 Jun 2005 12:59:19 -0400, Harlan Messinger
<hm*******************@comcast.net> wrote:

Exactly--not if the answers are short. For a perfectly awful FAQ
implementation (about the country singer Dierks Bentley), see

http://www.dierks.com/?content=faq.

Another how-not-to
http://www.woodweb.com/knowledge_bas...knowledge.html

[CJM]

"Jukka K. Korpela" <jk******@cs.tut.fi> wrote in message
news:Xn*****************************@193.229.0.31. ..

"laurence" <la*******@iprimus.com.au> wrote:

Are you an idiot?

No, but you are a coward in addition to being a nuisance.
(Using first-name only when insulting someone in public.)
Please keep your malformed From field before you start to behave.
Thank you in advance.

--
Yucca, http://www.cs.tut.fi/~jkorpela/
Pages about Web authoring: http://www.cs.tut.fi/~jkorpela/www.html

Yes Yucca, you are an idiot, of sorts...

Blessed with arguably more knowledge on these matter than anyone else on
here, yet wholly unable to function as a helpful member of this community.

Come here to learn, or come here to help others learn. If that is too
tiresome for you, then don't come here at all.

If anyone were to search Google Groups for your name, they would come across
a litany of posts full of conflict and disdain. I wonder if you are merely a
better caste or troll.
Chris Martin

(but just for the record, I dont think that calling people a Nazi is called
for regardless of the provocation!)

[CJM]

"Andy Dingley" <di*****@codesmiths.com> wrote in message
news:n7********************************@4ax.com...

On Tue, 14 Jun 2005 12:59:19 -0400, Harlan Messinger
<hm*******************@comcast.net> wrote:

Exactly--not if the answers are short. For a perfectly awful FAQ
implementation (about the country singer Dierks Bentley), see

http://www.dierks.com/?content=faq.

Another how-not-to
http://www.woodweb.com/knowledge_bas...knowledge.html

Come on, you two... How about some *good* examples?

For my part, most of the 'good' examples I've seen were JS-based, which
obviously is an issue, but I'd be keen to see if there were some *similar*
CSS-based examples.

CJM

[Andy Dingley]

On Wed, 15 Jun 2005 16:13:36 +0100, "CJM" <cj******@REMOVEMEyahoo.co.uk>
wrote:

Come on, you two... How about some *good* examples?

I only know how to do it with JS. You can trap a hover in CSS, but you
don't want to show answers until after a click.

[CJM]

"Andy Dingley" <di*****@codesmiths.com> wrote in message
news:6e********************************@4ax.com...

On Wed, 15 Jun 2005 16:13:36 +0100, "CJM" <cj******@REMOVEMEyahoo.co.uk>
wrote:

Come on, you two... How about some *good* examples?

I only know how to do it with JS. You can trap a hover in CSS, but you
don't want to show answers until after a click.

Yeah, that's what I thought...

Aesthetically, it's the solution I prefer, but it's just the ole javascript
issue.

Hmmm...

[Els]

CJM wrote:

"Andy Dingley" <di*****@codesmiths.com> wrote in message
news:6e********************************@4ax.com...

On Wed, 15 Jun 2005 16:13:36 +0100, "CJM" <cj******@REMOVEMEyahoo.co.uk>
wrote:

Come on, you two... How about some *good* examples?

I only know how to do it with JS. You can trap a hover in CSS, but you
don't want to show answers until after a click.

Yeah, that's what I thought...

Aesthetically, it's the solution I prefer, but it's just the ole javascript
issue.

Why not do it server side? Something like brucie's butterflies, only
different :-)

--
Els http://locusmeus.com/
Sonhos vem. Sonhos vão. O resto é imperfeito.
- Renato Russo -
Now playing: Girlschool - Race With The Devil

[Jan Roland Eriksson]

On Wed, 15 Jun 2005 16:13:36 +0100, "CJM" <cj******@REMOVEMEyahoo.co.uk>
wrote:

"Andy Dingley" <di*****@codesmiths.com> wrote in message
news:n7********************************@4ax.com.. .

On Tue, 14 Jun 2005 12:59:19 -0400, Harlan Messinger
<hm*******************@comcast.net> wrote:

Exactly--not if the answers are short. For a perfectly awful FAQ
implementation (about the country singer Dierks Bentley), see

http://www.dierks.com/?content=faq.

Another how-not-to
http://www.woodweb.com/knowledge_bas...knowledge.html

Come on, you two... How about some *good* examples?

<http://xml.silmaril.ie/> ?

--
Rex

[CJM]

"Els" <el*********@tiscali.nl> wrote in message
news:15******************************@40tude.net.. .

Why not do it server side? Something like brucie's butterflies, only
different :-)

I'm not sure what 'brucies butterflies' are, but...

We could do it server-side, but it's just an extra round-trip to the
server...

[Alan J. Flavell]

On Wed, 15 Jun 2005, CJM wrote:

"Els" <el*********@tiscali.nl> wrote in message
news:15******************************@40tude.net.. .

Why not do it server side? Something like brucie's butterflies, only
different :-)

I'm not sure what 'brucies butterflies' are, but...

We could do it server-side, but it's just an extra round-trip to the
server...

Then implement both, so that those with js enabled get the quick
response and lower server load, but those without js still get the
desired result.

[CJM]

"Alan J. Flavell" <fl*****@ph.gla.ac.uk> wrote in message
news:Pi*******************************@ppepc56.ph. gla.ac.uk...

Then implement both, so that those with js enabled get the quick
response and lower server load, but those without js still get the
desired result.

Probably a very sensible idea...

[John]

Nigel,

It won't work for ALL your visitors, but for people who have browsers
that display the ALT text when you move over an image, you could try
the ALT= tag for an image.

<a href="answerURL" target="new"><img src="answer.gif" height="20"
width="48" alt="The first letter of the alphabet is A" border="0"></a>

You would want to have the answer available at the "answerURL" address
in case the user has a browser that does not display the ALT image. The
top of your page could tell the user to move their mouse over the word
"Answer" to see the answer, and add (if you don't see the answer, click
there).

Since you'd re-use the "answer.gif" every place you need it, the image
wouldn't add lots of code to your page.

I'm sure there are many other methods you can use to accomplish your
purpose, like using OnMouseOver or OnClick.

Look at http://www.godloveseveryone.org/

Move your mouse over the "Get Out of Hell Free" card and you'll see an
ALT message (if you are using a compatible browser), and if you click
the image, you get an Alert message, if Javascript is active. (Just
now, I saw the ALT text on IE but not on MF, but I did see the alert
message on both.)

If you have puzzle-lovers in your family, be sure to download mazes
that contain their first names. See my signature. And if you're going
to make a purchase from Amazon anyway, see my postscript to see how to
help us at no cost to you.

John
www.GodLovesEveryone.org ("God Loves yourname" maze)
www.MAZES.com/readers/maze.asp ("yourname is an amazing reader" maze)

P.S. If you shop at Amazon, please use our links to get there:
http://www.godloveseveryone.org/donate/amazon.htm
thanks in advance

[Els]

John wrote:

It won't work for ALL your visitors, but for people who have browsers
that display the ALT text when you move over an image, you could try
the ALT= tag for an image.

That's not what alt text is for. IE uses it when the appropriate title
attribute is missing. To have a tooltip on all graphical browsers, use
title, not alt. The alt attribute is to be added on /all/ images, but
is for display if for whatever reason the image cannot be displayed.
(leave it empty on purely decorative images, as the alt text wouldn't
add any value there)

--
Els http://locusmeus.com/
Sonhos vem. Sonhos vão. O resto é imperfeito.
- Renato Russo -
Now playing: New Adventures - Come On

[John]

Thanks, Els,

Using "Title=" instead of "Alt=" means that Mozilla Firefox now
displays part of the title text when I move the mouse over the image.

Interestingly, though, Firefox only displays one line (19 words) of the
title text, while MIE displays it as a paragraph.

In any case, it is an HTML only method of displaying short answers that
the original questioner asked about. I went ahead and created a small
page illustrating my very simple method:

Look here: http://www.mazes.com/testing/q-and-a.htm

Hope this is helpful to a few people. (I know it is much simpler than
most people in this group use).

John
Please use our link when you visit Amazon.com
http://www.godloveseveryone.org/donate/amazon.htm

[Els]

John wrote:

Thanks, Els,

Using "Title=" instead of "Alt=" means that Mozilla Firefox now
displays part of the title text when I move the mouse over the image.

Interestingly, though, Firefox only displays one line (19 words) of the
title text, while MIE displays it as a paragraph.

In any case, it is an HTML only method of displaying short answers that
the original questioner asked about.
IIRC, a tooltip also isn't displayed long enough to be read properly
by everyone, and it's also a rather small font type. So, even though
it seems to be an HTML way, it isn't really. I mean - it's HTML
alright, but it's not a good method of displaying short answers. IMO a
tooltip needs to be only an extra. Not something one should have to
count on.
I went ahead and created a small
page illustrating my very simple method:

Look here: http://www.mazes.com/testing/q-and-a.htm
<whisper>Pssst! You forgot the alt attribute on the images!</> ;-)
Hope this is helpful to a few people. (I know it is much simpler than
most people in this group use).

The tooltip could be done in pure CSS, which would provide a larger
font, a larger box, and it stays as long as the mouse is hovering over
the image, but it still wouldn't be a real solution, as not
everybody's browser will display it, and the answer to the question is
not exactly something I'd call a 'nice to have' on the site :-)

--
Els http://locusmeus.com/
Sonhos vem. Sonhos vão. O resto é imperfeito.
- Renato Russo -