Our client doesn't like pop-ups, what should we do?

Question

Besides showing and hiding a <div>, are there any better solutions or replacements to a javascript pop-up windows? Thanks!

Answer 1

First of all; nobody likes pop-ups.

The best solution is to modify the interface in such a way that the pop-up in question no longer is necessary. If this cannot be done, there are design issues afoot.

Answer 2

If by "pop-up" you mean opening a new window, you can avoid that in many cases. Look into modal-dialog boxes, like those used by the jQueryUI framework.

Answer 3

Popups are evil, avoid them if possible.

To replace this, you can try thickbox, it's pretty cool.

Answer 4

It all depends on the context: why, what, where, where to, how much (content)

Do you want to:

• help the user with two lines of useful text before he submits a form ("No underscore in ** field, only letters and numbers" - SO is a nice example for that - great, a styled tooltip should do the job with huge bonus points for ARIA and/or unobstrusive JS).
• go fullscreen (I don't and nobody want it anymore: too much abuse in the past)

You can check the left navigation of Amazon.com with and without JS: unobstrusive and well-styled!

No new window, no div? Then you're left with ul, fieldset, object, animated gifs, etc OK no more kidding. Maybe tabs as in www.barelyfitz.com/projects/tabber/