How Do I Enable Javascript
From LoveToKnow Web-Design
Part of the learning curve for web interactivity is answering the question "How do I enable Javascript?" Thankfully, this is one of the easier tasks within the complexity of the web 2.0 world.
Why Do You Need to Know How to Enable Javascript?
It's entirely possible that you will never have to enable javascript, because most web browsers have it enabled by default. "Enabling javascript" simply gives your web browser permission to look for and run the code set apart by the <!-- script =" javascript"> tags in the head of an HTML document.In effect, this alters the content of the page on the fly. Simple HTML is read by the browser and then displayed as is written - that is, whatever was put in the original HTML file is simply put up in the browser window, with no variation in content. Javascript, on the other hand, enables web designers to put dynamic content on a site. Sometimes this might be as simple as displaying the current date, or sometimes it may be much more complex. Javascript is a programming language in its own right, though a fairly limited one; it turns the browser itself into a computing platform enabling better interaction with website visitors and up-to-the minute dynamic content.
However, not everyone does keep javascript enabled, for several reasons mentioned below. As a web designer, you should check how your web pages look with and without javascript enabled, to make sure you are still getting the information that you want out there.
Sounds Great! So How Do I Enable Javascript?
There are as many different ways to enable and disable javascript as there are browsers. In fact, sometimes the same browser will have different methods of accomplishing this task depending on what "version" you use. Since it is a fairly common task, however, it is something that is easily found in any browser's "Help" file, or by typing in the browser name, version, and "disable javascript" in Google.
If you do want to just dive in and try it, the odds are that the javascript toggle is under the initial file menu (that's the name of the application in the upper section of your screen) in a selection marked "Preferences" or "Options" (sometimes this is under another heading such as "Tools").
In the Preferences panel, it's not as clear where you'll find the javascript enable button. Some browsers file it under "security"; others under "languages"; Netscape Communicator had it under the cryptic heading "Advanced". This confusion is why it's always fastest to read the manual, but some people prefer just clicking around until they make it happen.
In that section, wherever it is located, is a "enable/disable" javascript checkbox. It's a simple on/off process, and once clicked one way or another, simply click "OK" (or, in some browsers, "APPLY") and javascript will be working - or not, as you like.
Why You Should NOT Enable Javascript
Because javascript is a computing language, clever but unethical programmers have used it to create exploits and viruses that can be very damaging to your computer and use it as a platform for doing more bad things to other computer. For this reason, many web developers recommend that users of Internet Explorer especially disable javascript. Javascript is also used to launch the annoying "pop-up" ads that marketers seem to think might work to get people to buy things - in fact, most browsers currently have a way to partially disable only that method of "javascript" with an option to "block pop-ups".
This means that when they come to your website, any content that you have that "depends" on javascript will not show up - and that shouldn't matter. Make sure that your javascript content is value-added, not essential, to your website. You can also rely on other scripting languages such as AJAX and Flash to add interactivity and dynamic content, leaving the dangers of javascript far behind.
Learn More
This page has been accessed 63 times. This page was last modified 20:46, 14 October 2009.
© 2006-2009 LoveToKnow Corp.
Print this page
Follow ltk on twitter
Visit us on facebook