Tuesday, April 12, 2011

Lotus Notes 8.5: Links & Hotspots

In Lotus Notes 8.5 client, we can create a link to point to another location.

It is simple but it took me some time to figure it out. A quick search bring us to the following:

Here are the steps to create the same.

1) Enter the text you want to appear as the hyperlink in the mail message (eg: Google)

2) Select the text and click on Create –>; Hotspot ->; Link hotspot

3) Enter the desired URL in the Value text box. (eg: www.google.com) and close it

4) It will add the hotspot and select ‘Show border around hotspot’ to display a background highlighting around the link. Otherwise apply underline (press Ctl + U)

5) Send the mail to the recipients

Note: The link will not be active until you send the mail. If you click on the hotspot before sending it, it may not work.

And another link:


One of the new user-friendly features of the IBM Lotus Notes 8.5.1 client is the new menu command of "Create >> Hyperlink"

New create hyperlink menu option in Lotus Notes 8.5.1


This should make things much easier for end users who want to create hyperlinks in a Notes mail message or in vanilla, frameless Notes client based applications.

But for users and developers who create web-based applications there is an important feature missing if you use this menu option.
What is missing? The ability to set a target frame like you can using "Create >> Hotspot >> Link Hotspot":

Create hotspot link menu


This is not to say the end user cannot fix this problem. They can just right click on the linked text and select "Hotspot Properties":

This does not bring them back to the dialog box that displayed when they created the hyperlink, but to the hotspot properties dialog box, where they can enter the target window ("_blank" for a new browser window):

hotspot link dialog box


The downside to this is that users may get confused by the different dialog boxes, and most probably do not know the syntax to set a target window. And it is not just the Notes client where you will see this. There are many instances of Web 2.0 editors where you cannot set the target when you create the hyperlink, including Google Blogger:

Google blogger link interface


In an ideal world, what should happen with this new "Create Hyperlink" dialog box? There should be a single checkbox with a label of "Open link in new browser window", along with an action pop-up message:

Google blogger link interface


There is something else to point out as well, something that will require additional user education. If you click on some text that has a hotspot created, the menu system ads a "Hotspot" entry, and the option to remove the hotspot:

hotspot link menu


But if you created the link using the "Create Hyperlink" menu, you do not get a "Hyperlink" menu item. You get the same "Hotspot" menu item:

hotspot link menu


So as you work with your users in setting up Lotus Notes 8.5.1, be sure to keep these differences in mind.




By the way, it worked in Lotus Notes 8.5.2 too.




 - wong chee tat :)













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