How To Create A JavaScript Print Link

By  on  

Oftentimes a novice web user wont think to do something unless they are presented with the option to do so. I've found this to be true of many of the websites I make. I've added "email to a friend" functionality to customer websites and traffic seems to increase (albeit a fraction, but every bit helps).

Some websites are helped by adding a JavaScript "print" link. If you have a page with a coupon, for example, or a page that acts as a promotional piece, I recommend adding a "print" link. Users will get your subtle message and that could mean increased business / traffic.

The Code

Some quick JavaScript in the "href" attribute of the anchor will accomplish this goal.

<a href="javascript:window.print();">Print</a>

Be sure not to put the JavaScript in the onClick attribute of the anchor -- not everyone clicks a link.

Recent Features

  • By
    Camera and Video Control with HTML5

    Client-side APIs on mobile and desktop devices are quickly providing the same APIs.  Of course our mobile devices got access to some of these APIs first, but those APIs are slowly making their way to the desktop.  One of those APIs is the getUserMedia API...

  • By
    Being a Dev Dad

    I get asked loads of questions every day but I'm always surprised that they're rarely questions about code or even tech -- many of the questions I get are more about non-dev stuff like what my office is like, what software I use, and oftentimes...

Incredible Demos

  • By
    Making the Firefox Logo from HTML

    When each new t-shirt means staving off laundry for yet another day, swag quickly becomes the most coveted perk at any tech company. Mozilla WebDev had pretty much everything going for it: brilliant people, interesting problems, awesome office. Everything except a t-shirt. That had to change. The basic...

  • By
    Geolocation API

    One interesting aspect of web development is geolocation; where is your user viewing your website from? You can base your language locale on that data or show certain products in your store based on the user's location. Let's examine how you can...

Discussion

    Wrap your code in <pre class="{language}"></pre> tags, link to a GitHub gist, JSFiddle fiddle, or CodePen pen to embed!