Use JavaScript to Change the Window Status Message

By  on  

Though I don't normally recommend modifying the browser's default behaviors, changing the window's status bar does have its place. The window status bar can pass descriptive information about the element the user is hovering over or can hide the URL from users that don't understand source code enough to figure it out for themselves.

The JavaScript

window.status = 'Hello!  You are hovering over me.';

Recent Features

  • By
    CSS vs. JS Animation: Which is Faster?

    How is it possible that JavaScript-based animation has secretly always been as fast — or faster — than CSS transitions? And, how is it possible that Adobe and Google consistently release media-rich mobile sites that rival the performance of native apps? This article serves as a point-by-point...

  • By
    Welcome to My New Office

    My first professional web development was at a small print shop where I sat in a windowless cubical all day. I suffered that boxed in environment for almost five years before I was able to find a remote job where I worked from home. The first...

Incredible Demos

  • By
    Modal-Style Text Selection with Fokus

    Every once in a while I find a tiny JavaScript library that does something very specific, very well.  My latest find, Fokus, is a utility that listens for text selection within the page, and when such an event occurs, shows a beautiful modal dialog in...

  • By
    Create a Brilliant Sprited, CSS-Powered Firefox Animation

    Mozilla recently formally announced Firefox OS and its partners at Mobile World Congress and I couldn't be more excited.  Firefox OS is going to change the lives of people in developing countries, hopefully making a name for itself in the US as well.  The...

Discussion

  1. Thanks, but it wont work in IE7… Just IE6..

  2. Thank you for mentioning this Selim. It looks as though IE7 has disabled this functionality.

  3. Yes, unfortunately custom status messagges are removed from ie7. I have searched it for a month ago :)

  4. thank you, i really appreciate all your tuts

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