Text Link to New Window Action

Documentation Freeway
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Type of Action: Standalone Action (to use it, either click and hold on the Freeway tool, choose the Action from the list and draw an item on the page OR go to Insert>Action Item and choose the Action from the list).

What the Action can do: This Action lets you do the following:
  • It lets you create an HTML text link which can be clicked on to display a new window on the page
Note: This Action will open new windows which are not like the popup windows that can be switched off in browser preferences.

For the Action to work, you need to create one or more new pages in your Freeway file which can be triggered to display in the new window that it opened when the link text is clicked on. Choose the page in the Actions palette.

We recommend that you make the dimensions of the new pages the same dimensions as those used in the width and height fields of the Actions palette. This will mean that the entire contents of those new pages will be viewable within the new window that is triggered.

Using a Text Link to New Window Action item in the flow of text

The most common use of a Text Link to New Window Action item is to place the item inside the flow of text inside one of your HTML items on your page.
  • Draw an HTML item on your page, enter some text (remembering that the text used by the text link itself will be entered in the Actions palette)
  • Click inside the text where you want to use the item, go to Insert>Action item and choose Text Link to New Window
  • With the item selected within the text, look in the Actions palette to see the options.
When you insert a standalone Action, it will always insert the Action item with the default size of 100px square - so click and drag on one of the corner handles to make the item fit within the flow of text so it doesn't interfere with the line spacing of the text.


  • Text: Enter text in this field for the text you want to display as the Text Rollover on your page within the text flow. The default text in this field is "my text" - so change it to the text you would like to use.
  • Window Name: Because you can use multiple new windows on your page, this is where you give a name to each window to be opened. If you want to use the same window (so new windows don't open each time one is triggered), use the same name for all new windows - this will mean that the new window will display the content triggered by the next link.
  • Auto Close: This option now only works with older versions of browsers which don't, by default, have popup windows switched off in their preferences.
  • Page: Choose the page you want to display in the New Window in this popup.
  • width: This is where you need to enter the size in pixels for the width of the new window which will be displayed.
  • height: This is where you need to enter the size in pixels for the height of the new window which will be displayed.
  • Toolbar: Choose whether the new window displays its browser toolbar.
  • Scrollbars: Choose whether the new window displays scrollbars.
  • Resizable: Choose whether the new window can be resized after it has been triggered.
  • Use Link: Lets you choose to open a new page in the current window as well as the new window by sleeking Yes and then applying a link to the HTML link text using the Edit Hyperlinks dialog.


Using a Text Link to New Window Action item as a standalone item

If you want to use a Text Link to New Window item as a standalone item on the page (ie, it is not within the flow of text) you need to make sure nothing is selected on the page, go to Insert>Action item and choose Text Link to New Window. This will place an item with the default dimensions of 100px square on your page - so resize it to the size you want.

With the item selected within the text, look in the Actions palette to see the options (which are exactly the same as using the Action within the flow of text).

Styling a Text Link to New Window Action item when it is used as a standalone item

As with all standalone Actions, Freeway will publish the item so the text used in the Text field will be in Freeway's default styling of Times New Roman in the Default size. If you want to use custom styling on it to match the rest of the look of text on your page, you need to use a slightly different workflow.
  • Draw an HTML item on the page
  • Click inside the item (so you can see the flashing text cursor inside it)
  • Type a space
  • Go to Insert>Action item and choose Text Rollover
  • Type another space
  • Go to Edit>Select All (to select both spaces and the Action item)
  • Apply the styling you want to use by specifying a font, size, etc., in the General Settings tab of the Inspector
If you need to, you can resize the Text Link to New Window Action item to suit.

It is important to note that you shouldn't choose a colour for the text inside the Action item - this will always pick up the link styles which are applied to the page (see below).

Note: however, that Freeway Pro users do not need to use this method - they can simply create a new custom text style, select the standalone Action item on the page and apply the style to the item in the Styles tab of the Inspector or in the Styles & Colors palette.


Changing the color and underline attributes of the Text Rollover's link styling


As mentioned earlier, the text within the Text Link to New Window Action item will use Freeway's default link styles for each of its link states. If you want to use custom colors or custom underline behaviour for the link states, you need to set this up in the Paintbrush tab of the Inspector.
  • Make sure nothing is selected on the page and go to the Inspector's Paintbrush tab
  • Open the Links panel at the foot of the Inspector by clicking on the disclosure triangle
  • Choose the colour and underline behaviour you want to use for each state
This will change all the link styles for your page - and if you do this on the Master page, it will take effect on all pages based on that Master. If you want to use different link styles for the Text Rollover (ie, link styles which are different to all the other links on the page), you need to use the Text Rollover Action item inside a parent item and then apply the Text Link Styles Action to the parent item before choosing the color and underline attributes you wish to use.