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Special Effects

See first: Special Effects Introduction.

Special Effects (SpecialFX) allow you to define the visibility of objects. For example, you may not want an image to be visible until your visitor places their mouse over it, or until they place their mouse over another object on the page.

You could also set an object to disappear when the visitor places their mouse over it, or when they mouse over another object on the page.

On this page we cover:

Loading effects
Mouse over effects
Mouse Effects ...
Other mouse effect examples
SpecialFX problems

There are three classes of special effects available from the SpecialFX menu on the menu bar at the top of your workpage:


Loading effects

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There is a red rectangle hidden behind this text. It will show only in workpage view, and there is no hint of its presence in preview.  Try Preview a few times -- also click Refresh on your browser a few times to confirm this. If you remove the Hide While Loading effect for the red rectangle, you should see a red flash as you switch from workpage mode to preview mode (by clicking the Preview button).

Loading effects are also available in the Object Editor > Options tab, shown below.

Preview current page
Mouse me!
Object Editor button
Object Editor Options tab
Mouse over effects

These effects are also available in the Object Editor > Options tab, shown above.

Mouse me!
Mouse me!
Object Editor button
Mouse Effects ...

If you mouse over an object, or click on it, you can:
The are a few combinations in there! Let's try one:
Hide object and show another
...
Other mouse effect examples

Try playing with some of the other options to see what kind of effects you can create!


Boo!!
Boo!!
Press me!
Mouse me!
Ha!!
Ha!!
Press me!
Mouse me!
In workpage view, click the the object first, then ALT+X -- then you won't have change the trigger object.
Hot tip!
SpecialFX problems

These special effects rely on your browser being able to use Javascript. If your mouse overs do not work and neither do the ones in this tutorial, chances are you have Javascript disabled. Most browsers have a setting to turn Javascript (scripting) on or off -- sometimes it can be hard to find!

You can get over-complicated. It is possible to have mouse effects pulling in opposite directions. Strive for the simplest possible effect. If you can't get something to work as you want:

See also:
Page Editor > Special Effect tab
Buttons tutorial
Drop-Down Menus tutorial