Pajamas Media: Tech Lair: faq

faq

Frequently Asked Questions

Disclaimer

Whenever instructions are provided in this FAQ for specific blog platforms, we do it as a courtesy to our registered users.

We do not and cannot provide support for adding Pajamas Media widgets across all blogging or content management system (CMS). For help with such systems, please contact your web hosting company or the product’s technical support line.

Adding the strawpoll widget to a blogspot.com account

Login to your blogspot.com account.
Go to ‘Layout’.
Locate the section where you want to put the poll and click ‘Add a Page Element’.
Since the widget uses javascript, you will need to add a ‘HTML/JavaScript’ page element. Locate the ‘HTML/JavaScript’ page element from the list and click ‘ADD TO BLOG’.
Enter whatever title you want to use in the ‘Title’ field and paste the widget code you received in the ‘Content’ section.
Save your changes.

[Disclaimer]

My sidebar(s) jump below the main contents section

We’ve seen this happen when the widget’s default size is too wide for a sidebar. See below, how to constrain the width of the widget.

In rare cases, limiting the widget width doesn’t seem to help. So far we’ve only seen this in sites that have much invalid HTML code. Our primary advice is to try to reduce the number of errors in your site’s template; otherwise it’s difficult to figure out what exactly is going on. The W3C Markup Validation Service reports on Web coding errors.

The widget is too wide

The width you see is automatically imposed by the context of the widget — whatever space is available where you position it. To provide you with more control, there is a parameter to limit the width when there is “too much” space available.

Try adding the following line:

  PJM.strawpoll2008.maxWidth = 200;

just before the line

  PJM.strawpoll2008.insertBooth ();

in your site’s template. Pick a number of pixels that works for you. If necessary, the widget graphic will be scaled down. Less than 160 may not look good.

I can't vote

The voting widget will not work if you have disabled JavaScript or cookies in your browser.

Only in MSIE, the voting booth is displayed too far up/down

Discussion: The position of the voting booth is computed in each visitor’s browsers to adapt to their browser window size, fonts, etc. In the majority of cases, it shows up right on target, just below the voting affordance and aligned with its left or right margin, depending on which sidebar it’s in.

However, with MSIE and in less than 5% of tested sites, the voting frame may be displayed too high, or too low, sometimes as much as 45 pixels off target.

Often the sites where this happens don’t have valid HTML. You should check your site with the official, free W3C Markup Validation Service. Unfortunately, large numbers of HTML errors makes it very difficult for Pajamas Media to figure out what exactly is happening on individual sites.

Workaround: If you need to fix such a widget issue for your MSIE-using visitors, add a CSS style rule to your site’s CSS definitions, similar to this:

.pjmBoothMSIE {margin-top: 45px; margin-right: -2px;}

In this case we’re shifting the booth down 45 pixels, and closer to the right margin by two pixels. If your voting widget is attached to the left sidebar, you would adjust the property margin-left instead. If the booth needs to move up, use a negative value for margin-top e.g. -25px

In some cases, the booth may be shifted by just one pixel, left and/or up. This has been observed in Firefox and MSIE (especially MSIE 6). This we’ve found perplexing but a minor annoyance.

Third-party cookies are blocked

Some visitors may have browsers that block third-party cookies, despite our use of a compliant P3P compact privacy statement.

Workaround: people can vote at the Pajamas Media site, if their browser is set to accept local cookies. When the widget detects a cookie issue, it displays a nice message to users, telling them about the workaround, and offering to open a new window with the survey form.

Can people cheat in the voting survey?

Yes, it’s possible to cheat the system. And no, we won’t tell you how it can be done.

Note that we can tell when someone is cheating, and we’ll purge spam votes from the total weekly votes at the end of the week, each time a survey closes.


faq Frequently Asked Questions	Disclaimer Whenever instructions are provided in this FAQ for specific blog platforms, we do it as a courtesy to our registered users. We do not and cannot provide support for adding Pajamas Media widgets across all blogging or content management system (CMS). For help with such systems, please contact your web hosting company or the product’s technical support line. Adding the strawpoll widget to a blogspot.com account Login to your blogspot.com account. Go to ‘Layout’. Locate the section where you want to put the poll and click ‘Add a Page Element’. Since the widget uses javascript, you will need to add a ‘HTML/JavaScript’ page element. Locate the ‘HTML/JavaScript’ page element from the list and click ‘ADD TO BLOG’. Enter whatever title you want to use in the ‘Title’ field and paste the widget code you received in the ‘Content’ section. Save your changes. [Disclaimer] My sidebar(s) jump below the main contents section We’ve seen this happen when the widget’s default size is too wide for a sidebar. See below, how to constrain the width of the widget. In rare cases, limiting the widget width doesn’t seem to help. So far we’ve only seen this in sites that have much invalid HTML code. Our primary advice is to try to reduce the number of errors in your site’s template; otherwise it’s difficult to figure out what exactly is going on. The W3C Markup Validation Service reports on Web coding errors. The widget is too wide The width you see is automatically imposed by the context of the widget — whatever space is available where you position it. To provide you with more control, there is a parameter to limit the width when there is “too much” space available. Try adding the following line: PJM.strawpoll2008.maxWidth = 200; just before the line PJM.strawpoll2008.insertBooth (); in your site’s template. Pick a number of pixels that works for you. If necessary, the widget graphic will be scaled down. Less than 160 may not look good. I can't vote The voting widget will not work if you have disabled JavaScript or cookies in your browser. Only in MSIE, the voting booth is displayed too far up/down Discussion: The position of the voting booth is computed in each visitor’s browsers to adapt to their browser window size, fonts, etc. In the majority of cases, it shows up right on target, just below the voting affordance and aligned with its left or right margin, depending on which sidebar it’s in. However, with MSIE and in less than 5% of tested sites, the voting frame may be displayed too high, or too low, sometimes as much as 45 pixels off target. Often the sites where this happens don’t have valid HTML. You should check your site with the official, free W3C Markup Validation Service. Unfortunately, large numbers of HTML errors makes it very difficult for Pajamas Media to figure out what exactly is happening on individual sites. Workaround: If you need to fix such a widget issue for your MSIE-using visitors, add a CSS style rule to your site’s CSS definitions, similar to this: .pjmBoothMSIE {margin-top: 45px; margin-right: -2px;} In this case we’re shifting the booth down 45 pixels, and closer to the right margin by two pixels. If your voting widget is attached to the left sidebar, you would adjust the property `margin-left` instead. If the booth needs to move up, use a negative value for `margin-top` e.g. `-25px` In some cases, the booth may be shifted by just one pixel, left and/or up. This has been observed in Firefox and MSIE (especially MSIE 6). This we’ve found perplexing but a minor annoyance. Third-party cookies are blocked Some visitors may have browsers that block third-party cookies, despite our use of a compliant P3P compact privacy statement. Workaround: people can vote at the Pajamas Media site, if their browser is set to accept local cookies. When the widget detects a cookie issue, it displays a nice message to users, telling them about the workaround, and offering to open a new window with the survey form. Can people cheat in the voting survey? Yes, it’s possible to cheat the system. And no, we won’t tell you how it can be done. Note that we can tell when someone is cheating, and we’ll purge spam votes from the total weekly votes at the end of the week, each time a survey closes.