Skype Buttons tip: use "email HTML" if JavaScript isn't allowed
By
Jaanus on August 10, 2006 in Sharing tools news.
We continue to get questions in the [eBay Skype discussion board](http://forums.ebay.com/db2/forum.jspa?forumID=2000000001) and other channels about what to do if your web host doesn't allow JavaScript. Many hosts don't, and that's good for security. However, the [Skype button wizard](http://www.skype.com/go/skypebuttons) offers you code with JavaScript by default, which may not work or may produce some weird results as it gets sanitized or filtered by the web host.
There's a simple way out. In the Skype button generator wizard, you can choose between "web HTML" and "email HTML". The main difference between the two is that the first one is with JavaScript and the second one is without it. We figured that calling them "with JavaScript" and "without JavaScript" was a bit too geeky and so we went with web/email HTML, since most web-based and standalone e-mail clients don't allow JavaScript anyway, so it made sense.
To switch from web HTML to email HTML, just select the appropriate option before copying the code.
Why have JavaScript there in the first place? The Skype buttons themselves work fine without it -- if everyone coming to your site has Skype installed. If you don't have Skype and click on a skype: link, one of two things happen.
* if your code doesn't have the JavaScript thing, they may see some ugly and strange browser or e-mail client error.
* if your code has the JavaScript thing, a friendly error pops up, telling a bit about Skype and suggesting the visitor to download and install it. See an example.
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Comments
The non-javascript version is fine for most uses, but some CMSs and forums might change the code to something that won't work too.
Something that I've found that works (but is a bit hacky), is to create a link to a page that contains a META HTTP-EQUIV=REFRESH tag, with CONTENT="1; URL=skype:MY_SKYPE_NAME?call and nothing else.
In my signature in the forum I use (an Invision Power Board based forum), I just link to that page, which then "calls" me. It would be useful to be able to remove the second step though. The problem is the forum changes the url so it doesn't work.
edaross | Friday, Aug 11