Pop-up Blockers

An annoying feature of some websites is pop-up windows that open automatically when you visit and/or leave a page. These pop-ups are such a nuisance that many people now use special pop-up-blocking utilities. Some web browsers, and firewalls and other security software, also have an option to block them.

The Parlianet service was designed long before pop-up abuse became common, and uses pop-up windows for the on-screen Help and to display full text from links in the Web Location field.

If your blocking software is set to block all pop-ups, then you will probably not be able to use the on-screen Help or view the full text of documents.

One of the most popular ways to block pop-ups is to use an add-in toolbar for Internet Explorer for Windows. The Internet Explorer 6 (with Windows XP SP2), Internet Explorer 7, Firefox, Netscape, Opera, Safari and SeaMonkey browsers have built-in pop-up blockers.

• Google Toolbar
• MSN Pop-up Guard
• Yahoo! Toolbar
• Internet Explorer 7 browser
• Internet Explorer 6 browser
• Firefox browser
• Netscape 8 browser
• Netscape 7 and Mozilla browsers
• Opera 7.5 browser
• Opera 8 browser
• Safari browser
• Other pop-up blockers

Google Toolbar

One of the most popular pop-up blockers is the Google Toolbar for Internet Explorer. Fortunately, it is easy to tell the Google Toolbar to stop blocking full-text links from Parlianet. Just go to any page on the Parlianet website, and click the pop-up blocking button in the Toolbar.

MSN Pop-up Guard

MSN Pop-up Guard is part of the MSN Toolbar. By default it blocks all pop-ups, including links to full-text documents in Parlianet. Just go to any page on the Parlianet website, click the black down arrow on the pop-up blocker, and click “Allow Pop-ups for This Site” on the menu. From now on, you will be able to view full-text documents in Parlianet.

Yahoo! Toolbar

The pop-up blocker in the Yahoo! toolbar by default blocks all pop-ups, including links to full-text documents in Parlianet. Make sure that the blocker is enabled, and then allow it to block a pop-up from Parlianet. The toolbar keeps a list of sites from which it has blocked pop-ups, and then allows you to choose from which of these sites you want to allow pop-ups.

In the list of recently-blocked pop-ups, click “www.publications.parliament.uk”, and then click “Allow”. This will add www.publications.parliament.uk to the list of allowed sources of pop-ups. From now on, you will be able to view full-text documents in Parlianet.

Internet Explorer 7

The Internet Explorer 7 browser includes a pop-up blocker that by default blocks most unrequested pop-ups, and therefore blocks full-text links from Parlianet. The blocker allows you to stop blocking pop-ups from specific websites:

1. Select the “Tools” menu
2. Select “Pop-up Blocker”
3. Select “Pop-up Blocker Settings” and a dialog box wil open

In the Pop-up Blocker Settings dialog box:

1. Type “www.parlianet.com” in the “Address of website to allow:” text box
2. Click “Add”
3. Type “www.publications.parliament.uk” in the “Address of website to allow:” text box
4. Click “Add”
5. Click “Close”

This will add www.parlianet.com and www.publications.parliament.uk to the list of allowed sources of pop-ups. From now on, you will be able to use Parlianet as normal.

Internet Explorer 6

The version of the Internet Explorer 6 browser that is included with Windows XP SP2 includes a pop-up blocker that by default blocks most unrequested pop-ups, and therefore blocks full-text links in Parlianet. The blocker allows you to stop blocking pop-ups from specific websites:

1. Select the “Tools” menu
2. Select “Pop-up Blocker”
3. Select “Pop-up Blocker Settings...” and a dialog box will open

In the Pop-up Blocker Settings dialog box:

4. Type “www.parlianet.com” in the “Address of Web site to allow” text box
5. Click “Add”
6. Type “www.publications.parliament.uk” in the “Address of Web site to allow” text box
7. Click “Add”
8. Click “Close”

This will add www.parlianet.com and www.publications.parliament.uk to the list of allowed sources of pop-ups. From now on, you will be able to use Parlianet as normal.

Firefox

The Firefox browser includes a pop-up blocker that by default blocks all pop-ups, and therefore blocks the Help and full-text windows in Parlianet. To allow pop-ups for Parlianet:

1. Select the “Tools” menu
2. Select “Options…”
3. In the Options dialog box, select “Web Features”
4. Click “Allowed Sites” opposite “Block Popup Windows”
5. In the Allowed Sites dialog box, type “www.parlianet.com” and click “Allow”
6. Click “OK” to close the Allowed Sites dialog box
7. Click “OK” to close the Options dialog box

From now on, you will be able to use Parlianet as normal.

In the Mac OS X version of Firefox, you need to select Preferences on the Firefox menu, instead of Options on the Tools menu.

Netscape 8

The Netscape 8 browser includes a pop-up blocker and manager that by default prevents full-text documents from being displayed. To allow Parlianet to operate normally:

1. Go to http://www.parlianet.com
2. In the Parlianet tab, click the shield at the right, to open the Site Controls
3. Click the “Advanced” tab
4. Click to select the “Internet Explorer” rendering engine
5. Click to produce a tick against “Allow unrequested pop-up windows”
6. Click to remove the tick against “Open requested pop-ups in new tab”
7. Click “Done” to close the Site Controls

To allow full-text documents to open in a new window, you also need to alter the settings for tabbed browsing:

1. Select the “Tools” menu
2. Select “Options…” to open the Options dialog box
3. Select “Tab Browsing”
4. Click to remove the tick against “Open a new tab instead of a new window”
5. Click to remove the tick against “Open non-requested pop-ups in new tab”
6. Click “OK” to close the Options dialog box

From now on, you will be able to use Parlianet as normal.

Netscape 7.1, Netscape 7.2 and Mozilla 1.4+

The Mozilla browser includes a pop-up blocker that by default blocks all pop-ups, and therefore blocks the Help and full-text windows in Parlianet. Netscape 7.1 is a re-badged version of Mozilla 1.4, and Netscape 7.2 is a re-badged version of Mozilla 1.7. All of these browsers enable you to stop blocking cookies from specific websites. Just go to any page on the Parlianet website and:

1. Select the “Tools” menu
2. Select “Popup Manager”
3. Select “Allow Popups From This Site”

From now on, you will be able to use Parlianet as normal.

Opera 7.5

The Opera 7.5 browser includes a pop-up blocker that by default allows all pop-ups, and this is the setting that is required for Parlianet. If you need to change back to this default setting:

1. Select the “Tools” menu
2. Select “Preferences…”
3. In the Preferences dialog box, select “Windows”
4. Click the black down arrow opposite “Pop-ups”
5. Select “Open all pop-ups”
6. Click the “Apply” button
7. Click the “OK” button to close the Preferences dialog box

Note that in the same section of Preferences, “Window handling” must be set to “Prefer separate windows” for Parlianet to function as intended.

From now on, you will be able to use Parlianet as normal.

The pop-up settings can also be changed in the Quick Preferences menu that appears when you press the F12 key. Note that Opera is by default set to identify itself as MSIE 6.0 — this is the proper setting if you want to use Parlianet.

In the Mac OS X version of Opera, the Preferences can be found on the Opera menu, not the Tools menu.

Opera 8

The Opera 8 browser includes a pop-up blocker that by default allows all pop-ups, and this is the setting that is required for Parlianet. If you need to change back to this default setting:

1. Select the “Tools” menu
2. Select “Preferences…”
3. In the Preferences dialog box, click the “General” tab
4. Click the black down arrow opposite “Pop-ups”
5. Select “Open all pop-ups”
6. Click the “OK” button to close the Preferences dialog box

Also on the General tab, please note that for Parlianet to function as intended, there must not be a tick in the check box for “Open pages in tabs”. If a tick is present, click to remove it.

From now on, you will be able to use Parlianet as normal.

The pop-up settings can also be changed in the Quick Preferences menu that appears when you press the F12 key. Note that Opera 8 is by default set to identify itself as Opera, but needs to be set to identify itself as Internet Explorer if you want to use Parlianet.

In the Mac OS X version of Opera, the Preferences can be found on the Opera menu, not the Tools menu.

Safari

The Safari browser includes a pop-up blocker that by default allows all pop-ups, and this is the setting that is required for Parlianet. If you need to change back to this default setting:

1. Select the “Safari” menu
2. Click “Block Pop-Up Windows” to remove the tick

From now on, you will be able to use Parlianet as normal.

Other pop-up blockers

For other pop-up blockers, we recommend either (i) setting an option that blocks only unrequested pop-ups, or (ii) setting an option that blocks all pop-ups but allows for some websites to be specified as exceptions, and making www.parlianet.com one of your exceptions. The Help for your blocking software should tell you how to do this. If the firewall or security software covers a network, not just your own computer, then you should consult your Network Administrator.

Another possible reason for pop-ups not working is that your firewall does not allow any JavaScript commands to be passed (JavaScript is used to create pop-up windows). If this is the case, then you will need to ask your Network Administrator to enable JavaScript for the Parlianet site.

Last updated 10th August 2007