Hover Notes Or ‘Floating Boxes’in Ao3

Hover Notes or ‘Floating Boxes’in Ao3

This is a fun option if you use, for example, phrases in other languages in your story. I often do, and this is a nice way to give translations without having to scroll to the end of the text, or putting them in the starting notes where people have to keep checking back – or where they spoiler the story!

HOWEVER. The drawback is that the floating boxes only work when a ‘mouse’ is ‘hovered’ over the marked text. They do NOT show up on tablet or phone screens, so you’ll still need to put a list of translations in the notes for readers using those devices.

Let’s have an example.

“Qu’est ce que tu veux?”

Now if you speak French, you might know that means “What do you want?”

But not all of your readers will know that. So, you offer them a translation. And since the boxes don’t appear unless you hover directly above them, I usually add a Beginning Note to the chapter that reads something like this;

‘Hover over italicised foreign language text for translations! (Mobile and tablet users please see the Ending Notes)’

In HTML mode in Ao3, (if you try this in Rich Text mode you will get a horrible mess so don’t) the line with this example would appear as:

“Qu’est ce que tu veux?”

To add the floating box with the translation, you would select the words to be translated (that is, Qu’est ce que tu veux?) and paste in the following HTML.

Qu’est ce que tu veux?

The whole line will now read:

“ Qu’est ce que tu veux? ”

Review your work, hover over the part that requires translating, and you should see the following:

And you’re done!

I tend to set up a Word doc with all the lines I want to use created in it, and then when the time comes, just copy/paste them into Ao3. Saves lots of time!

Tags

useful ao3 html hover notes

Cover Story

Obi-Wan: [obliviously marching through Padme’s doorway while she’s in the middle of a dinner party with a bunch of Senators and Jedi] Padme, darling, it appears your husband and I used up the last of the shampoo in the shower this morn– [stops as he takes note of the giant crowd in the dining room staring at him] Padme: [almost chokes on her wine, makes eye contact while shaking her head] Anakin: [sitting further down the dining table, mouthing the word “no”] Obi-Wan: [panicking] Uh…yes, Padme. Your…husband? Um…Dennis. Anakin: [mouthing “Dennis?!” and slapping his forehead] Padme: [wincing, immediately smiling pleasantly as Bail turns to her in surprise] Uh…yes! Gosh, I… Mon Mothma: Well, this is certainly surprising, Padme! I had no idea you were married! Mace: [skeptical] Belated congratulations, Senator. The Order will have to send you a gift. [side eyeing Obi-Wan] What’s this about Senator Amidala’s husband and you in the shower now? Obi-Wan: Ha! No. Um. I wasn’t…not at the same time, of course! Yoda: [suspiciously watching Obi-Wan] Padme: No, of course not…Obi-Wan…sometimes stops over here to shower. Obi-Wan: What can I say? No one has better water pressure than Padme! Shaak Ti: I’ve always found the Temple to have adequate water pressure, but perhaps we should have Master Kenobi’s refresher examined. Palpatine: [loving this because he fully realizes what bullshit it is] I’d very much like to meet this Dennis, Senator Amidala. Why isn’t he here this evening? Padme: Oh, he’s terribly shy. And busy. All the time. His career is very, um, demanding. Anakin: He’s a model! [Obi-Wan and Padme throw him a look] Anakin: [chewing] Super good looking. You should see him shirtless. [holds up his fork] You’ve got great taste, Padme. Obi-Wan: [mouths “really?!” at Anakin] [everyone looks at Obi-Wan again] Uh… yes. Although one has to wonder if all that attention hasn’t gone to his head. Anakin: Hey! [everyone looks at Anakin] I think…his ego is appropriately-sized. One might also argue that his, um, modeling mentor taught him everything he knows about having an inflated ego. Obi-Wan: [pursing his lips] Really. Because I’ve heard his mentor is actually a very level-headed individual who often wonders how he ended up in ridiculous situations where he is being made to deal with a self-absorbed young protege. Anakin: [scowling, through gritted teeth] I didn’t hear his mentor complaining last night. Obi-Wan: [turning red] Anakin, perhaps we should discuss Dennis’ issues with his mentor another time. Palpatine: [smirking while pouring himself more wine] Nonsense! Tell us more, gentlemen. Padme: [laughing nervously and standing up] Oh would you look at the time!

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starwars

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dyingisfortheweekends

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