28 September 2010

Pin to Taskbar using Internet Explorer 9

Internet Explorer 9 offers the new functionality of pinning web sites to the Windows 7 taskbar or start menu.
Pinned Web Site
This gives users more direct access to web sites and their various sections. The pinning of sites relies on certain meta data being present within the <head> tag of your html content.

  • The "application-name" meta data defines the display name of the site when pinned to either the taskbar or the start menu. 
  • The "msapplication-window" meta data specifies the default size of the browser window when a pinned site is opened. 
  • The "msapplication-navbutton-color" meta data specifies the custom color of the browser buttons when a pinned site is opened. 
  • The "shortcut icon" meta data specifies the favicon to display when a site is pinned to the taskbar. For help with creating icons visit Genfavicon. 
Pinned sites can have a number of secondary links or "tasks" that are displayed on the start menu or when a user right clicks on the taskbar. These "tasks" are also defined in the html content's meta data. Any number of "msapplication-task" meta data tags can be added. Each "task" is composed of a name, a uri and a favicon.

Once the necessary meta data is in place simply navigate to the site in Internet Explorer 9 and then drag the browser tab down to the Windows 7 taskbar. You can pin a site to the start menu by dragging the tab down on to the start button.
Drag Tab to Taskbar
The pinned site will now display using the specified shortcut icon in the web sites meta data. Right clicking on the pinned site will show any tasks listed in the meta data. You can learn more about Internet Explorer 9 and pinning sites at Pinned Sites: Windows 7 Desktop Integration with Internet Explorer 9.
Posted by at
Labels: , , ,
Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)