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Would you like to provide a download link for your site visitors that begins the download and then sends the browser to a different web page?

If you've never thought about doing such a thing, here are some one-click ideas:

1. Provide a download and a web page of installation instructions.

2. Present a web page with information about a pro version of the the free download.

3. Provide a download of a PDF document, then a web page with an opportunity to subscribe for more of the same kind of information. Paul Myers is providing a "Resources for Starting and Running Your Online Business" download in this way. (Paul provided the idea for this one-click method.)

   Click http://tbrx.com/directory/download.html to see it in action (or http://willmaster.com/artmyerspdf for more info about the PDF document, first).

It is similar to clicking on a link that takes the visitor to a page at another URL, a normal link. The difference is that a download starts between the time the link is clicked and the time the visitor is taken to a different web page.

How this one-click method works:

1. The download link has two attributes, an "href" and an "onclick."

   The "href" contains the URL of the downloadable file.

   The "onclick" contains that name of a JavaScript function that sets up a delayed redirect to a different web page URL.

2. When the download link is clicked, the delayed redirect is set up and the download commences. At the end of the delay period, the browser is redirected -- whether or not the download has completed.

Here is the JavaScript:




The destination web page URL and the number of seconds to delay can both be customized. In the above JavaScript, the URL is http://FlowTo.info/ and the delay is 4 seconds (specified as 4000 milliseconds).

Notice that the function returns a value of true. This allows the download to commence even with a redirect delay having been set.

Here is the HTML link:



   href=" http://willmaster.com/test.zip "
   onclick="SetUpRedirect()">
Click to Download

If using the JavaScript and HTML exactly as provided above, the redirect to http://FlowTo.info/ is set up when the link is clicked. The download of http://willmaster.com/test.zip then commences. Four seconds after the link was clicked, the browser is redirected to http://flowto.info/

The JavaScript can be anywhere on the page, above or below the link or in the HEAD area.

Now, you can provide your visitors with a download *and* open a web page with more information.