Google News Module Suddenly Stopped Working in IE8 - is iframes the problem?
Update (11/4/09): Google has taken note... You can now grab the code at Google's NewsShow Wizard using Internet Explorer 8.
They fixed the rules that were broken. Read more below...
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What a difference a day makes! Yesterday, my Google News Module, a Joomla! Module that adds a NewsShow embedded on my website's home page, was working great. In fact, it had been working for several months with no problems. Today, it just stopped working and I got that dreaded message: "This content cannot be displayed in a frame. To help protect the security of information you enter into this website, the publisher of this content does not allow it to be displayed in a frame..."
I use Internet Explorer 8 for most of my daily internet access. At first, I thought that Google News was having a problem and waited out the day to see what was going on. By chance, I was using Google Chrome to create some documents on Google Docs later in the day and realized that my Google News Module was working just fine there.
Hopefully, this article will save you some headaches. If you are using Internet Explorer 8 (IE8) and your NewsShow suddenly stopped working, the problem is not the 'iframe' as first expected. The problem is how the rules changed and what worked previously does not work any longer.
Sequence of Parameters
I'll make this short, here is the fix. It is not 'iframes' that is the problem. The problem is the sequence of your parameters and ensuring that the first one is the query (q=...).
For example, this code will work:
[iframe frameborder="0" width="728" height="90" marginwidth="0" marginheight="0" src=http://www.google.com/uds/modules/elements/newsshow/iframe.html?q=%20&topic=w&rsz=small&format=728x90]
This code will not work:
[iframe frameborder="0" width="728" height="90" marginwidth="0" marginheight="0" src=http://www.google.com/uds/modules/elements/newsshow/iframe.html?topic=w&rsz=small&format=728x90]
If you are not sure how to code your NewsShow, you can grab the code at Goolge's NewsShow Wizard, located at: http://code.google.com/apis/ajaxsearch/documentation/newsshow/wizard.html
But the trick is, you can't use Internet Explorer 8 to do it! You must use a different browser, FireFox and Google Chrome work.
You can try it in IE8, the default of 'Top Headlines' appears to work just fine. But now try to change the search topic to something else, lets say 'World'. IE8 will not show it in the preview configuration window. Instead, you will get the dreaded frame message.
Goolge News Module Fix in Joomla!
You will need to have access to your web server. I use WS_FTP to access my files. Some web hosting services have an FTP program built into their admin panel. Once you get to your web server, find the directory that your Joomla! files are stored in. If they are at the root of your web server, then you will go directly to the '/modules' directory. (For newbies to Joomla!, it may be something similar to: /joomla/modules/).
/modules/
/mod_googlenews
mod_googlenews.php
Locate this line:
$link='http://www.google.com/uds/modules/elements/newsshow/iframe.html?format='.$news_format.'&rsz='.$boyut;
Change this line to:
$link='http://www.google.com/uds/modules/elements/newsshow/iframe.html?format='.$boyut.'&rsz='.$news_format;
It is that simple! FTP your edited file back to your web server, overwriting your original file mod_googlenews.php. (For newbies, keep a backup copy of your original file just in case something goes wrong and you need to put back the original FAST)
Validating iframe code to meet W3C Standards
The iframe element will not validate if you are using a strict (X)HTML doctype declaration. Your webpage that contains iframes will validate with transitional doctype declarations.
Making iframes Web Accessible for Screen Readers
WebAIM (Web Accessibility in Mind) has a great article on how to make iframes accessible. The main point here is that iframes are becoming more popular in website development for content management and it is necessary to ensure that website accessibility guidelines are followed. Google's NewsShow is making it possible to see headlines and previews of Google News Search results that you have pre-selected for your website audience.
There are ways to ensure that these news modules are accessible to all. "Links within the iframe element are accessible via the keyboard as if the content were within the web page containing the iframe."--WebAIM.
Read more at WebAIM: http://www.webaim.org/techniques/frames/#iframe
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