| ThingMaker Documentation Chapter 3) Introductory Tutorials

| Change MouseClick graphic We're going to repeat the process to change the MouseClick graphic. 1. Select the Thing in the Scene. If it's not already selected, click on the Thing in the scene. Another way to check if a Thing is selected is to make sure the Settings Palette displays information for the Thing. If it does, then it's selected.

2. Drag the down.bmp Thing from the Gallery to the Mouse Click state of the Thing.
Remember to click and drag the Thing from the Gallery into the state. If you click and release the Thing before dragging out of the gallery, the Settings Palette will display information for the Thing as it appears in the Gallery and not in the State you intended.

3. Test your Thing again.
Use the Play Button to test the Thing. In play mode, place the cursor over the Thing and click. It should change when it is clicked.

When you're done, don't forget to press the Button to switch back to Edit mode before continuing.

Add a URL to a Thing
Now that you have created a Thing, you may want to add a Universal Resource Locator (URL) with a Web Address Action to it, so that the Thing can be used as a Navigation Button on a web page.

Adding a URL to your Thing attaches an Action. Actions add interactive capabilities to Things. Actions are how you "Make Things Do Things."

1. Select the Thing in the Scene window.
Make sure that the Scene is in Edit mode, the Thing is selected, and the Settings Palette is open.

2. Click and drag the Web Address Action to the MouseClick State
From the toolbar, drag the Web Address Action to the MouseClick State in the Settings Palette. When you click this Tab, you are changing the States and displaying the parameters for this State. The Settings Palette will switch to the Mouse Click State (if it is not there already). The Web Action will be selected, and the Settings Sheet for this action will be displayed.

3. Set a URL for the Button.
Enter the address that you want attached to the Button, or you may choose to leave it on the default address: www.thingworld.com.

Test the Action

1. Switch to Play mode.
Click on the play Button. Grids and work area boundaries disappear as you preview what the Thing will look like on your HTML page.

2. Click the Thing.
In Play mode, ThingMaker displays a message window that gives the URL string that would be launched if this Thing were running in a Web browser. ThingMaker also gives you the option of launching your default browser. You can choose not to preview by quitting the Dialog.

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