// JavaScript Document
function externalLinks() { 
 if (!document.getElementsByTagName) return; 
 var anchors = document.getElementsByTagName("a"); 
 for (var i=0; i<anchors.length; i++) { 
   var anchor = anchors[i]; 
   if (anchor.getAttribute("href") && 
       anchor.getAttribute("rel") == "external") 
     anchor.target = "_blank"; 
 } 
} 
window.onload = externalLinks;

function check_length(news)
{
maxLen = 160; // max number of characters allowed
if (news.newstext.value.length >= maxLen) {
// Alert message if maximum limit is reached. 
// If required Alert can be removed. 
var msg = "You have reached your maximum limit of characters allowed";
alert(msg);
// Reached the Maximum length so trim the textarea
news.newstext.value = news.newstext.value.substring(0, maxLen);
}
else{ // Maximum length not reached so update the value of my_text counter
news.text_num.value = maxLen - news.newstext.value.length;}
}