In order to create a change in the status bar of a web browser when you move the mouse over a link, use the following tag:

<A HREF="link_to_something.html" onmouseover="window.status='Put Something In Here To Describe The Link'; return true">I want to link to this</a>

As a side note, you may want to add an onMouseOut="windows.status='default text here'; return true" tag to return the status bar text to some sort of original state. Also, if an apostrophe is going to be used in the text a backslash should be placed in front of it.

ex: <A HREF="cat.html" onmouseover="window.status='My Cat\'s Web Page'; return true" onMouseOut="windows.status='My Dog\'s Web Page'; return true">Fluffy's Litterbox</a>

The standard HTML (i.e. non-JavaScript) way to provide the title of a linked page, or other information about a link, is to use the TITLE attribute of the A tag, as such:

<A HREF="cat.html" TITLE="All about my cat">

This has the advantages of being standards-compliant, working for users who disable JavaScript for security reasons, respecting encapsulation, and being a lot less to type.

On some browsers, this will generate a tooltip effect rather than altering the status bar. This may be configurable, which is a good thing.

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I picked up this tip from Jakob Nielsen's Web site useit.com, home of many other useful ideas to improve the usability of your Web pages.