<div>
Try change this<br />

<pre><code class="code-1 nolinks" id="code-20-41460488-1"><span>function handler() {</span>
<span>    if (this.readyState == this.DONE) {</span>
<span>        if (this.status == 200 &amp;&amp; this.responseText != null) {</span>
<span>            $(&quot;#dialog&quot;).text(this.responseText);</span>
<span>            return;</span>
<span>        }</span>
<span>        console.log('Something went wrong! Status = ' + this.status);</span>
<span>    }</span>
<span>}</span>
</code></pre>
To this<br />

<pre><code class="code-10 nolinks" id="code-20-41460488-2"><span>function handler() {</span>
<span>    if (this.readyState == this.DONE) {</span>
<span>        if (this.status == 200 &amp;&amp; this.responseText != null) {</span>
<span>            // HTML method rather than TEXT</span>
<span>            $(&quot;#dialog&quot;).html(this.responseText);</span>
<span>            return;</span>
<span>        }</span>
<span>        console.log('Something went wrong! Status = ' + this.status);</span>
<span>    }</span>
<span>}</span>
</code></pre>
</div>


<div>
hi Julian,<br />
<br />
your solution did not work. the modal dialog still displays blank.
</div>


<div>
<blockquote>
your solution did not work. the modal dialog still displays blank. 
</blockquote>
Please post a link to your site or your full code.
</div>


<div>
Newton21205, , Thsnaks for points, , &nbsp;Just a NOTE , you should be using the JQUERY AJAX like -<br />
&nbsp; &nbsp; $.get(<br />
or other jquery ajax, &nbsp;if you are in a page that has jquery in it, the &nbsp;-<br />
&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;var xhttp = new XMLHttpRequest();<br />
is not so easy to understand and use as you have seen here, for many coders, the jquery AJAX is much more robust (works most of the time) than trying to do the XMLHttpRequest().<br />
here's the info about the jquery -<br />
&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; <a href="https://api.jquery.com/jquery.get/" rel="ugc">https://api.jquery.com/jquery.get/</a><br />
in 2016 you almost have to effectively use AJAX in your web pages.
</div>


<div>
<div class="content wysiwyg-content">
using ajax to get the external link page as response and want to display it as a modal dialog<br />
However the external link opens as a modal page in wordpress.<br />
If I open it as an html in browser it does not display the external link (jquery.com) content in the modal dialog window.<br />
Please find the attached source code.<br />
<a href="https://filedb.experts-exchange.com/incoming/2016/02_w07/1080955/modal.html" target="_blank" class="file-inline" title="modal.html (1 KB)"><svg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 512 512"><path d="M67.508 468.467c-58.005-58.013-58.016-151.92 0-209.943l225.011-225.04c44.643-44.645 117.279-44.645 161.92 0 44.743 44.749 44.753 117.186 0 161.944l-189.465 189.49c-31.41 31.413-82.518 31.412-113.926.001-31.479-31.482-31.49-82.453 0-113.944L311.51 110.491c4.687-4.687 12.286-4.687 16.972 0l16.967 16.971c4.685 4.686 4.685 12.283 0 16.969L184.983 304.917c-12.724 12.724-12.73 33.328 0 46.058 12.696 12.697 33.356 12.699 46.054-.001l189.465-189.489c25.987-25.989 25.994-68.06.001-94.056-25.931-25.934-68.119-25.932-94.049 0l-225.01 225.039c-39.249 39.252-39.258 102.795-.001 142.057 39.285 39.29 102.885 39.287 142.162-.028A739446.174 739446.174 0 0 1 439.497 238.49c4.686-4.687 12.282-4.684 16.969.004l16.967 16.971c4.685 4.686 4.689 12.279.004 16.965a755654.128 755654.128 0 0 0-195.881 195.996c-58.034 58.092-152.004 58.093-210.048.041z"/></svg>modal.html</a>
</div>
</div>


modal.html

using ajax to get the external link page as response and want to display it as a modal dialog
However the external link opens as a modal page in wordpress.
If I open it as an html in browser it does not display the external link (jquery.com) content in the modal dialog window.
Please find the attached source code.

how to display ajax reponse(external link to a page) in modal dialog

Asynchronous JavaScript and XML (AJAX) is a group of interrelated Web development techniques used on the client-side to create asynchronous Web applications. With AJAX, web applications can send data to and retrieve from a server asynchronously (in the background) without interfering with the display and behavior of the existing page. HTML and CSS can be used in combination to mark up and style information. The Document Object Model (DOM) is accessed with JavaScript to dynamically display and allow interaction with the information presented.

AJAX

JavaScript is a dynamic, object-based language commonly used for client-side scripting in web browsers. Recently, server side JavaScript frameworks have also emerged. JavaScript runs on nearly every operating system and  in almost every mainstream web browser.

JavaScript

jQuery (Core) is a cross-browser JavaScript library that provides abstractions for common client-side tasks such as Document Object Model (DOM) traversal, DOM manipulation, event handling, animation and Ajax. jQuery also provides a platform to create plugins that extend jQuery's capabilities beyond those already provided by the library.

jQuery

Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) is a language used for describing the look and formatting of a document written in a markup language. Usually used to change web pages and user interfaces written in HTML, it can also be applied to any kind of XML document. CSS is designed primarily to distinguish the content of a document from its presentation.

HTML (HyperText Markup Language) is the main markup language for creating web pages and other information to be displayed in a web browser, providing both the structure and content for what is sent from a web server through the use of tags. The current implementation of the HTML specification is HTML5.