RE: Mode to display information in the topmost line of a window

[Drew Adams]

As an alternative, you might want to put the info in the mode line.
This is what I use:

(defun show-in-mode-line (text &optional buffer)
  "Display TEXT in BUFFER's mode line for 10 sec (or until user event).
Note: This sits for 10 sec or until a user event, so call this last in
a sequence of user-visible actions."
  (with-current-buffer (or buffer (current-buffer))
    (make-local-variable 'mode-line-format)
    (let ((mode-line-format  text))
     (force-mode-line-update) (sit-for 10))
    (force-mode-line-update)))