Building Sortable Checkbox Lists - Part 2
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As developers it's easy to get caught up in the "technical wizardry" of server-side scripts and databases, without really stopping to think about the front-end part of what you're doing. Often times developers who are very strong with server-side development steer away from client-side coding and page interaction/presentation simply because they're not as comfortable with some of the concepts or how to go about implementing certain features. In this series we're going to take a look at a perfect example of how modern JavaScript libraries like jQuery can help making the move from server-side guru to "Web 2.0 master" a fairly easy and painless transition.
Today, in the second part of the series, we're going to revisit our sortable checkbox list and, taking the dynamic concepts that were introduced last time around, look at how we can help make it more intuitive and easy to use.
Building Sortable Checkbox Lists - Part 1
Reader Level:
As developers it's easy to get caught up in the "technical wizardry" of server-side scripts and databases, without really stopping to think about the front-end part of what you're doing. Often times developers who are very strong with server-side development steer away from client-side coding and page interaction/presentation simply because they're not as comfortable with some of the concepts or how to go about implementing certain features. In this series we're going to take a look at a perfect example of how modern JavaScript libraries like jQuery can help making the move from server-side guru to "Web 2.0 master" a fairly easy and painless transition.
We're going to start with Ordering Checkbox Lookups in PHP, a perfect example of some very powerful and handy server-side code that has great functionality but could benefit from some dynamic front-end coding to make it really shine. We'll explore some of the limitations of the current basic form implementation that he's got, and see how easy it is to make it more intuitive through the use of jQuery and the jQuery UI libraries. Then, in the second half of the series we'll build on what we've learned to actually alter the form/checkbox concept into something that is even easier and more intuitive to work with for this application.
Object Oriented Programming in JavaScript
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Many developers who are more familiar with mainstream programming languages, like C++, Java, or even PHP, look at JavaScript and consider it to be a basic, feature-crippled language. The common conception that JavaScript is not object-oriented and does not support any advanced OOP features is perhaps the most surprising of all. The base of this misunderstanding is that JavaScript implements these features in a much more modern and intuitive fashion that is quite different from that of traditional languages.
Today we're going to explore JavaScript's object-oriented functionality so that you'll have a better understanding both of how it works and why it is so different from other languages.
Introduction to jQuery Mobile
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The web is going mobile, need a quick framework to add mobile to your site or your client's site? Introducing jQuery mobile, a framework to take care of the structure of your site while you worry about the content.
Referencing Radio Button Values in jQuery
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In our last installment, we looked at referencing the list of values that a user has selected from a collection of checkboxes. Unlike some simpler controls like text boxes, checkboxes are a little more complicated to grab values from. Closely related are radio buttons, which also allow selection from multiple options.
Unlike checkboxes, radio buttons only allow you to pick a single option. You might be asked to choose Yes or No or perhaps Male or Female. More involved options might provide many more selections; but you can only choose one of them.
jQuery Quickshots - Rotating Images in Realtime
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jQuery is a great tool for helping to make your JavaScript and AJAX applications easier to develop and maintain. One of the hardest things about it though, is that it introduces so many new and amazing possibilities that aren't always clearly obvious on the surface.
These "quickshot" articles are intended to act as hints, or inspirations, to some of the more creative or unknown problems that jQuery can help you tackle. Today we're going to tackle how to perform real-time image rotation in an easy and cross-browser compatible fashion!
Referencing Checkboxes with jQuery
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You may already know that HTML forms can pass values as a part of a collection. For instance, if a user selects multiple checkboxes from a selection that is named the same, you can access a comma delimited list of the selections they made once the form is submitted.
When retrieving the list of checkboxes that a user has selected in jQuery, it might seem like you could do something similar and simply check checkboxname.val() to get a list of the selected values. You will find, however, that this will give you only the value of the first checkbox in the set and ignore the rest. Getting a list of the values in jQuery is not difficult, but it is a little more complicated.
Nice Popup Messages with jQuery
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Sometimes in your web application you need to pop up a message that isn't critical enough for a JavaScript popup and it doesn't require any action on the user's behalf, this is a little script that can get that done for you! Using jQuery and the "humanized messages" script this is a extremely quick task.
Finger-Friendly Mobile Web - Part 4f: Dynamic Layering 6
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The web is moving beyond the confines of computers, thanks to the advent of smart phones and high-speed cellular networks. This is changing not only the way we think about connectivity and the net, but also the ways in which we access and interact with information. The rise of the touch screen and smart phone are bringing a myriad of new challenges, and opportunities, our way.
Toggle Checkbox Selections
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You have a list of checkboxes on the page and you want to add a toggle to check all of them or uncheck all of them and you need it done in minutes? Well, with a little prep and a few lines of JavaScript, you can get this done in no time!
Party Favourites: The Group Slideshow - Part 2
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The advances in mobile technologies and the rapid growth of portable computing devices has brought the reach of the web into entirely new and unexpected places. In this article we're going to look at one particular example that I ran into recently: mobile slideshows, or live photocasting if you will. It helped to make a recent party of mine a roaring success, and it really wasn't that hard to do!
Here in Part 2 I'll show you how to build the "slave" script that will synchronize itself with the "controller" that we created last time. We'll also look add a thumbnail gallery to our controller page.
The Group Slideshow Series:
Party Favourites: The Group Slideshow - Part 1
Party Favourites: The Group Slideshow - Part 2
Basic Form Calculations
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Calculating totals for a form can seem rather complicated or daunting. In this tutorial, I'll break it down for you very easily and you will be able to create forms and calculate totals in the form in no time!
Graphs in Your Web Pages!
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You have a client who wants to put a graph in their web site - and - wants to update the graph regularly. You could make a new image each time, plot out everything - or you could create it in Flash, but neither of those are skills you have and the budget is small. Flot to the rescue!
CKEditor 3 - WYSIWYG Text and HTML Editor for the Web
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CKEditor is a WYSIWYG textarea editor for websites. Installation and configuration is simple, but its uses are powerful. CKEditor is useful in any web situation where you want a user to submit pre-formatted text. It is created via JavaScript and replaces any textarea field within any modern browser. The text field then adopts a set of toolbars which work and function like those you see any word processor like Microsoft Word or OpenOffice. You can customize the textarea in terms of the toolbars, the available functions and even the style.
WYSIWYG editors are commonly used in web applications such as blogs, content management systems, forums and e-mail generators. Specific projects in which I have implemented a WYSIWYG editor include a company jobs posting database and a company intranet group e-mail interface.
CKEditor 3 was released on October 17, 2009 and features new performance, browser compatibility, accessibility and customization enhancements. Implementing CKEditor within your webpages simple and fast. Customization is relatively easy and the documentation does a decent job of explaining the API. CKEditor is available under several licenses including free open source licenses and commercial development licenses.
This tutorial will demonstrate the installation of CKEditor as well as the configuration of common elements.
Finger-Friendly Mobile Web - Part 1: Introduction
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The web is moving beyond the confines of computers, thanks to the advent of smart phones and high-speed cellular networks. This is changing not only the way we think about connectivity and the net, but also the ways in which we access and interact with information. The rise of the touch screen and smart phone are bringing a myriad of new challenges, and opportunities, our way.
In this series we're going to explore how we, as web developers, need to adapt in order to take full advantage of these changes and continue to provide new and exciting user experiences. We're going to learn to conquer the "finger-friendly mobile web"!
In the first part of this series we'll begin our journey by examining some of the major changes that this "finger friendly mobile world" brings, the challenges that we'll face, and the technologies and techniques that we'll be relying on as we move forward.
The Finger Friendly Mobile Web Series
Finger-Friendly Mobile Web - Part 1: An Introduction
Finger-Friendly Mobile Web - Part 2: Screen Sizes vs Density
FInger-Friendly Mobile Web - Part 3: Physical Sizes
Show-Hide Passwords
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Entering passwords sometimes can be frustrating since you can't see what you're typing. This quick JavaScript will make it possible for visitors to toggle between text and the password protected field for their password entry.
Fading Text with JavaScript
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This quick fading technique will provide some visual feedback to your visitors when they have moused over a text link. All it takes is a few lines of JavaScript, a little bit of math and some time to get it working just right!
Creating Rounded Borders in Browsers with CSS3 with an IE twist
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In the past we've generally had to add a bunch of useless HTML as hooks to add corners when making rounded corners. Now, most modern browsers understand their own versions of the CSS border-radius property, which creates rounded corners on elements. In this tutorial we learn a new method of creating rounded corners in all browsers. We'll also target Internet Explorer using a little JavaScript and CSS magic.
jQuery Quickshots - Dependent Selects
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jQuery is a great tool for helping to make your JavaScript and AJAX applications easier to develop and maintain. One of the hardest things about it though, is that it introduces so many new and amazing possibilities that aren't always clearly obvious on the surface.
These "quickshot" articles are intended to act as hints, or inspirations, to some of the more creative or unknown problems that jQuery can help you tackle. In today's article we'll look at how to conquer one of those "should be a lot easier than it really is" common tasks in web development: dependent select lists.
jQuery Quickshots - Creating Your Own Selectors
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jQuery is a great tool for helping to make your JavaScript and AJAX applications easier to develop and maintain. One of the hardest things about it though is that it introduces so many new and amazing possibilities that aren't always clearly obvious on the surface.
These "Quickshot" articles are intended to act as hints, or inspirations, to some of the more creative or unknown problems that jQuery can help you tackle. Today's article will show you just how easy it is to extend jQuery by creating your own custom selectors.
jQuery Quickshots - Page Transitions
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jQuery is a great tool for helping to make your JavaScript and AJAX applications easier to develop and maintain. One of the hardest things about it though, is that it introduces so many new and amazing possibilities that aren't always clearly obvious on the surface.
These "quickshot" articles are intended to act as hints, or inspirations, to some of the more creative or unknown problems that jQuery can help you tackle. Today's article focuses on a quick little technique to take an existing web site and make pages appear to "transition" back and forth instead of simply reloading each time.
jQuery Quickshots - Submitting Forms with AJAX
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jQuery is a great tool for helping to make your JavaScript and AJAX applications easier to develop and maintain. One of the hardest things about it though is that it introduces so many new and amazing possibilities that aren't always clearly obvious on the surface.
These "quickshot" articles are intended to act as hints, or inspirations, to some of the more creative or unknown problems that jQuery can help you tackle. Today's article focuses on how to quickly and easily submit form data using jQuery's AJAX methods.
jQuery Quickshots - AJAX with JSON
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jQuery is a great tool in helping to make your JavaScript and AJAX applications easier to develop and maintain. One of the hardest things about it though is that it introduces so many new and amazing possibilities that aren't always clearly obvious on the surface.
These "quickshot" articles are intended to act as hints, or inspirations, to some of the more creative or unknown problems that jQuery can help you tackle. Today's article focuses on JSON, the compact alternative to XML for data exchanges between the client and server in AJAX scenarios.
Throbbing Web Pages
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This article is about a rather useless JavaScript function that I wrote that might be just the thing you need for a specific application -- I call it the Throb. You can set it on a CSS class name of a table cell or other element, and the background color of that element will "throb" from the color to a lighter color, causing the illusion of a throbbing element on the page. Despite its limited use, the code in the function should give you some ideas of what else can be done with JavaScript and CSS.
AJAX Concept Quickshot - Password Protected Apps
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Making the change from traditional web development to AJAX requires more than just learning different sets of technologies: you also have to learn new ways of dealing with old problems. Today we're going to look at one of the classic examples of this: password protected web sites.
Creating a Nice Help Feature for Your Forms
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Some forms just need extra help. Maybe it is a complex form or the typical visitors to the form aren't familiar with entering information in a form and it just needs a little more context help when the visitor is at the field. You could put the help text on the page, but that could clutter up the page and make it unfriendly. This method will put the help on the page when it is needed and take it away as soon as it isn't. Just a few lines of JavaScript to get it all working...
JavaScript Variable Scope: Local and Global Variables
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In writing JavaScript functions, variable functions can trip you up. A common error is overwriting a global variable because the variable in a function didn't have local scope.
If that last sentence didn't make any sense, then this article is for you.
This article covers tips and tricks for understanding variable scope in JavaScript.
Adding an Auto-Logout Feature - Part 2
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If you have a site that is built using one of the server technologies, like ASP, PHP, or ColdFusion, that has a login feature, chances are you also have a logout function. What happens when the user keeps the browser open and doesn't log out? Many times he will go back to the page and attempt to click on something, only to find out that he has to login again. For example, the user might fill in a complex form and walk away, only to come back to try to submit the form and be kicked out of the site.
Part one of this series showed a function to log the user out after a specified period of time. This part will show a second function which will warn the user that the session is about to be closed. Also, the original function will be expanded to allow the use of a custom logout page.
Because this is a client-side JavaScript function, it will work with any server-side language.
The Adding an Auto-Logout Feature Series:
Adding an Auto-Logout Feature - Part 1
Adding an Auto-Logout Feature - Part 2
Adding an Auto-Logout Feature - Part 1
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If you have a web application that has a login feature, chances are you also have a logout function. What happens when the user keeps the browser open and doesn't log out? Many times he will go back to the page and attempt to click on something, only to find out that he has to login again.
This article will show a JavaScript function that you can put on the page that will automatically log out the user after a specific length of time, so that when he returns to the browser he will already be logged out. Because this is a JavaScript function, it will work with any server-side language.
The Adding an Auto-Logout Feature Series:
Adding an Auto-Logout Feature - Part 1
Adding an Auto-Logout Feature - Part 2
Hide Your Body!
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Sometimes, when you have a lot of tables with data on the screen, the information can be overwhelming. If we could create a way to hide table content that didn't completely hide the table and was easily accessed, that could make the page better for the visitor. Well - with a little JavaScript code and a properly setup table - this is a quick fix!
ColdFusion Contact Form in One Easy File - Part 3
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Michael Evangelista is a freelance web developer, ColdFusion programmer, and owner of a successful web and print design company based in southern Utah. Michael's company, Evangelista Design, has grown from a locally-oriented small business web design company to an international team of designers and ColdFusion developers offering a wide range of online business solutions, including full-service web hosting, custom content management applications, corporate data systems, and more.
In
Part 2 of this tutorial,
we added several effective spam-prevention methods to our simple contact form, including a simple hidden honeypot field, comparison of submitted values against an easy-to-manage list of banned words and phrases, and a quick check to prevent submission of any html content (containing < and >).
Wired into a single ColdFusion file, we left off with a nifty little spam-blocking, self-submitting, auto-responding, error-handling dynamic gizmo, ready to be battle-tested in the war against spam. You should be able to drop the sample file from Part 2 into any .cfm page, adjust the cfmail settings and other options in the code, and go... it's really that easy!
So... if it works, what's left?
As with any creative or code-related project, there are always aspects that can be cleaned up, simplified and polished. In Part 3, the final part of this series, we'll do some of each:
The ColdFusion Contact Forms in One Easy File Series:
ColdFusion Contact Forms in One Easy File - Part 1
ColdFusion Contact Forms in One Easy File - Part 2
ColdFusion Contact Forms in One Easy File - Part 3
Quick Shot: Alternate Table Row Coloring
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Do you have tables of data everywhere and you want to automatically setup the rows to alternate color?
This quick shot will use JavaScript and CSS to automatically alternate the background color of the table rows.
ColdFusion and Spry: Part 1
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Spry is a JavaScript-based framework that provides AJAX-powered dynamic web content. There are other JavaScript libraries available to accomplish similar results. such a JSON, jQuery, etc. (On this CMX site, Rob Williams has a couple of series on jQuery and jQuery UI Components.)The Spry library is produced by Adobe Labs, and, as of this writing, is in 1.6.1 release. (SPRY at Adobe Labs.) Although SPRY can be used with other server technologies, such as PHP, ASP.net, etc., Spry seems to employ techniques that are especially intuitive to the ColdFusion developer.
Keith Dodd got into web development as a second career following 30 years in public education, with 19 as a middle school principal. With help from friends and a lot of reading, he got into ColdFusion (version 3) and in 2003 was certificated as an Advanced ColdFusion MX Developer. In recent years, he has worked with Flash and the integration of Flash with ColdFusion (with a lot of help from CMX resources). He is just starting to delve into Flex.
The ColdFusion and Spry Series:
ColdFusion and Spry: Part 1
ColdFusion and Spry: Part 2
ColdFusion and Spry: Part 3
ColdFusion and Spry: Part 4
Use Same Address for Billing
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You have probably ordered enough stuff online that you have filled your address in plenty of times. And whenever you order something, the site typically needs to know the billing address associated with your form of payment as well as the address you want your stuff shipped to. These may be the same, or they may be different.
If they are different, there is not much that can be done to help. You are going to have to fill out your addresses and, the best you can hope, is that the form fields are named the same as some other site that you have filled out so that your browser remembers your addresses. But if the addresses are the same, it is helpful when the site allows you to click a box that says "Use the same address for billing" Even better is when clicking that box automatically fills in the billing address fields so that you know your instructions were received.
A little bit of JavaScript lets you provide that same convenience to your users.
Highlight a Table Row on Mouseover!
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Highlighting a row in a table is a commonly seen web feature and is pretty handy for figuring out where you are in a larger table. Highlighting the row also allows the visitor to quickly see what data is connected to the row the mouse cursor happens to be over. While the effect is simple, the JavaScript is a little tricky. This tutorial will go over exactly how to implement this functionality on your tables!
Simple Server-Side Form Validation
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Setting up a simple custom server-side form validation is a straightforward process and has the advantage over JavaScript in that it cannot be turned off by the user in order to override your validation.
In this tutorial, we will look at how we can use a combination of ColdFusion, JavaScript and CSS to provide an interactive form validating process. Although we do use a little JavaScript in this process it does not have a bearing on the validation process and is used only to enhance the messaging that is passed to the user.
Quick Shot - Form Styling
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Need to create a visual clue on all of your form elements when the form element has focus? Don't want to apply two behaviors per form element? Check out this solution, apply once, works everywhere!
Quick Shot - Stop a Form Submission
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Need to know how to stop a form from submitting so you can run your own validation on the form and then have the JavaScript submit the form when the validation is done? Seek no more...
Limiting Textarea Characters
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Limiting the characters for a textarea is a pretty common thing around the web. We are going to create our own script to accomplish this functionality, but with a little twist - using DOM compliant scripting and without putting a single line of JavaScript in the body of the document, not even on the textareas themselves.
AJAX Dependent Selects!
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Ever wanted to have a select's content change on the fly? A little JavaScript, some AJAX, a pinch of server-side code and you can make a slick presentation for dependent selects.
Simple AJAX
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Ajax can be very simple, this article will walk through a very basic AJAX server connection using nothing more then plain JavaScript and a text file.
On Page WYSIWYG Editing!
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Add this WYSIWYG editor and some JavaScript to your page and create a unique content management system that switches to edit content on your live web pages!
Only supports Internet Explorer for Windows and Firefox for Windows and Macintosh.
Random Backgrounds
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Ever need to create a random background for your web site? Perhaps a slideshow for your background? Well, this script will do just that for you and it is super easy to install!
Swap Image DOM Replacement!
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Swap image behavior is a standard effect seen on web sites worldwide. Each script that controls the image swap, image restore and the events on the link or image are repeated on every page and the events on every image. When a new page is made, all of this has to be put on the page again. How about a script that is external to the page, which, of course, is included via the script tag link, but, has no other code in the page at all and automatically does the swap image effect for your menu? Want to see it? Read on!
JavaScript Validation Product Packages
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You have a client who wants to offer a special deal which requires the customer to select a certain number of products in order to get a packaged deal. We need to be able to check to see if they have selected the total number needed between all of the products, no more and no less. Sounds simple? With a little JavaScript and a some conformity on the form values, it can be!
Good Behavior
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Learn to make a simple Dreamweaver Behavior.
JavaScript 202: Native Code
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In JavaScript 201 Paul Davis introduced the concept of a function and demonstrated how it could be used to make your code more managable and efficient. More importantly he also demonstrated how you could use a function to actually make JavaScript do something practical. This time around we're going to continue to build on that idea, but rather than creating our own functions all the time we're going to start exploring some of the functions that are included as part of the JavaScript language itself.
JavaScript 201: Functions
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Graduated from the JavaScript 101 articles and looking for more JavaScript to sink your teeth into? This article delves into the JavaScript functions. Learn about putting them together and making them do something.
Automatic Shipping Address Fill-in with Dreamweaver and JavaScript
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How many times have you been to a website which wants you to fill out the billing and shipping addresses and they are the same and you just want to copy the information over from one set of fields to another? Or you have a client who wants these fields always filled out and you want to ensure the visitor can do this efficiently and easily?
In this tutorial, we will show you how with a little JavaScript and a checkbox in the form, you can make this happen easily!
Create a Cross-Platform Yahoo! Widget
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This tutorial will show you how to build a cross-platform Yahoo! Widget that you can use to promote your site, using JavaScript and XML. Included in the tutorial is a fully functioning CMX RSS feed reader widget, which you'll use as the starting point for creating a widget of your own.
Approximate download size: 376k
Build a Dashboard Widget
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Widgets and the new Dashboard feature introduced some serious eye candy with the debut of Mac OS X 10.4 "Tiger" last year. But widgets can be seriously useful, too — not to mention great fun. This tutorial walks you through a fully functional CMX RSS feed reader widget created for Tiger. You'll see how it works...and how you can modify it to create your own Dashboard widget.
Approximate download size: 552k
Batch Processing Images to a Custom File Size
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Fireworks Batch processing features can really save you time when you have to do the same thing to a bunch of images. A recent question in the Macromedia Fireworks forum made me stop to think of another batch processing routine that may come in handy for people; batch processing images to a specific file size.
Let's say you have a large number of photos that are different file sizes. Perhaps due to disc space restrictions or file size limitations for a web gallery or e-commerce site, you have to ensure that ALL the images not exceed a specific file size.
This tutorial will show you how to create a batch process for exporting a folder full of files to a specific file size, how to create your own custom Optimization Presets, and how to to save multiple Batch Options as a single script file that can be accessed in the Batch Process window.
Adding WYSIWYG to Textareas: Part 1
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One of the problems web developers encounter when allowing clients or users to insert content dynamically is ensuring that the outputted content still conforms to the standard of code required from a modern web site. The average site user knows little or nothing of HTML syntax, and certainly not enough to ensure that your precious pages still meet HTML syntax validation.
Many solutions have been created in order to solve this problem, BB style syntax is one of those; but the majority of users would probably prefer to be able to format their text as they would in a product like Microsoft Word. The generic word processor environment is something that's familiar to almost everyone who uses a personal computer. So, let's say we could actually allow people to insert data as clean HTML using a simple word processing interface, wouldn't that be cool? :) We can, and as a bonus we can easily implement it into a generic Dreamweaver "Insert Record" page.
Unobtrusive JavaScript: Dynamically Adding a Flash Music Player to MP3 Links
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This tutorial discusses using JavaScript to dynamically add a small Flash music player control to a page that contains links to MP3 files. With this technique, you'll merely need to link in the appropriate JavaScript to your page, and all MP3 links on a page, such as your latest Podcast, will automatically have player controls added next to them, with no further digging into the code on your part.
CMX AJAX Loader: Beyond the Basics
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The CMX AJAX Loader Extension, out of the box, provides a quick and easy means of loading document fragments into the current page without requiring a refresh. It's important to be aware however that this is not a limit of the behavior's functionality. In this article we'll explore the how the CMX AJAX Loader can act as a tool that can be integrated into other scripts to provide additional functionality and open up new possibilities.
Rotating Images with Dreamweaver and JavaScript
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Slideshow, rotating images, image-a-go-go, whatever you want to call it, a client will ask for an image or banner to swap out with another image (or more than one), and continue swapping every so often. With Dreamweaver it's pretty easy to throw together some scripting that will accomplish just that for your client. Dreamweaver does most of the heavy lifting, and all you need to do is to paste in a little bit of code, set the images you want to display, how long you want the interval between image swaps to be and your all ready to send the invoice.
Right, yes you did read that you'd be doing a bit of work up there, but don't worry, once you have this technique down it can take you as little as 20 seconds to get this going.
Using Related Fields with the CMX Auto Complete Extension
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The CMX Auto Complete Behavior makes adding basic "auto complete" functionality to your HTML forms fast and easy; when you begin to develop larger forms though you may be ready to start utilizing some of the more advanced features of the extension.
Note: This tutorial requires that you have the
CMX Auto Complete Behavior installed on your system and are familiar with its use.
Visualizing Data with Google Maps
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"Where in the World is
Carmen Sandiego",
"Where's Waldo" ... What do these childhood books/games/shows have in common? The desire to geographically locate someone (or something). Whether it's a customer trying to find a specific store location, or a business attempting to understand the demographics of its customer base,this is a problem domain that has long intrigued the human race.
Google Maps has succeeded in creating a fantastic mapping
product that arguably trumps
the
others in the field. The best thing about Google Maps is that they have opened up their
API
for people to innovate with. Several examples include
Chicago Crime and
MyWikiMap (formerly Cheap Gas). These are sites that have some set of data that lends itself
well to geographic visualization.
This article will walk you through the process I took to write a Google Maps application that displays all of the members in
my .NET usergroup for the purpose of demographic
analysis. You will be able to download an easily customizable console application written in C# and instructions on how to integrate
the result into a fully functional Google map that you can deploy to your website.
Now, you might ask yourself, "Why a console application, why not a .NET page that could be run to generate the actual JavaScript Google needs?" ...
a fine question to be sure, unfortunately, the data retrieval process I describe in the tutorial involves contacting a third party website who's performance
does not lend itself to being used in a production environment ... especially if the amount of data you have to display is significant. With a console
application, you can run your data retrieval process manually and it doesn't matter how long it takes to grab all of the data.
Exporting an Embedded Stylesheet to an External Stylesheet Using Dreamweaver MX 2004
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CSS is all the rage these days, and for many good reasons. However, if you are new to the whole CSS method of controlling web pages, it can be intimidating when you begin. The goal of this video tutorial is to show you how to create a very basic embedded (internal) stylesheet using the Property inspector, and then export that embedded set of rules to an external file.
Using the Macromedia Flash / JavaScript Integration Kit
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The Flash/JavaScript Integration Kit was developed by Christian Cantrell and Mike Chambers at Macromedia. It was developed to make the communication between Flash and JavaScript easier to implement. This isn't a new technology, but it's a straightforward way to implement this type of communication between these different pieces of your application. This article discusses the benefits of the Integration Kit and gives a simple demonstration of how it can be used.
Talking to Flash with JavaScript
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At the time of this writing — Flash Player 7 — there is no consistently reliable method for talking to Flash with JavaScript. But there is a workaround. In this article, you'll learn how to use FlashVars and the LocalConnection class to send messages to a Flash movie embedded in an HTML document. This technique should work in virtually every browser and platform, provided the user hasn't disabled JavaScript.
Use XML to Populate Dependent Select Lists
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Nearly everyone has seen the classic Dependent Select Lists. It's a great user interface technique where you have two or more select form elements and the selection of one list changes the contents of the next list. This is commonly done with City and State selection interfaces. This tutorial will demonstrate how to build Dependent Select Lists and populate the lists using an XML data file.
Communicating with the Server without Reloading the Page
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Ever wonder how
Gmail and
Google Suggest are able to request data from the server without reloading the page? Well it's no secret; it's done through a fairly new browser feature called
XMLHttpRequest. One of the downsides to traditional HTML development is the limitation that you must reload the entire page to get new data from the server.
In this article we will use JavaScript to request new data from the server using the XMLHttpRequest object, without leaving the page. This article is intended to be a basic introduction to the XmlHttpRequest object.
Let it Snow, Man! - Part 2
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Well there's a chill in the air. The leaves have fallen, the wind is brisker and sometimes, even in early November, there's that "scent of snow" in the air. In the lead-up to the holiday season, I have created a two-part series that uses both Fireworks and Dreamweaver. The end result will be a fun little "build your own snowman" web page.
In
Part 1, we used Fireworks to create all the essential ingredients for our frozen friend. We then exported the pieces using
Export as CSS Layers. This gave us a starting html page (generated by Fireworks) and all our graphics, in absolutely positioned DW layers (divs).
In our second and final chapter we will work in Dreamweaver, using the Drag Layer behavior to create a web page where you can move all the snowman pieces together and build your own snowman online. The Drag Layer behavior makes use of Dynamic HTML (DHTML), to make your page interactive. In our case, we're letting the user move all the snowman pieces around to build their very own snowman, using a Drag-n-Drop method.
This concept could have many different uses: visual quizzing, jigsaw puzzles, or other holidays, just to name a few.
Note: The Safari browser does not support the Dreamweaver Drag Layer Behavior at this time.
Using Flash as a Dynamic Agent
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This tutorial will show you how to use a hidden flash movie on your page to dynamically get data from a server without reloading the page.
Delaying Swap Image Restore to Avoid the 'Swap Back Flash' Problem
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The built in Swap Image behavior is one of the most used pieces of Dreamweaver. In fact, we have a couple of articles that cover it already, Laurie's
Using DWMX's Swap Image behavior and Bill's
Disjointed Rollovers, both freebies.
So why take the effort for another bob at the apple in the barrel? Well, despite its usefulness, the combination of just a couple Swap Images with the associated Swap Image Restore on your page may introduce an undesirable visual effect, that some have called "flash swap back". In this article we'll show you an example of the problem, a page that solves the problem, and then we'll show you how to solve the problem for your pages. Along the way we'll discuss how to introduce a delay in a Behavior, as well as how to cancel out a delay.
Enabling the Back Button in Flash
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One of the big issues that Flash development brings to the table is with browser history. Since a Flash web site only really needs one page, browser history becomes irrelevant. The problem is that many web site users don't know this and will often hit the back button and get unexpected results. This tutorial will show one scalable technique for integrating browser history with your Flash movie navigation.
Creating a Filter For the List Component
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In this tutorial, we create a filter for the Flash List component. As the user enters text into the TextInput component, the List component is filtered to display only those items that match the filter criteria.
This tutorial also explains how to port this functionality to JavaScript/HTML.
Flash, DHTML Menus and Accessibility
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It's not uncommon to hear developers complaining that their DHTML menus, when triggered, have dropped behind the Flash movie below them. It's also not uncommon to hear, "that's just how they work." Before Flash Player 6, that was true in many browsers. But nowadays, it's become urban legend. With Flash Player 6, Macromedia introduced windowless mode for Netscape and Mac OS X (previously it was supported only for Windows). In the process, this also gave developers a way to completely hide Flash from older screen readers and the focus issues they can have with it. In fact, when Flash is purely used as eye candy, it's wise to remove it from the flow of the screen reader's page so that they don't have to listen to Flash without a purpose.
The Long and Short of Dreamweaver Timelines - An Introduction
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Built right into DW 4, MX and MX 04 (7.01), is the capability to do interactive animation, and more. This article will examine the Timeline feature, pros and cons, and how it works, by doing a few simple exercises. It will act as a launching point for future, more project-based tutorials.
Copying Form Data With JavaScript
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In this tutorial we will look at how we can copy the information our user has entered into a form to another section of the same form. This saves our users time by negating the need to re-enter data that has already been entered.
Protecting your Email when using Paypal
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Paypal is quite possibly one of the easiest ways of implementing an e-commerce solution. You don't even need any dynamic server side skills so the barrier to entry is very light. However, there is one fundamental issue that most Paypal implementations have ... in order for you to link the transaction to your Paypal account, you must include your email address (the one in your Paypal account) in the code.
This tutorial shows you how to effectively hide your email address using some simple Javascript.
Disjointed Rollovers
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It happens to all of us at some point; You've gotten bored with plain old rollovers on your nifty menu... You want to add a little something, like maybe rolling over one of your buttons and having it trigger another image swap elsewhere on your page. In this tutorial, we'll go over how to do that, and even how make a picture appear where there wasn't one before. All using the Swap Image behavior.
The Newbie Series: Using DWMX's Set Navbar Image Behavior
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In an earlier tutorial "Using DWMX's Swap Image Behavior" we looked at how to create simple 2 state rollovers. With this tutorial, we are going to kick it up a notch and create more complex 3 and 4 state rollovers using the Set Navbar Image behavior. DWMX makes creating these navbars a piece of cake. :-D
JavaScript Code Hints in Dreamweaver
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The MX release added Code Hints to Dreamweaver. This tutorial reveals the Code Hints available in JavaScript files, and then delves into modifying existing hints for ease of use, and then onto adding new Code Hints for JavaScript objects that you use everyday to help speed your development.
The Newbie Series: Using DWMX's Swap Image behavior
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Making 2-state rollover navigation buttons using DWMX's Swap Image behavior is a piece of cake! In this tutorial we will walk you through placing your navigational buttons on your page and applying the Swap Image behavior to them to create a rollover.