I have been a developer for nearly 20 years and a web developer for about 10 years. Over the years, I have considered creating a blog to share the things I have learned (and am learning) about web design and development, but I never seemed to have the time. When I began learning about web development using Ajax and Ajax Frameworks, I decided to take the time to create this blog.
My intention for this blog is to focus primarily on Ajax Frameworks, but since web development requires knowledge of many technologies, I will occasionally write about things such as CSS, Javascript, PHP, MySQL, Flash, etc.
Lately, I have been using JQuery as my primary Ajax tool. Although I have used other Ajax Frameworks in the past (Dojo Toolkit, Yahoo! User Interface Library, Scriptaculous/Prototype), JQuery has thus far been the easiest to learn. In my first few posts I will discuss some of the JQuery Plugins that I have created. Some of these include: a plugin for Google Maps (jquery.imGoogleMaps), Form validation and submission (jquery.imValidateForm), Page Populater (jquery.imPagePopulate), and a plugin to create lists (jquery.imList).
While I am still learning about some of the other Ajax Frameworks, I hope that what I have learned will be helpful to others. Just remember, “When you can pull the pebbles from my hand…”
I needed to add Dropdown menus to a site that a designed using Drupal. I found a few modules (Nice Menus, etc) that would enable me to easily add dropdown menus to my site, but I wanted to use the CSS Drop-Down Menu Framework that I discussed in a previous post. With a little help from JQuery, I was able to add dropdown menus to my site without having to use a Drupal module.
I’m working on a project that uses Drupal and I wanted to add a few images to the home page.
First I created the folders files/images under the root directory. I then created the home page (Create Content->Page). When adding images to the home page, the file location is relative to the root directory:
<img src="files/images/flash1.jpg" width="168" height="112" class="imageFloatLeft"> |
But when I created another Drupal page (a page other than the home page), the relative path for the image is different:
<img src="../files/images/flash1.jpg" width="168" height="112" class="imageFloatLeft"> |
And when I created a page using Drupal’s Panels Module, the relative path for the image is once again relative to the root directory:
<img src="files/images/flash1.jpg" width="168" height="112" class="imageFloatLeft"> |
Adding content to Drupal seems to be fairly straightforward, but I did struggle a bit as I tried to figure out the relative paths of images/files so I hope this helps anyone else who may be struggling.
I have been a PHP developer for many years and I have recently started learning Drupal 6. I struggled for a few days just trying to modify one of the existing themes. If any of you are just starting to learn Drupal and you want to create your own design/theme, I found that the easiest way is to first create your design template (HTML and CSS) without the PHP/Drupal code. Once your design is complete and can be viewed correctly in the modern browsers, then open up one the themes (page.tpl.php) that are installed with Drupal and copy/paste the revelant PHP code into your template. I also use this approach when I create WordPress themes.
Before you begin your design, make sure that you have a fairly good understanding of Drupal’s Regions, Blocks and Modules and Blocks (Blocks are placed into Regions). Namely, header, left side, right side, and footer. You don’t necessarily have to use all regions in your design (i.e., you may not need a right side), but you should have a good understanding of what each region can be used for.
When I created my first Drupal theme, I did not think that I needed a right side, so I did not create one. But after I looked at other websites that use Drupal (and the many contributed modules), I found some very good content ideas that can be placed on the right side of my Drupal theme template.
I will, from time-to-time, post other Drupal tidbits (as I learn them).
