All class assignments are in right column of my blog

Top of the row.

If you select the tag "homework" there are blogged details for the assignments.

Class 06 assignment - PHP Ecomm Product Page

Class 06 Assignment Files:

• PHP
• CSS
• Javascript

Accomplished:

• Took my concept from this page
  
• In class completion of the PHP
• Applied imagery and content replacing all dummy placeholders.
  
• Created banners for all slots.
• Fixed the flickering per Amos' solution (thanks!)
• Fixed the CSS so it all works in IE7 and Firefox and updated the CSS to work with the new thumbnail dimensions.
  

For the next iteration:

• Info divs need a bit of usability and design work
• For that matter the whole thing could use a bit more design work... if I'm to compare myself ;-)
  

Overall I'm pleased with the result. I know there is a lot of practice still and I need to keep my feet wet through out the week to stay sharp for the next class... and pop quiz!

Introducing Aviary Tools (like PS & AI but online)

Possible solution instead of buying the Adobe applications.

"Edit images, create mind-blowing effects, design logos, find colors, collaborate and more. All you need is a web browser. Try it now completely free!"

I just found out about this Aviary Tools in a newsletter. It seems too good to be true for those that don't have Photoshop or Adobe Illustrator. There is a free version but I see on the pricing page that they put a watermark on free creations. Two other yearly paid versions.

Billing / Shipping Form - V1

I've completed (finally) my first javascript assignment viewable here.

On that page you can read what I did in detail.

I referenced for this version:

• Javascript String Object Reference - W3Schools & javascriptkit.com - to learn how to style an error message with javascript
• Jonathan Rodriguez's code
  

I didn't just copy and paste but rather I made a lot of little mistakes writing along the way and sometimes I got some funny results instead of just errors. I'm still having a bit of trouble even though this looks successful. I tried some of the "Ideas for Javascript Practice" ideas you will see listed on my homework page but just couldn't make any of those work using the references I found. If you have any suggestions as to what you would do, I would appreciate that. I suppose I need to go back to do some reading as well.

So this week I plan to still:

• Style my PHP ecomm product page with a fish aquarium store vibe.
  
• Try a couple more versions of the form with javascript and php.
  

HTML/XHTML Character Entities

When you want that special character like a ♥ or ¶, you need to go to the reference list... at least I would.

• For a while I was using this link as my quick reference for character entities.
• This morning though I saw Smashing Magazine had sent a tweet on their twitter to another reference of character entities.
  

I'm blogging about this because the list links are an essential reference. As well, I've been following Smashing Magazine and in that a short while they have exposed me to some resources that made a recent design job very easy. There are some awesome tutorials on the site as well for the programmer side in us. Plus if you follow them on Twitter, you get some extra tidbits (like just a link to something) I don't believe they post about when you follow them on Twitter.

How was that for a pitch? Have a great week.
db

PHP links

In class we learned of

• PHP.net for the official site of PHP.
• tizag.com for a PHP tutorial (http://www.tizag.com/phpT/)

As well, the following two links are php portals of sorts with many categories... resource and reference.

• Top of the Google search result is php.resourceindex.com. I just looked around and for example found some quick answers to code and how to write the functions. Doesn't seem to be any "spam" in this collection of links.
  
• I somehow came across www.hotscripts.com/PHP Warning: there is a lot of junk to filter through. Perhaps there is something good in the Scripts and Programs section.

A JavaScript library to make MSIE behave like a standards-compliant browser.

http://code.google.com/p/ie7-js/

Pretty interesting Javascript library. I haven't tested this yet myself but if it does what it says, I think this library could save some development time.

"IE7 is a JavaScript library to make Microsoft Internet Explorer behave like a standards-compliant browser. It fixes many HTML and CSS issues and makes transparent PNG work correctly under IE5 and IE6."

Questions:

• With all the javascript libraries we are being introduced to, how many is to many to link to in the header? How will they work together and how much will it slow the load of pages?

Class 05 assignment - 03 - Like OMG! It's Working!!!

First I owe my thanks to Sharron. Her procedure was a lot like mine and reorganizing my code to reflect hers was the answer for me.

My solution was a branch off of the previous post's links which I dearly want to know what I was doing wrong with.

Class 05 Files: (new)

• HTML
• CSS
• JS

Coding Observations:

• There is an annoying flickering going on. I'm out of time to figure that out but maybe I'll figure it by looking at a previous post I saw.
  
• I still can read better than I can write and I'm having a hard time understanding how some variables are associated with different functions... but somehow I know they are.
  
• I see how programmers have a personal style to coding with all the different ways we each solved this problem.
• I'm at the belief now that defining vars is the key. Where each step in a function is achieved by taking the result of one function and defining a new var to perform yet another function. Probably not making sense here but I see the steps in the code but am still challenge when conceiving on my own.
• I believe I need to read read read and do small tests if I'm to really to code javascript on my own. Not sure that will be achieved in this class but this class is certainly helping me get there.

OK. off to get ready to VJ a Bollywood Disco event all night... learning PHP tomorrow!... not helping my chances with PHP am I? ;-)

Class 05 assignment - 02 - progress but no success

Class Assignment 05 Files:

• HTML
  
• CSS
• JS
  

About the layout:

• This time I noticed my br class="clear" were creating space. Not sure if that was the case previously but this time I just added margin and padding 0 to solve it.
• Top navigation I made close to the wireframe mockup where it spreads out over the width of the container. I only found this to be achieved with exact pixel knowledge. Percentages didn't work but maybe they could somehow.
  
• The layout looks the same in Firefox and IE7. IE6 needs a little work.
  

About the Javascript:

• I just can't seem to figure out how to relate the positioning. Maybe I'm doing it correctly and the issue is in my CSS. I really can't figure it out by noticing the results I get.
• There are a few people I have followed and I like how each person did it differently. At least I know there isn't one set way. I think I know what I'm looking at but don't seem to be able to translate that to my method.
  
• I've spent about 15hrs on this project! I have a few more hours to figure it out today.
  
• I'm very frustrated and have a bunch of doubt at the moment.
  

server down?

It's just after 1PM and my connection to onepotcooking just froze up. Anyone else having that issue?