(Eye Scream Animation Web Site) Older »
« Newer (JavaScript Tutorial - Counting Characters)
Dec 28th 2007
Jamie3D.com (This Site)
Complete? [Not Really]
Although this site is a constant work in progress, it resides in the completed section as it's complete in terms of structure and usability. Any other features are just "bells and whistles." I will keep adding features until it's perfect!
This Site's Design
This site's design is really secondary to the Content Management System it's built on. I can code XHTML and CSS just fine, but I need to push my limits and gain as much CMS knowledge as I can.
The Front End
The main pages of this site are quite minimalistic and clean. I'm going for a cleaner, and more functional design that utilizes a standard template. When Images are uploaded, they are automatically laid out in the image gallery to the right side of the page. PHP is being used very heavily in the design and rendering of these pages.
Comments
The comment system is based on the idea that anyone can post, even spammers and loud annoying people who have nothing good to say about anything. The comment is posted, but remains hidden until the administrator approves the comment. This system allows people to quickly and casually post a comment, without actually signing up.
The Back End
Heavy use of Ajax is the goal of this CMS back end. I need to see what's compatible, what features are better with Ajax, and what features can do without it. By the way, if you have not heard of this term before, Ajax or Asynchronous JavaScript And XML is just a fancy term for the use of JavaScript to send and receive data behind the scenes, without refreshing the web page and having the user wait for it to reload.
The Front End of this site now uses a bit of Ajax as well; the "Add a comment" link at the bottom of project pages uses an Asynchronous Request to get the comment form and places it right below the clicked link.
In The Administration Section:
- When I click the Delete button next to an image, the image simply disappears, (After an "OK, Cancel" dialog box) and the page says "Image Deleted." Additionally, when images are uploaded, they are simply appended to the list of images below the text box that I'm typing in.
- As I type this text, JavaScript code in the page listens to see when I've stopped typing for a few seconds, and automatically saves the text in this field. This is accomplished with a counter that counts down from two or three seconds every time I start typing. The "magic" is that every time I press a key, the counter is reset. in other words, you need to pause long enough for two or three seconds to elapse, then a save command is triggered.
- When the project category is selected, the page makes the change to the database, instantly. Visual feedback in the form of a "report area" shows confirmation that the operation went smoothly. If you change the date, upon successful insertion of the new date into the database, the report area of the page says "Date was changed to XXXX-XX-XX."