Web Design Topic
Welcome to the beta of the new saila.com. Send in your bugs.
JavaScript
A platform-independent scripting language created by Netscape Communications. A version of the script (ECMA Script, after the governing body that approved the standard) is now part of the HTML 4.0 specification. It was first called LiveScript, but was "rebranded" due to the success of Java.
-
Why doesn’t Internet Explorer add a table using appendChild?
Adding a table using the DOM is relatively easy — all you need to do is dynamically create the needed TD (and/or TH), TR, TBODY (and/or TFOOT and/or THEAD), and TABLE nodes using createElement. The you add each child to its parent using appendChild. -
Fixing the CSS validator; CSS footers and JavaScript galleries
Following yesterday’s minor kerfuffle over the CSS validator and CSS hacks, Zeldman is asking people to request the W3C update its validator. In reply, the W3C’s Olivier Thereaux is asking the community to help fix the open-source validator. -
Challenging the tarrif; VeriSign wants RFIDs; cross-browser DHTML Behaviors
Not like it was unexpected: Apple, Dell, Hewlett-Packard, and a bunch of retailers are challenging the tarrif to be placed on MP3 players. A successful suit could lead to the end of legal downloading in Canada, though. -
QuirksMode; opposing Eolas
Note: when streetcar tracks are wet and you are passing over them on a diagonal on a fast-moving bicycle, do so carefully. -
WebStandards.TO meets; JavaScript optimization tricks
Tara Cleveland’s got details (and pics) on the first 'WebStandards.TO meet up. Not a bad turn-out given the ice storm hitting the city. -
Web Page Analyzer; getElementsByAttribute
Andy King’s Web Page Analyzer is a great tool that offers coherent breakdown of the various parts of a Web page (by size and type). Despite the overly simplistic recommendations, it’s a quick way to flag problems with a page’s size and a worthy bookmark. -
FIR and DOM
My comment system is acting up, but a short-term fix is in the works. Will probably rewrite the comment script in another language. Of course this won’t be an issue when/if I switch to a new back-end system. -
CSS rollovers; DOM’s range
For a while, I was planning on implementing a type of pure CSS rollover in way similar to Holovaty.com has. In the end, I didn’t do it for much the same reasons his readers are commenting about: the jumpy text. Nevertheless, I’m glad Adrian did follow through, if only to get responses to a usability issue I only speculated about. -
Testing generated content; don’t use DOM 2
Gavin Laking is tabulating how browser’s display CSS-generated content (specifically Adrian Holovaty’s blockquote+cite trick). If you’re visiting the cite, send Laking feedback on how it works for your browser/OS. -
LaPointe’s list; DOM2 Events in IE
Kirk LaPointe has assembled a mammoth list of news- and media-related links. The look is not pretty, but with Type Ahead Find, or a bit of patience, the list is an impressive resource. (LaPointe, by the way, was the Senior Vice-President at CTV News, the Executive Editor of the National Post, as well as the editor of The Hamilton Spectator. He’s now “at large”.) -
Outliner menus; CBC.ca excellence
Over the past few weeks, a number of people have commented on the outliner-style navigation menu most of you see at the left. I told a couple of them I was considering releasing the script for it to the public. -
DOM talk
DOM support in the new Opera 7 beta is not quite ready for prime time (that’s why its “beta”) so if you want to visit this site using that browser I highly recommend you turn-off JavaScript before arriving. CSS support seems excellent, though. (Opera has a full list of what’s supported.) If you do notice bugs, read the support documentation, and then — with a qualified test case — submit them. -
A box model fix and a JavaScript verifier
Thor Larholm wants to make sure every box is the same size. -
Show your attributes!
This mini-tutorial illustrates how to use the Document Object Model to access attributes, like title, and display them on a Web page. -
DOM nightmares
Lately I’ve been remembering my dreams more than usual, and those who’ve seen Waking Life will understand the following a bit better. Mostly they've been lucid dreams—I know I’m dreaming even as I dream. Problem is I actually want to enjoy my dreams but my (sub?)conscious keeps pulling me out of them. -
Doing JavaScript
Managed to finally roll-out the dHTML-ized version of the site's interior pages this weekend. Throughout this process (and that of redeveloping the still unlaunched Ontario Science Centre site) my JavaScript knowledge went from nothing to passable competence (with thanks to the braintrust at WebDesign-L). -
How do I use special characters in JavaScript?
Like HTML, Javascript requires special characters to be encoded. But JavaScript has its own unique way. -
How do I make a page redirect the user elsewhere?
To redirect a user to another page, you can put a <meta> inside the <head> tags. The following would automatically redirect someone to http://www.example.com: -
How do I force a page to reload?
The easiest way to do this is by putting a <meta> inside the >head< tags. This example would reload the page in about 60 seconds: -
In older browser’s, my JavaScript/style sheets are being displayed as text.
This is an easy fix. Just wrap the content of your JavaScript/style sheets with a comment tag: