What is JSLint?

JSLint is a JavaScript program that looks for problems in JavaScript programs. It is a code quality tool.

I just got done with some cross browser consulting (my favorite) – and one of the pages would not load properly in IE 7 due to a JS error which did not make sense to me. I loaded up the offending JS in JSLint and within a few minutes – I figured out what the issue was and how to solve it.

JSLint is invaluable if you do any work with JS – so keep the link handy! You will thank me – and JSLint.

What does jQuery TOOLS offer?

• Tabs
• Tooltips
• Overlays
• Expose
• Scrollable
• Flashembed

Last week I decided to finally step out of using what I normally used (Thickbox for overlays) and try something from jQuery TOOLS. One look at their demo and I was completely sold. The overlays were slick, easy to implement and best of all – really light weight. Demo: click on the photo.

If you have any web development projects coming up or in the mix, do yourself a favor and check out the demos at jQuery TOOLS. You can accomplish a lot with a little (and have fun doing it).

Why jQuery? Unlike some of the other libraries, jQuery is very lightweight and does not suffer from a lot of bloat. You can also find a number of well documented plugins to do just about anything. You also have a great deal of UI controls and widgets that are available by using jQuery UI. Did I mention the documentation – it is really great. The learning curve is not steep – and once you do a few smaller projects – your comfort level with jQuery will skyrocket.

So next time you decide to do something to add some extra pizazz into your web site – remember, take a look at jQuery first!

From a design perspective, I decided to darken the colors quite a bit in order to remove some of the drabness of the old design. I also added a background pattern to give some depth, and also added in some new pictures in the header that represent changes/additions in my life over the last few years. I love working with greys – so I added more grey elements. I also simplified the layout and got rid of a number of image based elements to keep everything minimal.

From a UI perspective, I decided to focus on the content I have created over the past 4-5 years instead of a few static pages here and there. I moved all of the blog content into the main navigation so it is easier to find/navigate. I also used Jappler Menus in combination with the WordPress function to list all categories/sub-categories.

From a functional perspective, I started from scratch with this new version. I created a number of custom functions that make presenting content a lot easier. I dropped the YUI library and went with all jQuery based AJAX functionality. The code is leaner, faster, and easy to modify for any future needs. The comments are now using WordPress’s threaded comment functionality, and a number of other WordPress 2.7 additions. I also went through and got rid of almost 50% of my old plugins (replaced the functionality with custom functions, WordPress built in functionality – or completely removed unused plugins.

From an optimization perspective, this site uses far less javascript, CSS, and images and will load much faster than the previous site. I also increased the use of title tags, alt tags, and other easy tricks to help with search engine optimization.

All in all – this was something fun that I enjoyed and look forward to adding even more new design/functional elements in the future.

Since writing that post – I have found a better, faster, cleaner way to work with drop down menus. I had originally seen some nice menus: http://help-developer.com and decided with some changes – that would be a much nicer way to work with menus. For this – I give you Jappler Menus version 2.

Here is an example of Jappler Menus in action: http://jappler.com/downloads/jappler-menus_v2/

There are 3 main components to the Jappler menus: HTML, Javascript (jQuery), and CSS.

1. The HTML to generate the menu contents. All you need to use to create the menu is create a simple HTML list:

   <ul>
   	<li><a href="#">Home</a></li>
   	<li><a href="#">About Us</a>
   		<ul>
   			<li><a href="#">Our Story</a></li>
   			<li><a href="#">Our Clients</a></li>
   			<li><a href="#">Our Philosophy</a></li>
   		</ul>
   	</li>
   	<li><a href="#">Our Products</a>
   		<ul>
   		       <li><a href="#">WordPress Themes</a></li>
   		       <li><a href="#">WordPress Plugins</a></li>
   		       <li><a href="#">WordPress Consultation</a></li>
   	         </ul>
   	</li>
   	<li><a href="#">HOWTOs</a>
   		<ul>
   			<li><a href="#">bbPress</a></li>
   		        <li><a href="#">WordPress</a></li>
   		        <li><a href="#">General</a>
   		        	<ul>
   					<li><a href="#">CSS</a></li>
   					<li><a href="#">XHTML</a></li>
   					<li><a href="#">Javascript</a></li>
   				</ul>
   			</li>
   	         </ul>
   	</li>
   	<li><a href="#">Archives</a></li>
   	<li><a href="#">RSS Feed</a></li>
   </ul>
   

2. The javascript that makes the drop downs fade in and out. This uses jQuery and then some custom JS that takes care of our menu:

   function japplerMenu(){
   $(" #navigation ul ").css({display: "none"}); // Opera Fix
   $(" #navigation li").hover(function(){
   		$(this).find('ul:first').css({visibility: "visible",display: "none"}).fadeIn(200);
   		},function(){
   		$(this).find('ul:first').css({visibility: "hidden"});
   		});
   }
    $(document).ready(function(){
   	japplerMenu();
   });
   

   }

3. The CSS to make things look pretty.Here is the custom CSS that is needed:

   #mainNav {height:30px;background: url('images/mainNav_bg.gif') repeat-x;width:623px;}
   #navigation, #navigation ul{position:relative;z-index:1000;list-style-type:none;list-style-position:outside;margin:0;padding:0;}
   #navigation a {display:block;padding:0 20px 0 20px;font-size:1.1em;font-weight:bold;color:#fff;text-decoration:none;line-height:30px;}
   #navigation li:hover {background: url('images/mainNav_bg-over.gif') repeat-x;}
   #navigation li:hover a {color:#fff;}
   #navigation li{float:left;position:relative;}
   #navigation ul {width:165px;position:absolute;left:-1px;top:29px;display:none;background:#f1f4f2;border:1px solid #4b4d5b;border-bottom:none;}
   #navigation li:hover li a {color:#333;}
   #navigation li ul a {float:left;width:155px;line-height:normal;font-weight:normal;font-size:.95em;text-align:left;border-bottom:1px solid #4b4d5b;background:#f1f4f2;height:auto;padding:5px;}
   #navigation li ul a:hover {background:#a4a5a9;color:#000;}
   #navigation ul ul{top:auto;}
   #navigation li ul ul {left:160px;margin:0;}
   #navigation li:hover ul ul, #navigation li:hover ul ul ul, #navigation li:hover ul ul ul ul{display:none;}
   #navigation li:hover ul, #navigation li li:hover ul, #navigation li li li:hover ul, #navigation li li li li:hover ul{display:block;}
   

   There is also some additional CSS for IE 6. (See IE 6 specific CSS). You can add some conditional logic to include this for only IE 6 (See the example source above – look in the header for the conditional code.)

These menus are compatible with IE 6+, Safari 2+, Opera 9+, and FF 2+. If you want it to work in IE 6 – I have a start on some CSS that will make it work.

Example:

You do not have to add in extra code to get the images to show up in the lightview – it automatically takes care of everything for you.

<a href="file.html">Title&lt;/a

What you need:

1. Yahoo User Interface Library
2. CSS
3. HTML (View Source)

A simple example:
Check this code out in action (reusing the tabs I created from the jappler menus).

You can easily “View Source” and use that as an example. The possibilities of customizing the “tabview” component are endless and can also be seen on jappler.com’s home page.

Moral of the story
Check out the YUI library, look at the examples and start using and reusing the code! This speeds up development and will make your life easier!