Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with web and javascript

Which HTML/CSS/JS IDE do I want?

drjimmy11 — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 13:31:52 -0800

Which HTML/CSS/JS IDE do I want? So I've been doing AS3 development for the last few years, using Flex Builder, but am now moving back into HTML/CSS/JS. I've gotten used to having a fairly intelligent IDE and I'd like to not go back to the bad old days of having to type every single param and property from scratch every time. (I'm looking for code help, not just highlighting.)

I have tried a few but none seems to have everything I want:

1. Dreamweaver:
Pluses: When you link to a stylesheet, you can CTRL+space and get a list of styles to choose from.
Minuses: Weak support for JS. (no auto-complete at all)

2. Aptana:
Pluses: Seems to have excellent JS support, including major AJAX libraries.
Minuses: Unless I am missing something, I can't choose Css styles off a list, and that is a major major timesaver for the work I'll be doing.

3. HTMLPad 2010:
Plusses and minuses seem about the same as Aptana, plus it costs money. (DW CS3 is already installed on my work machine so no cost there.)

So, am i doing something wrong with Aptana? Is there another piece of software I'm not aware of? Or should I settle for DW for html/css and Aptana for JS? (The work will probably be 80% or more on the html/css side.)

thanks!

Need money now thankyou.

drjimmy11 — Fri, 09 Oct 2009 15:50:15 -0800

What are some good tech-centric temp agencies in L.A.? Hi! Yet another in my long series of job-trauma questions.

I'm currently between jobs- I'm a web/software developer, specializing in flex/AS3 but with years and years of doing html/js/ajax/php type stuff too. I have a pretty strong resume, I like to think, going back about 10 years.

I'm currently getting contacted by a lot of recruiters and going on a lot of interviews, but it's a very drawn-out process. Basically I need a gig to bring in some money now- cutting up PSDs or whatever is fine, I'm not proud at this point. I'm curious if anyone knows any decently reputable agencies who could get me something like this soon. Specific names of agencies are appreciated, referrals to specific people are even more appreciated. (meMail me if you like).

(I'd also be interested in where I can advertise myself as a flex freelancer, but I'm more inclined towards W2 right now for a few reasons.)

Thanks!

How does HuffPo append URLs to copied text?

eyeballkid — Fri, 25 Sep 2009 10:05:39 -0800

I noticed today that text copied from articles on The Huffington Post appends the article URL when pasted and I'm wondering how it's done. Here's an example of copying and pasting text from the current front page story of the G20 meeting:

The three leaders, in their dramatic joint statement that overshadowed the G-20 economic summit here, hoped the disclosure would increase pressure on the global community to impose new sanctions on Iran if it refuses to stop its nuclear program.

Read more at: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/09/25/obama-iran-has-secret-nuc_n_299556.html

The "Read more at:..." portion never appeared on the page.

Repro steps:

1) Copy any random paragraph from a HuffPo story.
2) Paste elsewhere.

I'm using FireFox 3.5.3 on Windows 7. I don't see this behavior when copying from other sites.

It worked a minute ago!

lilkeith07 — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 21:58:45 -0800

I am having a problem with some JavaScript and Wordpress. It worked a minute ago but now it seems broken. I am updating this site and it has a coda slider on the main page, I updated the slider to make it bigger then it originally was, and it seemed to work fine. Then I updated the images with the correct dimensions and now the images don't change. The arrow moves but the main the main window doesn't update to reflect the change. Ive been working on this since about 5 PM yesterday and can't seem to get it working right. Here is where it works right in a smaller scale. I'm not a real big JavaScript guy just mainly cut and paste from what I find online. If anybody can find out why it broke and how to fix it I would appreciate it so much. Thanks!

What CMS is this?

Finder — Thu, 16 Apr 2009 05:18:48 -0800

I really like the design of this site. Is there a way to find out what CMS they're using? And what's that picture scroller in the middle?

Can I auto-expand a bunch of Javascript message toggles

Kirklander — Sat, 07 Mar 2009 15:19:57 -0800

I'm trying to archive, in PDF form, a series of Web pages where the content won't expand unless I click "more" dozens and dozens of times to reveal each hidden item. Is there some time-saving Firefox add on--or other tool--that could do this for me automatically? It's a Javascript thing... In code terms, the full content is all there in the source code (maybe I ought to just give up and save as HTML--what do you think?) but hidden via a Javascript gimmick.

Each of the many items on the page is concealed from view using a Javascript "onClick" attached to the links. When you click the link it runs a .js script called "toggleMessage," which gets the ID# of the item and then opens it. What I am envisioning is some sort of Firefox Web designer plugin where I could tell it the name of the script and it would go run it for me, expanding every panel.

Is this something Firebug, for example, would do?

Here's the script.

function toggleMessage(id)
{
var span = document.getElementById('msg'+id);
if (span.style.display == 'none')
{
// hide the more link
document.getElementById('msglink'+id).style.display='none';
// show the div
span.style.display = 'inline';
// show the less link
document.getElementById('msglesslink'+id).style.display='inline';
// switch the image
document.getElementById('image'+id).src=img_open;
}
else // it's already showing
{
// hide the less link
document.getElementById('msglesslink'+id).style.display='none';
// show the more link
document.getElementById('msglink'+id).style.display='inline';
// hide the span
span.style.display = 'none';
// switch the image
document.getElementById('image'+id).src=img_closed;
}
}

If I give a GIF will I get flash or java?

Drasher — Fri, 06 Mar 2009 11:50:43 -0800

[Website development filter] I have developed a site for a client. He wanted something that shows a picture with text that changes every few seconds so I created a GIF that does this. Now he says that he wants it to pause on mouseover or a click. How do I do this? The site in question is VERY simple. (it is 6 small pages written as one file in PHP with a switch statement)
The GIF is in the sidebar and shows 5 different pictures, each with some associated text. It flips to new picture and text every 10 seconds.
He wants to be able to pause it with the mouse.

I am a real newbie web developer (but a C programmer by profession).
I think that this could be done in FLASH, but I sure don't know enough.
Maybe it could be done in javascript, but I sure don't know enough.

I would need a solid enough example that I could just "plug in" the pictures and text to achieve the desires result and upload it.

[I have not posted a link to the site because I don't want to be banned or have my question deleted.]

Export to Word

kaizen — Wed, 25 Feb 2009 06:09:55 -0800

I need to take form data from an web page and export it to a Microsoft Word File. I have a bunch of form data in HTML which I can convert to XML/JSON. The users will click 'Export to Word Template 1, 2, 3, etc.' and the website will create a .doc file for them to download depending on the template / look-and-feel they select. Can I do this with non-Microsoft technologies like javascript and Python? The key requirements here is the ability to export the same data to different layouts. I have a feeling I can do this with XML / WordML, but the formatting piece looks daunting. What is the easiest way to do this without hooking into COM?

Take This Homepage & Shove It

MaxVonCretin — Tue, 10 Feb 2009 13:13:29 -0800

"Set As Homepage" - I have a client who is obsessed with the notion of adding a "Set As Homepage" text link or button to the header of their website - you know, like everyone used to do circa '02. Now setting aside for a moment how worthlessly moronic that may be, I am curious, do any current browsers even permit that kind of javascript anymore - like from a security standpoint? Is it a moot point? (Hoping so)

Best resources for learning the ins and outs of jQuery in a short period of time

Artw — Wed, 14 Jan 2009 13:38:44 -0800

I have some exposure to jQuery, modifying existing scripts, using the $() to grab DOM elements, but want to ramp up to expert status in a short period of time - what are the best resources for that? Is there a must have book or website that isn't overly specific and goes beyond simple uses? I have a firm foundation in regular JavaScript/DOM/etc...

Javascript will not execute on one page on one machine

cimbrog — Mon, 06 Oct 2008 11:24:15 -0800

I am seriously stuck on a problem and I'm hoping to get some new leads on how to attack it. There is one website that one user cannot execute Javascript on no matter what browser he uses. What could be causing this? On one particular website, none of the Javascript functions will work for this user. When clicked, they do nothing - no error message or anything. This is mainly for opening a print-friendly version of the page and related case look-ups. The same thing happens in both IE6, IE7 and Firefox 3.03.

No one else is having this problem with the website.
I have set both web browsers to allow all scripting for the page.
I have completely disabled internet security (firewall, anti-virus, anti-spyware).
It is happening on multiple user accounts on the same computer.
He isn't having trouble with Javascript on any other page.
His machine is XP SP3.

I and totally stuck and REALLY don't want to re-image his machine. Any suggestions on leads to follow?

CSS, JQuery, PHP and Caching: Best practices?

odinsdream — Wed, 20 Aug 2008 09:29:50 -0800

CSS, JQuery, PHP and Caching: What are the best practices for creating dynamic CSS with JQuery and PHP? Examples inside. I'm using PHP to dynamically create links and their associated CSS. I'm doing it dynamically because the number and positioning of these links is dependent on the selected month.

PHP inserts these CSS declarations into the HEAD tag. This seems to work fine on Firefox, but IE apparently caches the HEAD tag. This is a problem when navigating to pages for other months since the number of days will change.

Since I'm also using JQuery for the first time in this project, I wonder if I wouldn't be better off setting the CSS with that, rather than with PHP. The problem with this would be that I'm now mixing math and functions between the PHP sections of the site and the javascript sections. Is there a better way?

An example can be seen here. Source code for the same is available here.

The hover links over each day in each graph are created with a PHP loop based on the number of days in the month. The CSS to position them properly above each day is also created with a PHP loop.

The problem arises if a user selects an old month with a different number of days. Since IE caches the head tag the user only sees 20 day hover links, rather than 30 or 31.

Online documentation, tutorials or book references are very much welcome. Also, if I'm just completely going in the wrong direction please let me know.

Can I write to a div using Perl, or otherwise solve my form submission problem?

unsigned — Thu, 24 Jul 2008 12:11:10 -0800

Can I write to a div using Perl, or otherwise solve my form submission problem? I have a Perl/CGI form mailer script that I didn't write and shouldn't edit too much, but can somewhat.

It's currently set up so that I can define the thank you page and error page within the Perl file. I don't want it to redirect to those pages however. I want to display the messages on the page the form is on instead, without reloading if possible. I played around with redirecting to the same page but appending a parameter in the URL. Then using JS to show a div if that var was set. But I'm realizing I need to display some of the items submitted from the form and I don't know how to keep those values since the page is being refreshed.

I don't know Perl so I don't know if there is a better way to do this, but can I do something like write to a div with Perl? Other ideas?

Newbie Seeks Javascript

jimmyjimjim — Sat, 29 Mar 2008 17:06:40 -0800

I want to build a web page with expandable sections of text which default to not being expanded. Unfortunately, I'm a total javascript newbie. The way they did it here is pretty close to what I'd want (scroll to "anatomical focus"): http://www.yogajournal.com/poses/863 ....Is it possible (or, for that matter, ethical) to somehow grab the javascript they used? Alternatively, are there generic freeware scripts anywhere that do something similar? If there were any such repository with a variety of javascripts that do this slightly different ways, even better. If it's newbie friendly, even better still! Thanks!

Where does the DTD go?

josephtate — Fri, 22 Feb 2008 11:08:43 -0800

For the web developers in the house: when viewing the generated code for a web page, the Document Type Definition is missing. Where does it go? I'm developing a web application for browsing network device information (on routers, switches, wireless APs, etc.). In debugging a jQuery problem in IE7, I was looking at the app's generated code, the source code after JavaScript has built the page and Ajax has populated it with data from a JSON object. So, long story short: in the generated code of this app and then in every other site I visited (in IE, Firefox, Safari), the Document Type Definition was missing--just gone (inspect the HTML for MeFi with Firebug and you'll see what I mean).

Where does the DTD go? and why? Any ideas?

Export DIV to JPG?

puddpunk — Sun, 03 Feb 2008 23:48:21 -0800

WebDev-2.0Filter: Using client side technologies (i.e. Javascript, ActiveX, Java... JS is preferred) is it possible to generate an image file (PNG or JPG, or even PDF) from a DIV tag on the page? I have a little web page where people can choose a bunch of options, click on, click off areas on a map etc... Is it possible, using only client-side technologies, to generate an image that represents the content in the DIV (A bunch of PNG images layered on top of each other and some text/controls)?

Actually, all that is important to have in the image are a bunch of (alpha) PNG files layered on top of each other. Am I missing something simple here? Is there a magic JS library I can load? Am I not thinking about this little roadblock in the right way?

The application is written for IE7 for now so anything that works in there is good. Extra points for browser agnostic or solutions across multiple platforms.

MefiMail/Email me if you want more info... Thanks in advance!

Building a URL with a Form via JavaScript?

pzarquon — Wed, 23 Jan 2008 12:09:23 -0800

Anyone have a JavaScript trick to create a web form that builds a URL to send users to a pre-populated search? I'm trying to build a form that can add various variables to a URL prior to submitting, conducting a search with prepopulated criteria. For example, I'd like the web form to say:

Find: [ ] Widgets [ ] Doodads [ ] Gizmos
Priced: [ ] Below $5 [ ] Below $500 [ ] Below $5000

The equivalent plain, non-trick HTML would look like this:

<input type="checkbox" name="type" value="widgets">
<input type="checkbox" name="type" value="doodads">
<input type="checkbox" name="type" value="gizmos">

<input type="checkbox" name="maxprice" value="0005">
<input type="checkbox" name="maxprice" value="0500">
<input type="checkbox" name="maxprice" value="5000">

But, instead of the form sending information the usual way, selecting the various elements would instead add, remove, or change variables within a URL to which it would send users when they clicked "Submit." For example, changing the above fields would, behind the scenes, build URLs like:

http://www.search.com/query?maxprice=0005
http://www.search.com/query?product=doodads
http://www.search.com/query?product=doodads&maxprice=0500

Users could not select various fields without breaking the URL, but also combine any series of variables available. Clicking submit would finalize the search URL and send them straight to the results. Presume that the receiving site would understand the variable names and values sent in the URL.

This seems pretty straightforward, but I can't find example code to do exactly this. Any pointers would be much appreciated!

Help me AJAXify a portion of my project without overwhelming me.

odinsdream — Tue, 08 Jan 2008 08:41:58 -0800

Help me AJAX-ify a very simple web process in PHP. Links to very simple AJAX tutorials much appreciated. I've been reading up on AJAX technologies for a couple weeks. I've tried out a few, but I am still stuck with taking existing tutorials and modifying them slightly without really understanding behind-the-scenes. That is, I understand conceptually what the tutorials are showing me, but not very much programmatically. I'm fairly capable with PHP and HTML. I can read and write basic Javascript, but it seems like the AJAX technologies require a deeper level of understanding.

Having said that, all I'm really looking to do is rewrite a very simple portion of my project. Hopefully taking this small step will help me better understand what AJAX can really help me do long-term.

I have one PHP script, delete.php, which does an UPDATE SQL statement setting Deleted = True for a given ID, passed via HTML GET from other pages.

This seems like the perfect thing to AJAXify, but all of the tutorials I can find jump straight into Google Mashups, SOAP, JSON, XML, etc. I don't need these yet. What are some very basic tutorials that would help me replace my delete.php script with something more efficient?

Can I build a 'real' website on googlepages?

jacalata — Wed, 02 Jan 2008 01:11:15 -0800

Can I store changing data in a googlepages setup? I'm trying to build a simple gift registry for my sister, to be hosted on a googlepages account. I was planning to do this in javascript, but I'm out of my depth. The basic requirements are a list of items she would like, and guests can mark an item as bought, but I can't figure out how to store and modify data. As far as I can tell, no changes I make to the javascript variables are kept beyond a single session, and javascript cannot read/write to other files on the server. Is this right?

I've never done web development and am learning javascript as I go, so I may be looking at this the wrong way. Can this be done with javascript, or is there another language I can use within the googlepages framework?

I know there are gift registries available online - this is more for the sake of doing it than the need for a registry.

Help me Popup!

doorsfan — Fri, 14 Dec 2007 06:08:11 -0800

JavaScript filter: popups, mouse over, toggle display. HELP - I'm not a developer! New Job and I want to impress...
We use a custom CMS program that allows the addition of JavaScript and my vendor is swamped with our other projects.

1 - I would like to add a basic pop up with text. Nothing fancy but I do want it to scroll and not have an address/navigation bar. It would open from “learn more” text and the window would just have simple text.

2 – (An extension of question 1) instead of the historical click and popup It would be cool to use a mouse over to do this. Same text as above

3 – I also have some pretty long lists that I would like to use a toggle display to hide the contents. Lets say I have a department – HR – and under HR I have 10 forms listed. Instead of the entire list being shown I would only like the list to display if someone clicked “expand”

I’ve googled but haven’t found specifically what I’m looking for (also I guess it’s hard for me to get my head around b/c I do not understand what is doing what in the head section and how to execute the script).

Any ideas for the JavaScript or good web sites that a entry level beginner could use?

Bonus points for good resources on the web or books with prewritten JavaScript that I could reference in the future.

How do I legitimately hijack website content?

jedicus — Wed, 15 Aug 2007 17:25:07 -0800

HTML/Javascript: I need to "hijack" website content so that it appears to be hosted by a different domain (with the full knowledge and cooperation of all parties). My boss maintains a website at, let's say, boss.example.com. He has an affiliation with another organization with a nicer domain name, let's say, fancyexample.com

He would like to allow users of fancyexample.com to go to fancyexample.com/boss and see all of his boss.example.com content as though it were hosted on fancyexample.com. So if a user went to fancyexample.com/boss/homepage.html they would see that in the address bar but the content would be pulled from boss.example.com/homepage.html

Ultimately, I want to write a small shell page to place on fancyexample.com that "hijacks" the boss.example.com content in as seamless a way as possible. I believe that this can be done very simple using javascript and a frame but I don't have much web programming experience.

Again, don't worry, my boss, boss.example.com, and fancyexample.com all know about this and approve completely.

Does anyone know of a way to create a line graph using html or javascript?

kaozity — Mon, 30 Jul 2007 06:43:57 -0800

Does anyone know of a way to create a line graph using html or javascript? I need to create a line graph with html or jave script without paying a company $99 for their javascript it (e.g. swiftchart). The graph needs to handle multiple trends in the same graph... meaning that I would like to see 3 or more lines going accross in one graph.

Any Help?

SVG task - is it the right tool for the job?

dance — Fri, 13 Jul 2007 11:14:19 -0800

Resources/information on layering with SVG I'm interested in working with SVG. I have some fairly intricate but simple vector (AI format) digitizations of some drawings I made. I'd like to display these on a webpage with a raster image of the original context 'beneath' the SVG image (does SVG do transparency?).

What is key is that the layers within the SVG (which I create as layers in Illustrator CS2 presumably) are clickable on/off and the raster itself is clickable on/off also - presumably using JavaScript.

Is this possible? Does anyone have any resources or information on how this could be accomplished? I can't find a great deal on the www about this aspect of SVG although similar projects have clearly been done - although that example doesn't have the raster background I am looking to achieve.

In addition it would be great if the layers could be searchable, perhaps through an XML sort/filter...

Any thoughts?

java(script) filter help me please!

spacefire — Thu, 05 Jul 2007 08:28:58 -0800

Javafilter: Can a Java Applet that runs on my website save and edit files on my website? Basically what I need to do is have a javascript app call out a java program with some variables as arguments, then the java applet would save them to a file on my website.
I'd also like to use a java applet to read said file from my website and convey certain variable to the javascript program for display in the webpage.
Do I need to set certain read/write permissions for the java applet?

Can I make different categories of link text on a web page show as "unvisited" after different intervals?

lorimer — Thu, 21 Jun 2007 05:44:00 -0800

With Javascript, CSS or anything else, can I make different categories of link text on the same web page behave differently? Specifically, if I wanted to make a page listing some links I need to visit daily, some I need to visit weekly and some I need to visit monthly -- could I make each category of link text change from "visited" color back to "unvisited" color after the appropriate number of days? Or if this can't be done, how would you solve this need (in a visual way, rather than just "keep a list manually of when you visit each")?