JQuery is one of many open-source JavaScript frameworks available; it so happens to be my favorite and is used in many large websites (for example MSNBC) proving it to be one of the best libraries available. You may have noticed that in the past I reviewed Learning jQuery which was aimed at beginners, but for the advanced user, or someone with prior JavaScript knowledge, this may be a tad too basic; if your looking for a more in depth read perhaps the following book is the one for you…

JQuery in Action is a book i have been reading recently which will help you “get up and running with jQuery quickly and efficiently”; it is aimed at novice to advanced users. Read on for my full review.

Continue reading “Book Review - jQuery in Action” »

Pull quotes, lift-out quotes, or call-outs are a handy method of drawing reader's attention to a section of text. Recently, on a couple of client projects, I've seen the need to enhance large blocks of text so the user could skim read them without missing the really important parts. Pull quotes seemed perfect for this, so I created a small jQuery script to take care of them.

In this article I demonstrate an easy method of creating pull quotes from a block of text using jQuery (a JavaScript library), CSS, and the html span element. I hope you find this method useful.

I have done some bug fixes to the plugin, it should now work better in IE7. Check out the post here.

One thing to note, CSS transparency & rounded corners do not work in IE7 due to an inheritance bug, I see no work around except to use .png background images instead!

JQuery is a great open-source javascript framework, with a great manual. The “jQuery Reference Guide” builds on that, and is a great companion to the previously reviewed “Learning jQuery” book.

The “jQuery Reference Guide” contains thorough explanation of the jQuery framework’s functionality and features, and is great to use as quick reference when developing scripts with jQuery.

Continue reading “Book Review - jQuery Reference Guide” »

Want to enhance your JavaScript code, making it more streamlined and efficient, yet easier to code? JQuery could possibly be the answer.

“Learning jQuery: Better Interaction Design and Web Development with Simple JavaScript Techniques” is a great way to get started with the jQuery framework.

The book contains thorough tutorials and code samples on how to get things done in jQuery, and solve real-world problems, such as manipulating tabular data, grabbing information with AJAX, and implementing client side validation.

Continue reading “Book Review - Learning jQuery” »

Recently I’ve been searching for a method of creating nice looking rounded corners with Javascript & JQuery.

First I found the “JQuery Corner” plugin for rounded corners, but was disappointed that it did not include smooth, anti-aliased corners.

I then did some more google-trawling and found this post, which contained a modified version of Curvy Corners for use with JQuery. Now this script was much much better.

However…the filesize was a massive 40kb, way too big for production use, and to make things worse the code was not compatible with packer so I could not reduce the filesize.

Well, I got busy, and fixed the errors. It is now fully packer friendly meaning easy rounded corners in JQuery at only 9kb 8kb 15kb (I removed “packers” overhead so it runs faster, repack for the smallest filesize if you wish). Excellent. Read more for the download link.

Continue reading “Anti-aliased Rounded corners with JQuery” »