Bug Fixes:

• Images now display in lists
• Currency symbols now match what the list owner chooses in MasterWish

New Features/General Updates:

• Works in WordPress v2.1.2
• Plugin now uses MasterWish List XML rather than the List RSS to separate out elements (like Description, Price, Priority, etc) rather than piling them all in the RSS Description tag.
• MasterWish options menu has be relocated from the WordPress Options menu to the WordPress Plugins menu to allow for easier use for those without full Admin (i.e. in WordPress Mu)
• www.masterwish.com URL has been updated to masterwish.com

Here’s a simple example that we use at MasterWish:

mw_b.prototype.checkAll = function()
  {
    $$('.buddy_checkbox').each(function(e){e.checked=true;});
  };

All that example does is iterates over all elements in the DOM that have the class buddy_checkbox and sets their checked value to true. Short and sweet. However, with version 1.5 of Prototype, it could be dog slow at times with more complex selector queries.

I was ecstatic when I found (via Ajaxian) that Sylvain Zimmer has sped up the $$ function quite a bit. I implemented it in the test area of MasterWish and have been very pleased with the results! Here’s what Sylvain has to say on his mod:

Prototype’s current code is quite elegant (as always!) but very slow, so I wrote an add-on that makes this function up to 20 times faster in most usual cases (tested on IE6, Firefox 1.5 and Opera).

[...]

Here are the main ideas of this add-on :

• Forwarding the call to the old $$ if the selector expression is too complicated (currently : if it uses attributes)
• Replacing regular expressions with a simple parser
• Minimizing the number of operations done on each iteration.
• Trying to use getDocumentById() instead of getDocumentByTagName() when possible.
• Avoiding recursive functions with return values.
• Not being afraid of some “old-style” code if it speeds up the execution ;-)

All you need do is get his mod and include it in a script tag after the Prototype inclusion. Simple as that!

If you haven’t been acquainted with the site, its a wishlist site with a schlew of features. The high point is the ability to secure down lists and grant access to specific buddy groups. I’m pleased to say that we have gained a decent member base in the past 8 months and I am also happy to say that things are going to change around shortly!

MasterWish was built using SAJAX as the tool of choice for Ajax communication but as I’ve mentioned in the past, I am a Prototype convert. My knowledge of Ajax, JSON, and general application structure has been morphing so much in recent weeks that I have held off in completely revamping the wish list site.

Things are changing. I have begun the work to implement the following:

• Creation of more “hackable” Web Service APIs using SOAP and REST
• Representation of data using both XML and JSON
• Ajax powered by Prototype
• Sweet DOM manipulation powered by Script.aculo.us
• Separation of Layout and Logic with event:Selectors
• and of course, we’re already doing: Server-Side Templating for greater separation of Layout and Logic.

Sign up. Stay tuned. Get gifts.

Since July, I’ve been developing my Ajax applications and examples using SAJAX (Simple Ajax), a PHP/Javascript framework for Ajax development. It was great at first glance…a lot easier than building Asynchronous Javascript transactions from scratch. But despite its ease, it was a bit clunky. Last week I was stumbling around the web looking for anything new to suck up and found a beauty of a tool. Script.aculo.us.

Script.aculo.us is a Javascript Effects and Control framework developed by Thomas Fuchs, a software architect living in Vienna, Austria who, like me, was disappointed by current web application frameworks that made no sense to him. His framework is 3 things: Easy to Use, Simple, and Easy to Use. His libraries – built off of the Ajax framework, Prototype – blow SAJAX out of the water! Let me give you an example to, say, update a news title on an article (I won’t include the HTML markup as that is trivial):

Here’s what needs to be done to build a SAJAX call:

Step 1: Create a SAJAX Call Function

function x_updateTitle()
{
	sajax_do_call('/process_ajax.php',"x_updateTitle", x_updateTitle.arguments);
}

Step 2: Create a server side function to handle the update

< ?php
function x_updateTitle($news_id,$news_title)
{
	//do some database calls to update the title;
}
?>

Step 3: Edit the server side SAJAX file (process_ajax.php) and add x_updateTitle to the list of valid call functions

< ?php
include('sajax.php');
addFunctions('x_updateTitle');
handleClientRequest();
?>

Step 4: Call the SAJAX Javascript function from somewhere (in an onClick, onSubmit or something)

<a onClick="x_updateTitle(1, document.getElementById('news_title').value, 'callbackFunction');">asdfdf</a>

Here’s the equivalent in Script.aculo.us
Step 1: Create a server side function to handle the update

< ?php
function x_updateTitle($news_id,$news_title)
{
	//do some database calls to update the title;
}
?>

Step 2: Call the Script.aculo.us Javascript function from somewhere (in an onClick, onSubmit or something)

<a onClick="new Ajax.Request('/process_ajax.php', { asynchronous:true, parameters:'news_id=1&news_title=$(\'news_title\')', onSuccess:callbackFunction });">asdf</a>

Thats it! Its a big difference. Thats just the tip of the iceberg. Script.aculo.us has many features for implementing Drag and Drop with one line of Javascript code; fancy display/hide functions; dynamic DOM Element creation/deletion; field autocompletion; and various other visual effects. It slick. And to top it off, the Script.aculo.us website is pretty sweet! Luckily the documentation is excellent and is in wiki format. As Plymouth State moves into the Web 2.0 world, I’ll be pushing for Script.aculo.us/Prototype to be our Ajax standard. I have seen the light and it is good.

Ajax stands for Asynchronous Javascript And XML. Its an architectural methodology on the interactions between a number of different technologies in a way that provides a more seamless user experience between user-to-server communication.

There are tons of blogs and articles out there that rant and rave of its use as savvy site designers implement Ajax into their web applications, and rightly so. However, through my blog skipping and digg watching I have seen numerous complaints of “OMG, Ajax is stupid….its just a fad/buzzword/etc” or “Ajax is just overhyped, don’t know why people use it!!” I have a couple words that describe those people: cynical, ignorant and, well…squirrel handed. Wake up people. Ajax isn’t a fad, its an architectural change in the way that web applications function. A focus on application speed and uninterrupted user interaction.

What’s so great about it? Why do I pee my pants with glee every time I use a web app that makes use of the technology?

I’m a developer. I’ve been developing database driven web applications for a number of years now and have seen the clear line between a desktop application and a web application. Desktop applications are highly interactive and responsive to the user, where web apps (in the past), were fairly static locations (however dynamic the content) to provide information/entertainment to the user, where user interaction required page loads in order to store information to a database/write to a file.

Next came Flash, an excellent tool but tends to require a much more artistic flare and is much more time consuming with general maintenance than its worth.

The reason Ajax is so sexy is that it bridges the gap.

The average-Joe browser may not be aware when they stumble upon a site that makes good use of Ajax, but that average Joe can feel something right about it. To the avid browser, however, an Ajax site is more readily obvious; you can interact with elements on a page and save settings without reloading; pages are highly resposive to user input with minimal wait times.

Gmail and Google Maps were the applications that really brought Ajax into the limelight. (They weren’t the first, just the first major apps). The world saw what Google could do and followed suit. The world saw that it was good. The Ajax revolution was born. It has birthed a whole new breed and boom on the internet, bringing forward a multitude Ajax enabled sites and applications:

• MasterWish
• Flickr
• MSN Start
• Zimbra
• 24SevenOffice

And thats just the tip of the iceberg. I look forward to what will become of our expectations of web applications. You won’t see me sitting idle during this evolution. I will be innovating and participating all along the way.

Get the MasterWish WordPress plugin v1.1!

Setup Instructions:
Installing the Plugin:

MasterWish Plugin Functions:

• masterwish_get_list
  

  retrieves items from a list

  Usage:

  masterwish_get_list({list_id},{display_images},{maxresults},{random});

  list_id is the wishlist id number that is being browsed. Leaving this with a blank string ” pulls the default list set in the MasterWish Plugin’s options tab.
  display_images specifies whether the item images are displayed. Default is false. Available options: (true/false).
  maxresults is the maximum number of items you want displayed in a given list. Setting this value to 0 displays all items in a list.
  random shuffles your item list around.

• masterwish_list_title
  

  retrieves the current list title

  Usage:

  masterwish_list_title({list_id},{return},{before},{after});

  list_id is the wishlist id number that is being browsed. Leaving this with a blank string ” pulls the default list set in the MasterWish Plugin’s options tab.
  return specifies whether you want the title returned or echoed. Default value is false, available options (true/false).
  before is what you want prepended to the wishlist title.
  after is what you want appended to the wishlist title.

• masterwish_list_url
  

  retrieves the current list url

  Usage:

  masterwish_list_url({list_id},{return});

  list_id is the wishlist id number that is being browsed. Leaving this with a blank string ” pulls the default list set in the MasterWish Plugin’s options tab.
  return specifies whether you want the title returned or printed on the screen. Default value is false, available options (true/false).

• masterwish_lists
  

  retrieves the user’s publicly viewable lists

  Usage:

  masterwish_lists({list_id},{before},{after},{return});

  list_id is the wishlist id number that is being browsed. Leaving this with a blank string ” pulls the default list set in the MasterWish Plugin’s options tab.
  before is what you want prepended to each wishlist title.
  after is what you want appended to each wishlist title.

  return specifies whether you want the lists returned or printed on the screen. Default value is false, available options (true/false).

While many people out there have used tagging in Flickr, Gmail, MasterWish and various other web 2.0 apps…there are still many out there that express their opinions on tagging as “Tagging…WTF is that?!”. Having a large web company such as Amazon with its HUGE following jump on the band wagon with tagging will help bring folksonomy to the masses.

While exciting that this is happening, Amazon is slowly rolling tags out to their users as evidenced in this excerpt of the CNet article:

The idea, apparently, is to slowly experiment with tags and to give users some power over how certain Amazon products–books, for example–are categorized.

For now [...] only about half of Amazon’s users can even see tags on the site.

Its only a matter of time before folksonomy will cease to be a buzz word and start appearing in the english dictionary. Everybody and their brother will know of tagging and the world will be a happier, easier to search place. I can only hope

Special Functions

• bstat_search_cloud

Usage:

bstat_search_cloud(post_id, maxresults, days, starting_font_size);

• post_id is the post_id for the story, usually provided by a WP variable. A value of 0 is used for grabbing all search terms from any post
• maxresults is the number of search terms you wish to retrieve
• days is the number of days back to look
• starting_font_size is the starting font size of the smallest search term

Example:


<h3>All incoming search terms for this post</h3>
<small>< ?php bstat_search_cloud(0,50); ?></small>


Over the past month, we’ve been pretty excited about the whole Web 2.0 craze. The initial release was fairly solid but it lacked a few key elements to make it a 2.0 application. The three of us have wanted to bring MasterWish fully into the Web 2.0 world, so with a great deal of planning and even more coding, I am comfortable to say that MasterWish is now a fairly solid Web 2.0 application.

MasterWish has:

• Folksonomy Features (tagging)
• Easy item adds via a Favelet
• Ajax for quick and easy assignments of items to lists, buddies to groups, buddies to your buddy list, copying items from other people, etc.
• Buddies/Contacts
• Group-Level access to Categorized Wish Lists
• Fine-grained access control on your user information (so you can distribute information to people on a case by case basis). Here are some things you can distribute to other users:
  • Real Name
  • Address
  • E-mail
  • Many clothing sizes (shirt, bra, inseam, ring, head, etc)
  • Color Preference
  • etc.

Currently we are working on a very sweet feature to allow for collaborative lists. This will make wedding registries a LOT easier and my office at Plymouth State (which currently uses MasterWish for book orders) will be able to create an office wishlist and allow multiple users to contribute.

Christmas is coming around the corner, so if you haven’t checked it out for your wishlist needs, you should do so. You definately won’t regret it…and your family will thank you for it!

I used to juggle all the time. When I was a student at PSU, during the warm months I would hang out by Rounds Hall and juggle on the grass between classes simply as a fun, sometimes frustrating passtime. About a year ago I put my clubs an knives away and hadn’t touched them since. That changed this weekend.

My brother in law came to visit me this Sunday and through some random conversation I learned that he was interested in juggling! He told me that he juggles balls and clubs and has wanted to try knives and torches. Well, thats when I busted out with my juggling knives and clubs and we went to the park to goof around!

Man, I didn’t realize how much I missed juggling and just how fun it was (and tiring)! I’ve juggled off and on for a few years, so I’m not very good by any means…all the more reason for me to start up again.

Juggling

If you are interested in juggling and you have a good grasp of the concept from juggling balls, then I would suggest trying out clubs. They are frustrating at first but once you get them, it opens a world of opportunity. You’d be able to juggle knives and torches, too! (If you can juggle clubs, knives and torches are just as easy…save for the scare factor)

Here’s what I suggest you get:

Clubs, I use Phatboyz. They are a little fatter than European style and MUCH better than American clubs.
For Torches, go with Dube Customs.
For other juggling supplies, check out Dube.

Oh…and check out my Juggling List on MasterWish.