Rich Internet Application technology has empowered us to create really amazing user experiences. The best RIAs on the web today rely on a discreet set of UI controls to provide a lively and timely experience. If you are moving from web site design to web application design, the best information you can have at your disposal is an understanding of these essential controls.

Many products are siloed by the RIA framework they are using, and designers create novel controls when the framework doesn’t have what they need. This can decrease the usability of the product, and increase the amount of design effort, usability testing, technical specifications and development time. Before you succumb to designing a brand new control, you should learn what’s out there.

Source: 43 Essential Controls for Creating your Web Applications

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You can take a look at the Logo Design Portfolio. Currently, there are 70 – 400+ custom logo designs you can choose from. You can also start a logo design contest within minutes for as little as $200.00. Three simple steps and your design contest goes live. You will see amazing logo designs within hours. There are hundreds of creative logo designers in over 100 countries waiting to create your logo design.

You will receive Industry Standard Vector Logo Files that can be used in almost any application you choose. You will also get a free legal contract giving you 100% full legal ownership of your new logo design. Best of all, if your logo contest doesn’t receive at least 40 logo concepts, they will refund your payment no questions asked. What are you waiting for? Get a custom logo design at LogoMyWay now.

Source: http://www.logomyway.com/

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You can also look at the tutorial: Pure CSS Social Media Icons, which creates social media icons using CSS and semantic HTML. It uses progressive enhancement to turn an unordered list of text links into a set of icons without the use of images or JavaScript.

Source: Pure CSS Speech Bubbles
Source: Pure CSS Social Media Icons

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Predictably, an extremely popular topic was the iPad, and how to approach the design of iPad applications. He gave a 90-minute presentation on the subject to start each workshop, and he is very kind to share some of his observations of iPad Application Design.

This article is about the user interface conventions and considerations which apply to creating software for the iPad platform and touch-screen tablet devices in general. It is not a technical discussion of iPad-related APIs. This is an excellent article for designers and application developers. I am sure you will find it useful too.

Source: http://mattgemmell.com/2010/03/05/ipad-application-design

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If, however, you are one of the many many people who doesn’t have a good backup strategy in place, this article “Bulletproof backups for MySQL” is here to help you out. He covered quite a bit in this article, but if you make it through everything, you should be able to rest easier knowing that you have good, safe backups of your database.

Source: Bulletproof backups for MySQL

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The PSD was constructed using vectors, so it’s fully editable and scalable. You’ll notice there are a few new UI elements as compared to the iPhone interface. The workable screen design is formatted to 768×1024 so anything you design in the Photoshop file can easily be brought over to the SDK.

Source: http://www.teehanlax.com/blog/2010/02/01/ipad-gui-psd/

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Joomla! is often paralleled to point-and-click presentation software, such as Impress or PowerPoint, in terms of ease of use. Granted, Joomla! makes it extremely easy to build a site having no knowledge of its internal working, or even what HTML is. However, in order to build a stunning site you need a bit more than that. It’s the tricks in the web builder’s bag which determine his success, both in customer satisfaction and financial terms.

Some of the fundamental techniques for creating compelling sites is your ability to master the use of modules. Often overlooked, modules are the most practical way to integrate diverse content on a single page. Leveraging their use from mere content bearers to integral parts of your content can transform your site from boring to intriguing. The following technique has proved itself again and again in a vast array of site genres. I call it the “Faux module positions” technique.

One of the lesser known facts about modules is that the module position names are not set in stone. Even though the default template’s available positions are the ones you will see in the module editor page, the field itself is a combo box, not a drop down list. This means that if you click on the text – not the arrow pointing downwards – you can type in your own module position name. In the following example, I have created a mod_custom (“Custom HTML”) module instance and assign it to the imaginary module position “foobar”.

But wait! Isn’t the template supposed to load and display only the positions it does know about? Well, yes, it is… but this is the point of this technique. If you create such a module it will not be displayed unless you specifically “spawn” it inside some other content. The easiest way to do so is using the “Content – Load Module” plug-in. Just edit any article and insert the magic text “{loadposition foobar}” (without the quotes). When you see the result in your site, you’ll notice that this magic text is replaced by the output of the specific module or modules, if more than one module is assigned to this position.

Creative ideas with faux module positions

Theory is nice, but I know that the reason you’re reading this is to apply it on real world sites. In the following few paragraphs I will describe four practical uses of this technique, already tested on live sites. What’s best, slight variations of them can be employed in order to achieve scores of stunning effects on your site. Just be creative!

In-line advertisements

Inserting ads within the article text will significantly improve your CTR. In your quest to ad revenue you may find a useful ally in JoomlaSpan’s ClickSafe Google AdSense module. This module makes it rudimentary to set up your Google AdSense ad blocks. You can simply set up your ad module’s parameters, assign it a unique faux module position, e.g. “articleads”, then add the magic directive {loadposition articleads} just below the “read more” separator. Works wonders!

Adding an on-line, third party commenting system

This can be used services like Disqus or IntenseDebate. A small note here. All these comment systems ask you to include a JavaScript block, but Joomla! filters out JavaScript code from your “Custom HTML” modules by default. There is a hefty workaround, though.

Go to your site’s back-end Content, Article Manager menu item. Click on the Parameters toolbar button. Towards the end of the pop-up page you’ll find the “Filtering options” group. Let’s say you want your site’s Administrators and Super Administrators to be able to use JavaScript without restriction. You’ll have to select everything except Administrator and Super Administrator from the “Filter groups” with Control-click (Command-click for Mac users). Select the “Blacklist (Default)” in the “Filter type” field, then save the configuration. This is a site wide change which only needs to be made once.

In order to supply custom JavaScript to the “Custom HTML” module, you’ll have to temporarily turn off the WYSIWYG editor. If you’re using the Joomla! default editor, TinyMCE, you can do so by clicking on the “Toggle editor” button. The editor toolbar disappears and the raw HTML code is displayed, like the picture below. You can now copy and paste the JavaScript blocks from your favorite service. Easy, huh?

You can reuse this idea to integrate scores of different services, from Twitter updates (hint: they offer HTML code for a live ticker) to weather reports and from externally hosted galleries to Google Checkout shopping carts. Anything which offers integration by means of HTML and JavaScript works the same.

Attaching specific polls to specific articles

Ah, so simple, yet so effective! Just create a “Poll” module, select the poll you want from the list and assign it to a unique faux module position, e.g. “poll1”. Then add the magic directive {loadposition poll1} inside your article, exactly where you want the poll to appear.

Assembling the perfect frontpage

This is one of my favorite uses. Instead of assigning a specific component as the site’s frontpage, I create an uncategorized article, throw a table inside it and use magic directives in each cell, loading the right mix of modules to achieve the required result. For example, I can have several per-Category “Latest News” modules to mimic a news site format, a “Syndicate” module on the bottom to supply an RSS feed, a newsletter module, a Twitter module, … The only limit to the site’s design is imagination.

Do note that it requires a lot of careful planning to make sure that you don’t end up with a “Frankensite”, i.e. a page which looks like a hasty mash-up of unconnected information. Remember: you have to make do, don’t overdo it.

Debriefing

As you have noticed, there is an unlimited possibility for creative content presentation and integration using nothing but Joomla! core features. Even the in-line advertisements technique can be accomplished with the “Custom HTML” module. The power is yours. Go make a beautiful site!

About the Author

Nicholas K. Dionysopoulos is a Mechanical Engineer turned web developer. Interested in software development since his early adolescence, Nicholas became best known as the developer of JoomlaPack, the increasingly popular Joomla! site backup component. He is currently working as a freelance consultant and web developer specializing on Joomla!, running the JoomlaPack project and actively contributing to CMSmoz.com’s blog and business activities. You can also follow him on twitter @nikosdion.

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You will need to use FBJS (Facebook Javascript). This provides the functionality we need to develop custom facebook pages. This is also to protect other users privacy at the same time and restrict Javascript features that can be abused. This tutorial helps you cut short your search and gives you a head start in your quest to build custom tabs within Facebook pages.

Source: http://www.webdigi.co.uk/blog/2010/creating-a-custom-facebook-page/

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In addition to the announcements, they will also be releasing a set of videos over the 14 days with talks and tutorials relating the jQuery 1.4 release and other general jQuery topics. You’ll want to check back at The 14 Days of jQuery every day during the two weeks to see what’s new, or sign up to be notified via email. Think of it like an online conference, only longer, freer, and with a bit of mystery and suspense!

Source: http://jquery14.com/

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Flash sometimes makes websites look cool, attractive at the same time professional. The main glitch in Flash is nothing but using the software to piece the perfect website as it consumes a lot of time and money. Here is a quickfix for that problem: go shopping for to find your favourite flash apps at these places. Although they are not free, but some of them are really bargain, which can saves you hours of development time.

1. Digicrafts

Digicrafts is an excellent place to start shopping for your flash apps. It offers templates, banners, menus and other flash items for sale. They gallery is categorically organised under different creation tools like Flash, Lightroom, Dreamweaver etc as well as in application form type like templates, logo, clip arts etc. It also offers an excellent integrated search options that can reduce your shopping fatigue. The site also provides freebies as well as tutorials for their applications.

2. JumpEye

JumpEye really makes your eye jump! The website offers a very simple interface to browse through their repertoire which contains a wide range of flash components. They also package these apps as a unit which can assist you if you are looking for a complete makeover of your website. Their FlashEff software which is an action script viewer for Flash, where you can create as well as edit their components. They also offer many web apps like Media player, Text Box, Interactive Map to just name a few popular ones.

3. Flash Components

The eBay of flash applications. You can easily set up your account and start bartering your flash applications. This website contains a huge variety in flash applications and components to suit a wide taste as well as the pockets. The site is very methodical in its organisation which gives users a hassle free experience. The site also has an exhaustive integrated search service as well as a strong community who can help you at any time!

4. FlashLoaded

FlashLoaded is loaded with flash apps that can blow your brains out. They offer integrated flash packages to suit specific website requirements as well as individual flash components to help to tune your website. The website is visually appealing as well as logically organised which can assist you in your quest to find the best flash apps in the world ofInternet. The website also covers domain of Flash Movies, Video loops, Font as well as sounds.

5. Advanced Flash Components

Advanced Flash Components (AF Components) is a site of advanced flash action scripts components to help make your website more awesome. In nerdy terms, these components help extend functionality of your website, speed up your websiteprocesses and assists in delivering a high quality product! They offer components for advanced functionalities like media player, slide show, interactive menus etc. Their Interactive Map has created a huge buzz around theInternet community as it is the most advanced map of the world.

6. FlashSources

FlashSources.net is an excellent online source for flash apps and now they are on sale! They provide a gamut of basic flash website components from effects to menus to help you with your very exactingrequirements. On top of it, they offer 24×7 support for all of their products.

7. FlashEff

FlashEff is an acronym for Flash Effects, it helps creates tools for flash applications without the trouble of scripting all together. It has an virtually library of unlimited components and allows to edit them as well add new to the FlashEff database. The version 2.0 has improved user interface and better performance compared to previous versions. The FlashEff database has an amazing array of tools to help you tweak flash apps to suit your needs.

8. Ultrashock

The Craig’s List of Flash applications. You can buy or sell anything related to flash here. Ultrashock offers a comprehensive database on professional images, vector art or flash files. The website provides a super easy navigation experience and a well organised database so that you can get what you want in the least time as well as the easiest way possible.

9. Yahoo! Astra

This is Yahoo! flash components developer network which by itself gives users a wide selections components under the BSD license. You need to download their Yahoo! Astra Components extension (.mxp) in Adobe Flash CS3 to get access to their database. Moreover, you can get easily access to action scripts of the application in order to edit it as well as develop new code. The website offers a succinct view of their components.

10. HotScripts

HotScripts contains a huge database of components in flash which can be used for any and all website needs. At HotScripts, you will be able to get tools for any website requirments and can even fit in your wallet. The search provided here is basic, but you can never find this huge collection of flash components anywhere else in the whole wide web since 1998!

11. FlashJuggler

An online marketplace for flash tools, the flash juggler provides access to gamut of flash tools. The plethora of applications can put some of the new shoppers in a conundrum, and FlashJuggler has juggled this problem by keeping track of application popularity. Moreover, the site provides access to freeware. If you are a developer, then FlashJuggler offers a sweet deal; you get 50% of sale price and 10% of referrals. Start juggling your cash!

12. FlaBell

FlaBell has a flair for Flash applications, in complete packages to meet your software requirements. The FlaBell provides an intuitive interface to help you search through their comprehensive database tools. It offers search criteria as per downloads, most viewed, most popular etc to give the buyer a circumspect of an application.

13. BuyStockFlash

Buy Stock Flash offers platform for anyone to market their flash applications. From the shopper point of view, this increased competition gives them a wide selections as well as competitive pricing. In layman, It is a farmer’s market. The website providers also provide user with views on most popular items, most downloaded ones, new additions etc.

14. TexEff2

Words! Words! Words! Words can colour images that cannot be expressed in pictures and a good flash text effect tool can give life to your pictures. The TextEff 2 is the best among flash text applications and offers a lot of tools to assist you create real moving texts that can create an impact with users.

15. FlashMint

FlashMint is an exclusive flash templates website, from where you can buy flash templates. Unlike other websites, the FlashMint deals exclusively in flash based website templates and has accrued a large repository of templates. The website is well organised and provides an excellent search options which can help you navigate through their resources with ease.

16. ActiveDen (Newly Added!)

ActiveDen is an Envato Marketplace. At ActiveDen you can buy and sell royalty-free Adobe Flash and Flex files for just a few dollars. Items are priced on the complexity, quality and use of the file. The site is home to a bustling community of Flash designers and developers and is the largest Flash library on the web.

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