Open Source Resources for Web Application Developers

Typography on the web has become a point of focus for standards based developers recently. One of the key concepts that we can use within our sites is consistent line-height in CSS terms. If you think of a ruled notebook, the lines are all equal heights.

The concept is fairly straight forward but in practice can be confusing especially for a CSS newcomer. All sizing needs to be relative to the base size. This allows for easy scaling up or down while keeping the required spacing and layout consistent, this can be refereed to as an elastic layout. To allow this we need to specify measurements in percent or em. Em calculator save you the hassle of all of those calculations.

Requirements: -
Demo: http://www.jameswhittaker.com/blog/article/em-based…
License: License Free

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Modern web sites and applications use Ajax to create engaging user experiences: the HTML and CSS are set in motion using JavaScript running in the browser and calling back the server. To achieve this, the server needs to prepare the web page appropriately, and to know what to do when the JavaScript calls it. But the server knows nothing about the HTML and CSS DOM, nor how to handle JavaScript data, and you can’t code it in JavaScript.

Jaxer changes all that. Jaxer is the world’s first true Ajax server. HTML, JavaScript, and CSS are native to Jaxer, as are XMLHttpRequests, JSON, DOM scripting, etc. And as a server it offers access to databases, files, and networking, as well as logging, process management, scalability, security, integration APIs, and extensibility.

Jaxer is licensed under the GPL, and leverages the ubiquitous Mozilla engine that is used in Firefox 3, which means that Jaxer is fully compatible with the latest JavaScript standards, including access to all of the features you are familiar with — from Date to Math to window and document, and even JavaScript 1.5, 1.7, and 1.8 — they’re all there. If you know JavaScript and HTML, you can already build Jaxer applications.

Requirements: -
Demo: http://www.aptana.com/jaxer/
License: GPL License

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One of the keys to getting your pages to load quicker is to make fewer HTTP requests. So, for example, if you have 6 javascript files it would be much quicker for you to join all the JavaScript together into one file and serve that instead. You can decrease the loading time further by minify your JavaScript, CSS and HTML. And also, by gzipping your page’s components and adding a far-future expires header can make your pages load faster as well.

However, doing all these manually is a pain. Aciddrop has set up a PHP script to automatically do them for you. On the test page the load time with the compressor turned on was generally below second, and without the compressor between 3-5 seconds. The Yahoo Yslow rating went from F(45) to A(97) as well.

Requirements: PHP 4+
Demo: http://aciddrop.com/2008/01/21/boost-your-website-load-time…
License: LGPL License

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Amy Editor is a collaborative text and source code editor for developers. It support JavaScript, Ruby, PHP, C#, Java, HTML, YAML, etc… programming languages. It has Syntax Highlighting, Smart indentation for each language, Code folding, Unlimited undo/redo, Customizable key shortcuts, etc… You can easily change the color themes of the editor easily.

Word completion is another killer feature. Simply pressing Esc on uncompleted word you’re writing will cause the editor to lookup any combination of document words starting by the same sequence of characters in both directions (before and after current word). You will be offered the nearest word followed by second-nearest etc. To toggle among word variations, simple keep pressing Esc key. You can start trying Amy Editor by simply accessing “File” > “New From Template” > “PHP” > “Common HTML / PHP Document”.

And also, you can easily embed Amy Editor to your own web page. Simply create a textarea matching your design in size and location and mark it by special amy attribute. Then load Amy using <script … tag with desired bundle and theme. You can view the Embedded Amy. You can also view the details of Amy Editor here.

Requirements: -
Demo: http://www.april-child.com/amy/amy.php
License: License Free

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The CSS Text Wrapper allows you to easily make HTML text wrap in shapes other than just a rectangle. You can make text wrap around curves, zig-zags, or whatever you want. All you have to do is draw the left and right edges below and then copy the generated code to your website. There are three different ways to apply the wrapping shape to your site. Each has it’s benefits and drawbacks, you can choose the most suitable method for your website.

Requirements: -
Demo: http://www.csstextwrap.com
License: License Free

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A favicon (short for ‘favorites icon’), are little icons associated with a particular website or webpage, shown next to the site’s name in the URL bar of most browsers. The most common sizes for favicons are: 16×16, 32×32, 48×48, 64×64, 128×128. Genfavicon looks very clean and easy to use. You can create your favicon in 3 easy steps.

1. Browse to the file’s location on your computer to select the image or input the url of the image directly, and then press “Upload Image” button
2. Using your mouse, drag the shaded square over your image so it covers the part of the image you what to use to generate your favicon. Press “Capture and Preview”.
3. Preview your favicon and save your favicon by pressing “Download favicon”.

Requirements: -
Demo: http://www.genfavicon.com/
License: License Free

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Design is a suite of web-design and development assistive tools which can be utilised on any web-page. Encompassing utilities for grid layout, measurement and alignment, Design is a uniquely powerful JavaScript bookmarklet. Click on the bookmarklet to run it and then you can load each individual component by simply clicking on the icon representing that component in the Design control panel.

Design features the following components:

• Grid – overlays a highly configurable layout grid over a web-page. Grid can be set to match any set of dimensions, allowing easy development of CSS layouts in the web-browser.
• Rule – displays rulers on a page, with all the expected features of the rulers found in a desktop design application, including guides which snap to block display elements and origin location control.
• Unit – allows measurements to be made between any two points on a web-page, giving basic information about each of the points clicked on, and drawing a line on the page for the measurement.
• Crosshair – draws a crosshair cursor on the page to assist in layout alignment. Cursor information is also presented in a tooltip.

Requirements: IE 7, Firefox 2+, Safari 2.0.4+, Opera 9.2+
Demo: http://www.sprymedia.co.uk/article/Design
License: License Free

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PicMarkr lets you to add custom watermark (image or text) to your images online and free. It is useful when you need to protect your copyrights or if you want to add comments to your photos. It is easy to use with minimum settings, no need to download or install anything. You simply need to upload files from computer or grab them from your Flickr account. It also allows batch image processing, it can saves you a lot of time when you are adding watermark to many images.

Requirements: -
Demo: http://picmarkr.com
License: License Free

• 8 Comments

3d package is a 3d-box graphic generator. 3d package lets you instantly create 3d-box images online for free. Just upload pictures for cover and sides and then get 3d-box in you favorite image format (JPG, GIF, PNG supported). You can use it anywhere you like, I think it would be useful when you would like a 3d-box image for your web applications.

P.S. You can also create CD-box and DVD-box easily as well.

Requirements: -
Demo: http://3d-pack.com/
License: License Free

• 6 Comments

There are more than 1 billion keywords searched every month by users around the world. Finding the correct ones for your website is not an easy task. Hundreds of hours must be spent in searching for the right keywords for one ad campaign.

Your competitors know best, why not let them do all the hard work by spending time and money on keywords you in turn will use for your ad campaign. With just a few clicks you can create a large targeted keyword campaign. Only use keywords that are proven to generate sales and save money.

Companies with a much larger list of keywords drive more traffic to their sites compared to those who have less. KeywordSpy helps drive traffic from competing sites to your own instantly, resulting in optimum exposure at the least amount of time and costs.

4 Simple Steps

• Type in a keyword or domain
• View your competitor’s keywords
• Import keywords for your own ad campaign
• Watch your revenue grow

Requirements: -
Demo: http://www.keywordspy.com/
License: License Free

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