With Simply JavaScript, the book I co-wrote with Cameron Adams, officially off to print, I’m now able to resume publication of the SitePoint News Wire. Thanks to those who continued to submit links during the downtime. Enjoy!
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Amy Hoy demonstrates how to put your product’s best foot forward on the Web, and points out some common mis-steps you should aim to avoid. (thanks gnarly)
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Dan Webb: “With this post I’m going to blast through the absolute essentials you need to get started…” (thanks gnarly)
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Shows how to send a 503 (Network Unavailable) error to search engines while you are making modifications to your site. (thanks apachedude)
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A JavaScript library that makes it dead simple to embed video in your web pages. I’m not sure I like the custom attribute it requires, but its better than most alternatives. “It’s meant to re-swizzle the whole paradigm. (Or something.)” (thanks gnarly)
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Currently in beta, a JavaScript library for generating stylish and interactive charts with pure JavaScript (thanks to the <canvas> tag). Free version allows one line or bar graph per page. (thanks geekylucas, andrewk)
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A straightforward walkthrough demonstrating how to set up IE 5.0, 5.5, and 6.0 under Ubuntu Linux using WINE and the IEs4Linux package. (thanks jamesbooker)
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tapefailure lets you record your users’ browsing sessions and play them back, just like a tape, as well as view numerous useful statistics about your users. (thanks geekylucas)
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Many designers are unaware of the HTML button element, which lets you create form buttons with HTML content. Kevin Hale demonstrates how he used this to create stylish buttons for the recently-launched Wufoo online form designer. (thanks geekylucas)
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The Last Call Working Draft of the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 2.0 got harsh reviews last year. The W3C is now seeking comments on an updated working draft that takes into account all that feedback. The summary of changes is a nice, quick read.
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OpensIFRr is a free desktop application for MacOS X (for now) that will create SWF files from TrueType font files. These can can be used to produce acessible, stylish headers using Mike Davidson’s popular sIFR JavaScript library.
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The phpBB team has announced the first release candidate of the long-awaited phpBB3 web forum software. New features include full Unicode support, file attachments, caching, and much, much more.
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Microsoft has released the finished Internet Explorer Developer Toolbar. Still greatly lacking compared to Firefox-based alternatives like Firebug, but when you need to diagnose an IE issue, you’ll want this installed.
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The latest pre-beta release of Dojo 0.9 marks availability of Dijit, Dojo’s revamped widget engine. The library has also received a serious trim, resulting in reduced file sizes and swifter performance.
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The flagship annual web industry conference of the southern hemisphere has opened its doors for 2007 registrations. Although it will not feature a SitePoint-sponsored bash this year, it still looks like it will be an inspiring and exciting event!
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Version 3.0 of Jakarta POI has been released. This library provides a free, open source, cross-platform Java API for reading and writing Microsoft Excel documents.
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An excellent run-down of the common arguments against accessibility (and paying extra for accessible web design), and some ideas of how to overcome those objections.
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May 24th, 2007 at 10:31 am
The button element…I never thought to try adding CSS to that. Wonderful idea! I think the first and only time I ever used it was with obtrusive JavaScript, when I was first learning so many years ago. This reintroduction to its uses is great. Thanks for sharing!
The OpenID is also a wonderful insight. I think this return of the News Wire has given me the most bookmarks of any entry yet. Welcome back, News Wire!