Topics: Code: Server Side
Back-end in motion. Shaping dynamic user interactivity with scripting languages like Perl, PHP, ASP, ColdFusion, Rebol, and Ruby on Rails. Database-driven projects and processes. Web services and .Net. Can't we all just get along? (28 articles)
Letting Go of John Hancock
by Bjørn Enki
Issue 297December 8, 2009
Because clients expect everything to be faster, better, and simpler, web professionals must take an instant, foolproof, paperless, modern approach to how clients approve proposals and sign contracts. Implementing an instantaneous contract agreement helps to get projects off the ground, attract clients on tight timelines, and prevent potential delays. All it takes is a little PHP and some PDF magic.
Indexing the Web—It’s Not Just Google’s Business
by Lyle Mullican
Issue 285June 9, 2009
Interface responsiveness is one of many details web developers must consider in their quest to deliver a good user experience. An application that responds quickly enhances the user’s sense of control. In working to maximize application speed, though, one often-overlooked element can affect performance more than almost anything else: database design.
A More Useful 404
by Dean Frickey
Issue 272November 18, 2008
When broken links frustrate your site's visitors, a typical 404 page explains what went wrong and provides links that may relate to the visitor's quest. That's good, but now you can do better. With Dean Frickey's custom 404, when something's amiss, pertinent information is sent not only to the visitor, but to the developer—so that, in many cases, the problem can be fixed! A better 404 means never having to say you're sorry.
Getting Started with Ruby on Rails
by Dan Benjamin
Issue 257April 22, 2008
The "how" of Ruby on Rails: Hivelogic's Dan Benjamin prepares non-Rails developers, designers, and other creative professionals for their first foray into Rails. Learn what Ruby on Rails is (and isn't), and where it fits into the spectrum of web development and design. See through the myths surrounding this powerful young platform, and learn how to approach working with it.
Creating More Using Less Effort with Ruby on Rails
by Michael Slater
Issue 257April 22, 2008
The "why" of Ruby on Rails comes down to productivity, says Michael Slater. Web applications that share three characteristics—they're database-driven, they're new, and they have needs not well met by a typical CMS—can be built much more quickly with Ruby on Rails than with PHP, .NET, or Java, once the investment required to learn Rails has been made. Does your web app fall within the RoR "sweet spot?"
Graceful E-Mail Obfuscation
by Roel Van Gils
Issue 248November 6, 2007
Hide e-mail addresses from spam bots while revealing them to readers as real, clickable links. This transparent and fully automated solution guarantees that all addresses on your site will be safe—even the ones that show up in blog comments!
Sliced and Diced Sandbags
by Rob Swan
Issue 222August 22, 2006
Wouldn't it be great if there were a way to get text to flow around an irregularly shaped image? Wouldn't it be even better if we could automate the process? Have no fear: Rob Swan is here to show us the way.
Automatic Magazine Layout
by Harvey Kane
Issue 219July 11, 2006
You can't always count on having a professional designer around to resize and position your images for you, but you'd rather your page layout didn't look like it was created by orangutans. Harvey Kane builds a script that makes your life easier.
Getting Started with Ajax
by Aaron Gustafson
Issue 213March 7, 2006
In this excerpt from O'Reilly's Web Design in a Nutshell, 3rd Edition, ALA's production editor would like to take you aside for a little chat about the birds and the bees. Or maybe about Ajax.
A Better Image Rotator
by Dan Benjamin
Issue 186August 10, 2004
The first image rotator made it easy to generate a random image on a web page, even if you had never worked with PHP before. The new, more powerful (but still dead easy) version uses a simple configuration file to create custom links, alt tags, titles, and even CSS styles for each image. Plus it handles differently sized images without a hiccup. Enjoy!
Smarter Image Hotlinking Prevention
by Thomas Scott
Issue 185July 13, 2004
Most web professionals are all too aware of the problems caused by hotlinkers. Leechers. Bandwidth thieves. People who use images hosted on your web server on their own pages. With PHP and mod_rewrite, you can disallow embedding and allow linking while automatically creating gallery pages for those direct linkers.
Dynamic Text Replacement
by Stewart Rosenberger
Issue 183June 15, 2004
Let your server do the walking! Whether you’re replacing one headline or a thousand, Stewart Rosenberger’s Dynamic Text Replacement automatically swaps XHTML text with an image of that text, consistently displayed in any font you own. The markup is clean, semantic, and accessible. No CSS hacks are required, and you needn’t open Photoshop or any other image editor. Read about it today; use it on personal and commercial web projects tomorrow.
The Perfect 404
by Ian Lloyd
Issue 168January 16, 2004
No matter how carefully you design and structure your site, visitors will sometimes request missing, moved, or non-existent pages. A well tempered 404 error page will plunge these visitors back into the flow of your site. Ian Lloyd shares strategies for crafting the perfect 404.
Keeping Navigation Current With PHP
by Jason Pearce
Issue 162November 7, 2003
Turning unordered lists into elegant navigational menus has become a new favorite pastime for many web designers. A dash of PHP can add intelligence to your CSS-styled menu.
Random Image Rotation
by Dan Benjamin
Issue 160October 20, 2003
Readers return to sites that appear fresh and new on each visit. On a news site, magazine, or blog, stories or headlines will be updated frequently. But how can static sites keep that fresh feeling? Dan Benjamin’s free image randomizer may do the trick, and you needn’t be a programmer to install it.
Inline XML
by Lachlan Cannon
Issue 153November 1, 2002
What’s in a namespace? For one thing, the power to use multiple XML languages in a single document. Lachlan Cannon explains how inline XML can extend the capability of your sites.
Build a PHP Switcher
by Chris Clark
Issue 152October 13, 2002
ALA’s open source style sheet switchers are swell as long as your visitors use compliant browsers and have JavaScript turned on. But what if they don’t? Perhaps, this: Chris Clark tells how to build a cross-browser, backward-compatible, forward-compatible, standards-compliant style sheet switcher in just five lines of code.
Manage Your Content With PHP
by Christopher Robbins
Issue 148August 9, 2002
XHTML for structured markup. CSS for presentation. What more could you ask? How about an easy way to manage your site, using free, open-source tools? Christopher Robbins shows how to use PHP to build an intro-level, template-driven system that handles site maintenance chores and remembers your visitors’ preferences.
Simple Content Management
by Chris Ross-Gill
Issue 145May 24, 2002
Build a simple, expandable, client-side content management system in REBOL.
Win the SPAM Arms Race
by Dan Benjamin
Issue 145May 24, 2002
SPAM is evil, moronic, and pervasive, but help is on the way. All it takes is a bit of JavaScript, a smidgen of PHP, and the ten minutes it takes to read this short, sweet tutorial. Reduce dreck mail with Dan Benjamin’s easy-to-implement address encoder.
Build a Search Engine in PERL
by Joseph Ryan
Issue 136February 8, 2002
Everything you wanted to know about using PERL to build a simple search engine for your site (but were afraid to ask).
Understanding Web Services
by Patrick Cooney
Issue 135January 31, 2002
By promoting standards-based communication,web services might change the way we build sites.
How to Succeed With URLs
by Till Quack
Issue 123October 12, 2001
Dynamic websites rock. Dynamically generated URLs suck. Till Quack shows how to use PHP to convert those machine-friendly nightmares into dreamy, human-friendly web addresses.
Build a “Send to Friend” Page
by Daniel Short
Issue 120August 31, 2001
In this quick ’n easy tutorial, Short shows how to increase your site’s popularity by building a simple “send to friend” service in HTML and ASP.
Kick ASP Design: ASP for Non-Programmers
by Brian Goldman
Issue 117July 20, 2001
Web programming is not rocket science. Get comfortable with the basics, and learn some nifty Style Sheet switching tricks, in this gentle introduction to ASP programming for non-programmers.
URLS! URLS! URLS!
by Bill Humphries
Issue 70June 30, 2000
Database-driven content management systems are everywhere. And with them come URLs only a robot could love. Bill Humphries shows how to transform CGI-generated URLs into meaningful user interfaces through the power of URL mapping.
Bridging the Gap
by Robert Miller
Issue 66June 2, 2000
How can we work together if we don't understand each other? Systems administrator Robert Miller describes the view from his side of the cubicle, and attempts to break down the barriers between "creative" and systems professionals.
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