links for 2008-11-18

A video for people who wonder why blogs are such a big deal.

Herndon, Virginia – (Cheap Web Hosting Directory) – December 5, 2007 – Web hosting provider and domain name registration services firm, Network Solutions, has enhanced its E-Commerce web site software packages with the release of v7.1, which includes added features designed to simplify the process of e-commerce web site creation.

Nearly 10,000 online stores are powered by Network Solutions e-commerce products, and the release of v7.1 builds upon previous versions of the software to deliver a robust e-commerce solution providing the tools that growing businesses need to do business online.

Jeff Zimmerman, Vice President of Product Marketing and Management with Network Solutions remarked, ”The release of E-Commerce v 7.1 provides many of the tools that growing businesses need to streamline their online sales operations. The new features that we have launched in v7.1 are all designed to help make the process of operating an online business as easy as possible for our customers.”

Web forms are one of the uglier elements on web pages. These pull-downs, text boxes, radio buttons and checkboxes are often blocky, awkward and out of place in the overall design of the page. There's a good reason; styling forms is challenging.

The problem is complicated by the myriad of ways to mark up a form using HTML. Since the markup often changes from site to site, it's difficult to create a clean, reusable code base you can move from one website to the next. We figured out a way, of course. If we didn't you wouldn't be reading this right now.

So read on. We're going to break down the elements of web forms and talk about how to handle them in your stylesheets.

The line between web and desktop applications is fading. Users now expect a richer experience. JavaScript can help provide interfaces and interactions that mimic the desktop. In this tutorial, I'll introduce you to the JavaScript-based Yahoo User Interface Library. We'll use it to convert normal HTML into more interactive controls.

Best of all, Yahoo's library is open-source and has been released under a BSD license, so it's free for all users.

I have had many requests recently for a demonstration of using CSS for styling FORMS. Well here is a quick example based on form examples on the w3c website.

Note that you can click on the text to activate the adjacent inputs, checkboxes and radios (thanks to Markus and Steve Williams for pointing out this omission).

Forms are not very friendly when it comes to CSS and each browser has its own way of handling them. Styles that work in one browser will not work in another, so depending on which browser you are using you will see a slightly different interpretation.

'Watchmen' Theatrical Trailer (2:30)

GodTube.com is a social networking site showing featured videos and ministries and allowing users to connect with others through shared videos, blogs, and email.

All that is gold does not glitter,
Not all those who wander are lost;
The old that is strong does not wither,
Deep roots are not reached by the frost.
From the ashes a fire shall be woken,
A light from the shadows shall spring;
Renewed shall be blade that was broken,
The crownless again shall be king.

J.R.R. Tolkien

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