Featured Articles Archive - 2005 | WebReference

Featured Articles Archive - 2005

This index covers all the new articles featured on our Web site. Many of the articles are contributed by our readers, others by freelance writers. Your words could be read — and your voice could be heard — by tens of thousands of our visitors and subscribers to our newsletter. Sound interesting? Submit your article today:

[The difference between the two methods is that articles submitted using the Open Publishing Initiative are generally shorter than the freelance articles, and the author does not receive monetary compensation. Freelance submissions are accepted upon receipt of a signed freelance contract. The freelance author does receive compensation.]

Stock Photography for Web Developers: Part 7
This installment takes a look at the state of the stock photography industry in 1995 and what it took to become involved, including software and hardware. In addition, there is also an overview of royalty splits, then and now. By Nathan Segal. December 29, 2005

Teach Yourself XML in 24 Hours: Part 2 - Xlink
This installment continues the study of Xlink. Some of the topics covered are addressing with XPointer, linking with XLink, and understanding XLink attributes.. By Que and Sams Publishing. December 22, 2005

JavaScript Standard Template Library: Part 4 - The stdext Namespace
This installment takes a look at four new collections from the stdext namespace. You'll see how easy it is to interchange the collections within a simple JavaScript unit test. By Nathan Segal. December 19, 2005

Sams Teach Yourself XML in 24 Hours, 3rd Edition: Part 1
This excerpt takes a look at addressing and linking XML documents. Additional topics include understanding XPath, referencing nodes, attributes and subsets, as well as XPath functions, the Role of XPath and more.

Perl Format Primer
In this short tutorial, Dan Ragle examines the main core functions used to create formatted reports with the Perl language: format, for the insertion of data elements into formatted report lines; and write, which outputs the formatted results to a file or STDOUT for examination.

Book Excerpt: The Non-Designer's Web Book, Third Edition
Typography on the Web can be a terrible mess, due in part to the different browsers and limitations on what can be done. In this installment you'll learn about the basics of good typography, how to adjust traditional typographic rules to work on the Web and how to use Cascading Style Sheets for better typographic control. December 6, 2005

Understanding Enterprise SOA: SOA for Enterprise Application Integration
This excerpt is meant to explain and clarify (in business terms) the way Web services and SOA work in a business setting. For IT professionals, this work provides a business oriented overview of SOA. December 2, 2005

Stock Photography for Web Developers: Part 5
This installment continues the exploration of computers and how they've affected the stock photography industry. Topics covered are using stock photography in layouts, why you should use a drawing tablet, image editors, plugins and more. By Nathan Segal. November 30, 2005

The JavaScript Diaries: Part 11
In our continuing JavaScript saga, this installment takes a look at JavaScript arrays, which can be very useful in creating different types of scripts. This study will span several installments due to its complexity. By Lee Underwood. November 25, 2005

Excerpt: Don't Make Me Think, Second Edition: A Common Sense Approach to Web Usability
In today's world of Web design the sites that offer the best, easiest, most intuitive experience are the ones people visit again and again. Join usability guru Steve Krug who distills his years of experience into a practical primer on the do's and don'ts of good Web design. November 22, 2005

Stock Photography for Web Developers: Part 4
This installment looks at computers and how they've affected the stock photography industry. Some of the topics covered include how to prevent the illegal use of digital files, problems with marketing digital images, implications for photographers, and more. By Nathan Segal. November 18, 2005

Developing Web Applications with Ajax: Part 3
this installment will show you how to use ajax in conjunction with server-side processing and how these technologies can produce powerful web applications. this article uses php but ajax is compatible with any server-side language. By Jonathan Fenocchi. November 15, 2005

Review: Blosxom
If you spend any amount of time on the Web, it's a pretty safe guess that you've heard of blogs. Basically, a blog is an online journal, but it's used for a wide variety of applications, such as businesses keeping their customers updated on current products, political topics, news blogs and more. This review takes a look at Blosxom, a popular blogging script. By Lee Underwood. November 8, 2005

Book Review: Access by Design: A Guide to Universal Usability for Web Designers
For some Web designers, accessibility and usability are dirty words, creating the idea that many hours of intensive work are involved. In reality, it's not hard to make a Web site accessible. To prove it, Sarah Horton has written a book about the subject, and when it comes to accessibility and usability, she seems to know her stuff. By Lee Underwood, November 4, 2005

Book Excerpt: Ajax in Action - Chapter 6
Asynchronous JavaScript and XML, known as "Ajax," is a new way of thinking that can result in a flowing and intuitive interaction with the user. 'Ajax in Action' explains how to distribute the application between the client and the server while retaining the integrity of the system. By Manning Publications. October 31, 2005

Stock Photography for Web Developers: Part 3
In this issue we explore other ways of obtaining images and the realm of Copyright. Some of the issues covered are public domain photographs, Copyright protection issues and misconceptions, Copyright on the Web, how to enforce Copyright and more. By Nathan Segal. October 28, 2005

Book Review: Adobe Creative Suite 2 (Classroom in a Book)
Adobe Creative Suite 2 (CS2) has been released to many enthusiastic users and with that release is the companion "Classroom in a Book" title, published by Peachpit. This review looks at the parts of the book containing the most relevance for Web developers. By Nathan Segal. October 25, 2005

JavaScript Sudoku Puzzle Solver
Sudoku, for the uninitiated, is a puzzle craze that has recently swept the globe, particularly in commuter circles. While I enjoy puzzles, I prefer to have the computer work it out for me. In this article I've created a small JavaScript application that allows users to enter the starting position of a Sudoku puzzle and then sit back and watch as the solution appears in front of them. By Guyon Roche. October 21, 2005

The JavaScript Diaries: Part 10
There are four objects that provide information about the environment of the user's system. They belong to the window object: navigator, screen, history and location. These objects are used to obtain information such as screen size and resolution, color depth of the monitor, limited information on the browser history, the URL and more. By Lee Underwood. October 17, 2005

Stock Photography for Web Developers: Part 2
This installment looks at the different types of stock photography and what licenses are available. Generally, the most common terms that people are familiar with are rights protected and royalty free imagery, though there are other options which we'll examine here. By Nathan Segal. October 14, 2005

How to Develop Web Applications with Ajax: Part 2
Part one of this series discussed how to retrieve remote data from an XML file via JavaScript. This week, Jonathan Fenocchi processes that data in a more complex manner. As an example, he takes groups of XML data, separate individual segments and display those segments in different ways, depending on how they're identified. October 10, 2005

Core Web Application Development with PHP and MySQL: Part 2
This installment continues with learning how to write Web applications. You'll learn about the basic layout of Web applications, the user interface, 3-tier and n-tier architectures, performance, scalability applications and more. By Prentice Hall. October 3, 2005

Firefox Web Developer Extensions
Firefox has become a formidable adversary in the browser wars. According to stats from W3Schools, it's used by 26.3% of all browser users. In this article, I take a look at some of the extensions available for Web developers. By Lee Underwood. September 29, 2005

Core Web Application Development with PHP and MySQL: Part 1
This book excerpt takes a look at writing Web applications. You'll learn about the technologies and protocols that make up the World Wide Web, how they work, how to define Web applications, how to structure them and more. By Prentice Hall PTR. September 26, 2005

Stock Photography for Web Developers: Part 1
This is the beginning of an ongoing series on stock photography. In this and subsequent articles, we'll look at the stock photography industry, how it works, what images cost, copyright issues and how all of this benefits you as a Web developer. By Nathan Segal. September 23, 2005

The JavaScript Standard Template Library: Part 3
The first two articles of this series introduced three collections of the JavaScript Template Library, including list, vector and deque. This article explores the magic of iterators and introduces a new class of sorted collections that includes set, map, multiset and multimap. By Guyon Roche. September 19, 2005

The JavaScript Diaries: Part 9
In the last two sections of this series we looked at properties and methods of the window object. In this installment, I wrap up our study of the window object by learning how to use the most common window event handlers. There are also some excellent links for additional help. By Lee Underwood. September 16, 2005

How to use CSS to Create a 'Two Step' Photographic Gallery
In the wake of his success with 'How to Create a Photographic Gallery Using CSS,' author Stu Nicholls has created a new method which doesn't require thumbnail images and has a unique two step method of display. The 'mouseHover' stage creates a half size image and the 'mouseClick' creates a full size image. By Stu Nicholls. September 12, 2005

Nested Data Structures: A Perl Primer
This article addresses the basic terminology, concepts, and tactics that can be used in the creation of nested data structures in Perl. In Perl, such a structure is easily created and accessed; though to the novice the process may not be intuitive. Here's a taste of what's involved. By Dan Ragle. September 9, 2005

How to Create RSS Feeds With Dreamweaver
RSS, or Really Simple Syndication, is commonly used for distributing headlines on news Web sites. The challenge in using it is to integrate your content into the feed you are creating. Enter RSS Dreamfeeder, an application that allows you to reformat your content into an RSS feed within Dreamweaver. By Ronald Northrip. September 6, 2005

Core JavaScript Guide 1.5
JavaScript is Netscape's cross-platform, object-based scripting language. This book (in HTML format) explains everything you need to know about using core JavaScript.

The JavaScript STL (Standard Template Library): Part 2
This week, we conclude our two-part series with information on the list collection, the vector collection and the deque collection. The article wraps up with a demo and an opportunity to download the code. By Guyon Roche. August 29, 2005

How to Use CSS to Position Horizontal Unordered Lists
Let's say that you've chosen to use a horizontal styled unordered list for your navigation and have followed the CSS methods as posted on the Web. All's well until you decide to position your menu centrally or to the right and this is where it starts to get tricky. By Stu Nicholls. August 26, 2005

The JavaScript STL (Standard Template Library): Part 1
One of the obstacles that programmers encounter is that each language has its own "culture" and ways of getting things done. In the C++ programming language a solution has been developed, known as the Standard Template Library or STL for short. Here's a JavaScript implementation of the STL. By Guyon Roche. August 22, 2005

The JavaScript Diaries: Part 8
Moving ahead in our study, in this installment we look at the methods that are associated with the window object and how they work. Until now, we've been learning how to build the framework of our scripts but now we'll start to see things happen! Using these methods you'll learn how to begin to implement JavaScript in your Web sites. By Lee Underwood. August 19, 2005

Book Excerpt: Search Engine Marketing, Inc. - Part 2
This installment continues the exploration of search engine marketing. Some of the topics covered are specialty search engines, a brief history of Web search, how search marketing is cost effective, and the challenge of search success. August 15, 2005

Mozilla's New Array Methods
When the next version of Firefox is released later this year, it will be sporting several updates to its JavaScript engine. Part of this JavaScript upgrade directly affects the Array object, which gains several new methods. By Nicholas C. Zakas. August 12, 2005

Book Excerpt: Search Engine Marketing, Inc. - Part 1
Search engine marketing is one of the most important aspects of driving traffic to your web site. Here is an in-depth guide to the opportunities and pitfalls of this subject. You'll learn about web search basics, the kinds of search results, paid programs, the different search engines and more. August 8, 2005

How to Develop Web Applications with Ajax: Part 1
In the past, Web applications were limited because a Web page had to be reloaded (or another page loaded in its place) in order for new data to be obtained. Recently, a new method, known as "Ajax" (Asynchronous Javascript and XML applications) asynchronously retrieves XML data via JavaScript. Ajax will allow you to take your Web applications to the next level.

A Web Development Primer
In this article, Ahmad Permessur examines a wide variety of Web technologies, beginning with HTML, it's limitations and how to go beyond it. Other topics covered are client- and server-side technologies, networks, JavaScript, DHTML, CGI. and more. July 29, 2005

How to Use CSS to Solve min-width Problems in IE
The lack of support for minimum width in Internet Explorer has caused many problems for Web designers. Until now, the only way to emulate min-width is to use either JavaScript or Internet Explorer expressions (indirect JavaScript), but now there's another solution. By Stu Nicholls. July 25, 2005

The JavaScript Diaries: Part 7
In our last installment we looked at how to create custom-made objects using the Object() constructor. This installment continues that study by taking a look at browser-based objects. By Lee Underwood. July 22, 2005

Book Review: Spring Into Technical Writing for Engineers and Scientists
As Web design professionals, we often need to do some form of writing. Since we design and code for a living, many of us aren't sure where to begin. This book gives you the necessary tools using short, concise, fast-paced tutorials. By Lee Underwood. July 18, 2005

How to Join Classes with CSS
If you've just started to learn CSS and have looked at multiple tutorials, bought the latest books, etc., you might not have realized that it's possible to join up your classes. You aren't limited to having a single class in a tag. In fact, you're not limited to having just an id! By Stu Nicholls. July 15, 2005

Core JavaScript Reference
This online reference manual, in HTML format, explains everything you need to know about using core JavaScript 1.5. Written by the developers at Netscape Communications. July 11, 2005

How to Style an Unordered List with CSS
This article will show you how to style an unordered navigation list using CSS, then take it a step further and add a pop-up information box for each link item so that your visitors will get an indication of the content for the page link. Wow! Check it out! By Stu Nicholls. July 8, 2005

Firefox, the Browser of the Future?
As developers, the evolution of Web browsers is something we're all concerned about. How are they the same? How do they differ? Who's winning the so-called browser war? With these and other questions in mind, Scott Clark spoke to Chris Hofmann, Director of Engineering of the Mozilla Foundation, and asked him about Firefox and where it's headed. July 5, 2005

The JavaScript Diaries: Part 6
In this installment I go a little deeper into our study of JavaScript. This process will last for several weeks. Some of the topics covered here include JavaScript objects, object properties and methods, and the constructor function. By Lee Underwood. July 1, 2005

Professional JavaScript for Web Developers: JavaScript in the Browser, Part 2
A sampling of topics covered here are navigating and opening new windows, system dialogs, intervals and timeouts, the document object, the location object and more. Wrox. June 27, 2005

Review: Rapid PHP 2005
Of the many editors available for creating (X)HTML, CSS, JavaScript, and PHP pages, several combine a few different yet compatible languages. Some include support and a few manage to make it work seamlessly. RapidPHP 2005 belongs in the latter category. By Lee Underwood. June 24, 2005.

Professional JavaScript for Web Developers: JavaScript in the Browser, Part 1
Web browsers have come a long way over the years and can now handle a variety of file formats, not just conventional HTML. Here, you'll learn how JavaScript fits into HTML, other languages, and some basic concepts of the Browser Object Model. Wrox. June 20, 2005

Introduction to NTP
As a Web developer, you may need to synchronize servers accurately, either locally, or at a distance. At first glance, it seems simple, but not when you consider computer clock times, different time zones, etc. Enter the Network Time Protocol, or NTP. Among other things, NTP allows machines to synchronize their clocks. By Dan Ragle. June 17, 2005

How to Create Universally Related Popup Menus with Javascript: Single Form Version III
In this article, the author modifies Andy King's original version of the Universally Related Popup Menus (URPMs). His intention was to make it more suitable for submitting data to a server and to simplify the JavaScript "O" objects used to store all the related list data. Read on to see how he did it. By Rob Gravelle. June 13, 2005

The JavaScript Diaries: Part 5
This week, as we continue our quest to learn the JavaScript language, we'll look at conditional statements and loops. These can help us to add more depth and complexity to our scripts. By Lee Underwood. June 10, 2005

Book Review: Developing Feeds with RSS and Atom
Two of the fastest growing technologies on the Web today are RSS and Atom. In order to help Web developers gain a better understanding of these technologies, Ben Hammersley wrote a book on the subject. Check out this review to see if the book can help you gain insight into these fast growing technologies. Check out an excerpt below. By Lee Underwood. June 6, 2005

Book Excerpt: Developing Feeds with RSS and Atom - Chapter 8: Parsing and Using Feeds
This is an excerpt of the book mentioned above. This chapter takes a look at the two major alternatives for parsing feeds, MagpieRSS and the Ultraliberal Feed Parser. June 3, 2005

Creating an Autosuggest Textbox with JavaScript: Part 3
The second part of this series showed how to add a dropdown suggestion list to the autosuggest control. In this installment you'll learn how to complete the modifications, make your suggestions case insensitive and get the suggestions back from the server instead of using client-side information. By By Nicholas C. Zakas. May 30, 2005

The JavaScript Diaries: Part 4
In this section, we take a look at JavaScript functions. These help us to write more intricate programs. A sampling of topics includes writing functions, naming rules, calling a function, global and local variables and more. By Lee Underwood. May 27, 2005

How to Add Fluid Borders to Your Boxes with CSS
The last tutorial showed you how to style a definition list. This week, we delve deeper into this process and learn how to add different fluid borders to boxes using only CSS. By Stu Nicholls. May 23, 2005

Review: Web Link Validator
Broken links can become a major headache for Web developers, especially if a site is rich with links. Since it's not feasible to physically check each link by hand, it makes sense to use a software program that will automate the process. One such program is Web Link Validator. By Lee Underwood. May 20, 2005

Spring Into HTML & CSS: Working with Color and Images Using CSS
Color options in CSS include hexadecimal color, hexadecimal shorthand color, RGB color, etc. Using images, you can create beautiful layouts without the constraints of tables. This week, you'll learn how to apply images to backgrounds and elements, and how to use images for a range of visual techniques. By Molly Holzschlag. May 16, 2005

The JavaScript Diaries: Part 3
This installment takes a look at JavaScript operators, which are used to accomplish many different tasks. Some of the topics covered are mathematical operators, comparison operators, assignment operators, logical (boolean) operators and much more. By Lee Underwood. May 13, 2005

How to Style a Definition List with CSS
Many tutorials on the styling of CSS lists for menus use unordered lists, but these can be difficult to understand since extra styling is needed to remove the bullets. This week, you'll learn how to style a Definition List, which is equally suitable for menus, but is a little easier to understand. By Stu Nicholls. May 9, 2005

The World of Texture
This article revisits a precious one by Dmitry Kirsanov. The article has been updated with new information and links to current (and past) examples. May 6, 2005

Jakarta Commons Online Bookshelf: XML parsing with Digester. Part 1
Written for developers and architects, the Jakarta Commons Online Bookshelf is a collection of over twenty open-source Java tools ranging from logging, validation, bean utilities, and XML parsing. This book summarizes each component, provides expert explanations and hands-on examples of their use. By Manning Publications. May 3, 2005

The JavaScript Diaries: Part 2
The first installment of this series took a look at some general information and guidelines to prepare the reader for the study of JavaScript. In this installment we delve into parts of the language and also write our first script. By Lee Underwood. April 29, 2005

How to Create a Frames Layout with CSS
By far one of the most sought after uses of CSS is to emulate the HTML frame layout. This week, you'll learn how to use CSS to create a stationary header, navigation area, and footer while the content area scrolls. By Stu Nicholls. April 26, 2005

How to Create Flick Animations with CSS
Fed up with Flash and GIF animations? Try another alternative - CSS flick animation. These animations normally appear as static images on the page but they spring into life when you move your mouse across them. By Stu Nicholls. April 22, 2005

Perl Module Primer
This article examines the basic building blocks and fundamental concepts that you need to know to begin writing and using your own modules. Towards the end, We'll touch — very briefly — on extended topics such as autoloading and object classes. By Dan Ragle. April 18, 2005

The JavaScript Diaries: Part 1
JavaScript is a versatile language which can be used to create menus, validate forms, provide interactive calendars, post the current day's headlines, track a visitor's history on your site and much more. This installment is part one of an ongoing series on the process of learning JavaScript. By Lee Underwood. April 15, 2005

How to Create a Photographic Gallery Using CSS
Web sites (both personal and professional) often make use of galleries to show off photographs, artwork, etc. In this article you'll learn how to create a professional gallery using an unordered list of photographs and a Cascading Style Sheet (CSS). By Stu Nicholls. April 12, 2005

Creating an Autosuggest Textbox with JavaScript, Part 2
The first installment of this series taught you how to create type ahead functionality in a textbox, which presents the user with a single suggestion for what they've already typed. This next installment builds upon that functionality by adding a dropdown list of multiple suggestions. By Nicholas C. Zakas. April 8, 2005

How to Populate Fields from New Windows Using JavaScript
Occasionally, filling out Web page forms can be daunting. Fortunately, some forms display a question mark next to the form field, which opens a popup window containing additional information. This article will show you how to enhance the functionality of those windows. By Jonathan Fenocchi. April 5, 2005

HTML 4.01 Element Reference
HTML is the most basic and common language on the World Wide Web and it's relatively easy to learn. This resource contains the HTML 4.01 element (tag) list as recommended by the W3C. Each element includes a description, browser compatibility, all of the attributes associated with the element, and an example of the code as it is to be used. By Lee Underwood. March 31, 2005

Spring in Action: A Spring Jump Start. Part 3
This week's installment takes a look at Spring alternatives, including a comparison between Spring, EJB and other lightweight containers such as HiveMind and Avalon. Other topics include Web frameworks, persistence frameworks and a summary. March 23, 2005

Creating an Autosuggest Textbox with JavaScript: Part 1
Over the past year, Google has branched out from its search engine into other types of Web applications. One that caused a great deal of excitement among Web developers is Google Suggest. The basic idea is very simple: as you type, Google suggests search terms that come up with results. The first suggestion is filled into the textbox as you type while a list of several suggestions appears in a dropdown list beneath the textbox. In this series of articles, you will learn how to build an autosuggest control one step at a time. First, you'll learn how to implement type ahead functionality (filling in the textbox as you type). Then, you'll add the dropdown suggestion list to the control. Last, you'll learn how to get the suggestions from the server. By Nicholas C. Zakas. March 21, 2005

Spring in Action: A Spring Jump Start. Part 2
This week, we look at understanding inversion of control. A sampling of the other topics we'll cover are injecting dependencies, IoC in action, decoupling with interfaces, IoC in enterprise applications and more. By Manning Publications. March 18, 2005

How to Use CSS for Flickerless Image Replacement
One major use of CSS is the styling of unordered lists used to hold menu links. This week you'll learn how to remove the unordered list items, replace them with images and using two images per link, have a hover state that is flicker free in Internet Explorer. By Stu Nicholls. March 14, 2005

Book Review: Integrated HTML and CSS
Traditionally, when learning to code Web pages, HTML is taught first, followed by CSS. However, since both are related, it would make more sense to teach them both at the same time. In this book, HTML and CSS are taught together, making them easier to learn. Designed with the beginner in mind, this book assumes no prior knowledge of HTML or CSS. By Lee Underwood. March 9, 2005

Book Excerpt: Spring in Action: A Spring Jump Start - Part 1
Based on a design principle called 'Inversion of Control', Spring reduces the complexity of using interfaces and speeds up your application development. You get the power of EJB and get to keep the simplicity of the non-enterprise JavaBean. This week's installment is an introduction to Spring. March 7, 2005

Review: FeedForAll 1.0
RSS technology is really taking off. According to a recent study, 5% of Internet users say they use RSS. That's almost 46,700,000 users! As a Web developer, part of your job may be to create RSS feeds or develop a method that a client can use directly. In the past, this was usually done manually or through the use of Perl scripts, but now there are several software applications that make the creation process much easier. FeedForAll is one of those programs. By Lee Underwood. March 3, 2005

JavaScript and Accessibility. Part 3
This week you'll learn about fixes and creative options for drop-down navigation selections and DHTML menus. Other topics covered are proprietary alternatives, document.all and innerHTML. By Jonathan Fenocchi. February 28, 2005

Review: FTPEditor Pro 3.1
Small edits of Web pages can be a cumbersome task, especially if you have to correct a grammar or spelling mistake. Usually, you have to open the file in an editing program, correct the mistake, save the file and upload it. Now, there's a way to bypass much of this work using FTPEditor. By Lee Underwood, February 23, 2005

JavaScript and Accessibility. Part 2
We began this series with a discussion about new practical and standards-compliant use of JavaScript. We also covered some classical techniques and how to fix them. We continue that process this week, where we look at form validation and rollovers. By Jonathan Fenocchi. February 21, 2005

Book Review: Web ReDesign 2.0 | Workflow that Works
Redesigning a Web site can be a daunting task. Whether it's one that you created or one that you've inherited, if the redesign process is not approached in a logical, well thought out manner, it can lead to some major headaches. What is necessary is a guide to lead you through the process, written by someone who has been there. Well, your guide has arrived in the form of the book, "Web ReDesign 2.0 | Workflow that Works", written by Kelly Goto and Emily Cotler. It covers the entire redesign process from beginning to end. By Lee Underwood. February 17, 2005

JavaScript and Accessibility: Part 1
In this first article of a three part series, Jonathan Fenocchi introduces us to an increased awareness of Web standards, W3C compliance, responsible scripting (which includes a checklist), and fixes for several classical JavaScript design methods that don't work. Check out an excerpt from this article in the next section below. February 14, 2005

How to Create a WYSIWYG Rich Text Editor in JavaScript: Part 2
In this week's installment you'll learn about different methods for handling keyboard input and the RichEdit control. Keyboard input is handled by two functions; onKeyPress() and onKeyDown(). The RichEdit constructor creates the necessary HTML elements to display the control. By Guyon Roche. February 10, 2005

How to Create a JavaScript Breadcrumb Script
A breadcrumb is a navigational tool used to display the path to the current page. There are several different ways of displaying a breadcrumb. One of them is by using JavaScript. This tutorial will show you how. By Lee Underwood. February 7, 2005

CSS: Cascading Style Sheets Made Easy
HTML was originally intended to be used to define the content of a document using formatting tags. As browsers evolved, it became difficult to create Web sites which separated the content from the presentation layout. To solve the problem, Cascading Style Sheets were created. This article is a brief introduction to CSS and how it works. Taylor Anderson. February 7, 2005

How to Create a WYSIWYG Rich Text Editor in JavaScript, Part 1
On forums, there are many features that allow users to compose richly formatted text with animated emoticons, etc., but you can't see what the finished work will look like until it's posted or unless a preview is generated. Here, author Guyon Roche uses JavaScript to show you how your text will look as you write it. February 2, 2005

Lucene in Action: Meet Lucene, Part 2
This installment takes a look at several classes which are necessary to perform the simplest indexing procedures in Lucene, a Java search engine. Those classes are: IndexWriter, Directory, Analyzer, Document and Field. By Manning Publications. January 31, 2005

Review: WebDrive v6.05
Uploading and downloading files is a common task for a webmaster. Normally that's accomplished by using one of several programs, but here's another solution - WebDrive, which integrates WebDAV, FTP, or SFTP servers into the Windows desktop by mapping them to a network drive letter. Lee Underwood. January 26, 2005

Lucene in Action: Meet Lucene, Part 1
Lucene is a highly scalable, fast search engine. With high performance and ease of use, you will learn how to index your data, including MS Word, PDF, HTML, and XML. You'll also learn about searching, sorting, filtering, and highlighting search results. By Manning Publications. January 24, 2005

Review: TopStyle Pro 3.11
There are many ways to create and edit Web pages and style sheets. Using TopStyle Pro is one method. TopStyle was created by Nick Bradbury, creator of the HomeSite HTML editor. For those of you who like HomeSite, you'll love TopStyle Pro. This program is jam-packed with all kinds of features. Lee Underwood. January 20, 2005

The Game Artist's Guide to Maya, Part 3
In our final section, we have a look at the process of UV mapping the head of the character and applying materials to the model. You'll also learn about applying a texture to a material, 3D painting tools, vertex coloring and texture painting tips. January 17, 2005

JavaScript: Basic Date Display Script
Would you like to display the current date on your Web pages? One option is to use JavaScript. Here we use a basic date script, thanks to our friends at cgiscript.net. The script also comes with comments so you can understand how it works. By Lee Underwood. January 14, 2005

The Game Artist's Guide to Maya: Part 2
This week, we look at UV Mapping of the body and Armor. A section on UV Layout Tips is also provided, about Sharing UVs, UV Area Size Applicable to Model Size, Mipmapping and Texture Usage in Gameplay. This is a book excerpt from Michael McKinley's "The Game Artist's Guide to Maya", published by Sybex.

Is Your Domain Name Safe?
Recent news reports have claimed that the ownership of domain names may be in jeopardy, the result of policy changes by ICANN regarding the transfer of domain names between registrars. But is there a reason to be concerned? Read on to find out. By Lee Underwood. January 6, 2005

The Game Artist's Guide to Maya, Part 1
To bring life to your model, you must texture it. The main process you need to be aware of is what is known as UV Mapping. Here, we look at Mapping UVs, UV Projection Commands, The UV Texture Editor, Texture Resolutions, Formats, Alpha Channel and Pixel Shader Effects. January 4, 2005

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