Tag: prototype

Performerjs.org – Standards-driven JavaScript Goodness

Posted on by chris

For a while now I’ve been using a library of little functions built on top of the prototype JavaScript framework which allow me to add some interactive goodness (yes, that means AJAX) to web pages using nothing but a few standard element attributes. I’ve written about this before a few times, but the time has come to push it out a bit further in the hope that it will help others. I call it Performer.

So I’ve bought a new domain names (extending my power on the web, mwahaha) and am in the process of getting the very latest, cutting edge version of Peformer on performerjs.org. There are still some bugs to figure out, particularly in Internet Exploder, but you can see the range of features Performer offers.

It’s released in a Creative Commons licence meaning basically you can use it for what you want, but don’t say you did it all yourself. You can even adapt, build, tweak and chop/change to your hearts content. But any changes you make must be released under a similar licence to help benefit everyone.

No doubt I’ll be writing more about Performer as I add new features and polish up what’s there, but for now just take a look at how a few standard attributes can turn a boring page into an all-singing, all-dancing Web 2.0 wonderpage!

Unobtrusive JavaScript password strength checker

Posted on by chris

I’ve added a couple of new functions to Performer – my easy to use JavaScript library. The two new functions allow you to check the strength of a password as it’s typed into a text box, and also check if a password and its confirmation match. Both update a notification element with a suitable message.

But that’s not all. Some of the older functions, such as the AJAX loader and tabbing functions, have got a little love as well. They now add extra classes to the elements they affect so you can style them easily. This stuff isn’t documented yet, but in a nutshell:

  • When loading some data from a remote page using the Loader function the element which is being updated will have the class ‘loaderloading’ while the loading is happening. Phew, a few too many ‘loader’s there.
  • When using the Tabber function to switch the visibility between different elements in a tag group, the link to the selected tab will have an additional class of ‘tabbercurrent’.
  • UPDATE: the Toggler function adds the class ‘toggleropen’ when the toggled element is being shown. That means you can easily do ‘open’ and ‘close’ CSS styles.

I’ve got lots more ideas for Performer, but time is short at the moment. However this little library – and the fantastic prototype library it’s built on – continue to make my life better.