Brian Peppler » Web Technology

Yahoo UI Library

Brian — Mon, 17 Nov 2008 21:30:45 +0000

Yahoo’s Design Pattern Library has become my go-to source for UI solutions. The site presents common problems within a specific context and suggests optimal solutions with a pattern. They also provide much of the scripting to run each pattern with the Yahoo! User Interface (YUI) Library, which is a set of JavaScript utilities and controls for building richly interactive web applications. I’m no UI developer by any stretch of the imagination, but I still prefer jQuery and its limitless plugins.

Copy and Paste Special Characters from the Web

Brian — Thu, 30 Oct 2008 20:00:42 +0000

Thanks to CopyPasteCharacter.com, I’ll never again need to look up the keyboard shortcuts for ©, ™, or ®.

Google Signs up for OpenID

Brian — Thu, 30 Oct 2008 15:59:25 +0000

It’s nice to see that Google is now throwing its weight behind OpenID, a free and open standard that allows web users to log on to different web sites using a single digital identity and eliminates the need for a different user name and password for each site. Google joins the ranks of AOL, Microsoft, MySpace and Yahoo! in offering this service, and their involvement will certainly put OpenID in a position for massive adoption throughout the web.

Also notable is how Google is communicating this feature to users; in lieu of mentioning OpenID, Google is using the phrase “Sign in with a Google Account.” This is similar to Yahoo’s messaging, “Sign In with a Yahoo! ID.” The choice is likely influenced by the Yahoo! OpenID Usability Research, which concluded that users do not understand OpenID, but do support using trusted providers such as Yahoo! for authentication.

Google Now Indexing Flash

Brian — Wed, 16 Jul 2008 18:51:12 +0000

Dear Adobe: I’m sorry I said those nasty things about search engines not loving Flash. It looks like you and Google are getting along. Now textual content—menus, buttons, banners, and website copy—are freely searchable, and I’m happy for you.

I hope some day soon Google will work out those remaining issues with indexing external resources (e.g. HTML, XML, and SWF files). I’d also like to see better support for web pages loading Flash files via JavaScript. According to Google, Googlebot does not execute some types of JavaScript.

Managing Sprite Graphics

Brian — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 19:41:16 +0000

If you deal with a website that has any sizable amount of content, you understand that asset management can quickly get out of hand. I’m guilty of this, and I’m here to come clean: I have a junk drawer, and it’s name is the “images” folder. A quick look at my “images” folder reveals multiple formats of a background, some rounded corners, and a bunch of ornamental images. So it was a joyful occasion when I discovered Yahoo’s method for managing images that are reused throughout a site: massive sprite graphics.

Typically when I create a graphic with multiple visual states I use a single sprite with the sliding door technique. Yahoo simplifies the process by creating only one graphic for all sprites. When new graphics are added to the site, they can be appended to the bottom of the existing master sprite graphic without interfering with existing x-y reference points.