redbullmarky

Hi all I'm attempting something fairly ambitious in my spare time, mainly to brush up on my JS/AJAX skills which I admit are pretty dire in comparison. Anyway. I'm trying to build a fairly simple browser based desktop system (windows/icons) but am having trouble at the first hurdle. I have some scripts i'll be using for now (that use the DOM to draw draggable windows/icons). Firstly, every user has their own directory. Within these directories are files (both normal files and 'application launchers') and other directories. My problems: - storing the positional data for icons/windows - the best way to do it. I've considered a mysql database but have decided on using ini-like files. possibly something like: [test.doc] x=50 y=50 wx=20 wy=20 wsx=400 wsy=200 would tell the sysem to draw an icon at 50px,50px and if clicked to open a window at 20px,20px with width/height of 400/200. on double click, an AJAX call is made to the server which replies with the window dimensions, and my AJAX callback then parses and opens the window. The server can recognise whether to open a window of icons or a specific app based on the file. my problem comes when I introduce drag/drop to re-position windows or icons, as I need the server to be able to recognise what 'info' ini file to open to store the data. The whole "should I do this bit in JS, this bit in PHP, etc" is what confuses me the most about this whole project. my question really - has anyone got any experience of designing Desktop-like systems (ideally web based), and what would be the best way to handle/store my data and pass the right stuff back and forwards to the server? ie, how could I make it easier for the server to know exactly what window/icon was resized/moved? Using Scriptaculous/Prototype and a few little bits i've made myself to draw the window/icon elements. any thoughts/ideas on a better structure+interface between client+server welcome. Cheers Mark

to slightly disagree with adamhhh, i think the sites downfall is the spacing. sometimes you have lots, sometimes not at all. nice images, nice colours, etc - but with a bit more attention to detail in terms of sorting out the vast amount of whitespace and tidying up your nav a little bit, it could really begin to stand out. cheers

it's a template by styleshout. And two different sites don't need to have the same PHP/MySQL behind it so my wild stab in the dark is that busi ALSO did the PHP/MySQL, but for his own needs

i've personally used dynamic feeds myself on a couple of sites. I'm not aware (yet) of any issues of doing so,but all i do know is that it's a good way to let a user completely customise their feed and both the ones i've set up work very well with my RSS program, . I guess with a nice bit of caching thrown in it'd work better i'm sure you've got the idea how to put the feed together, but this tutorial helped me some time back in terms of getting it right, sending the correct headers, etc. http://www.tiffanybbrown.com/2005/12/22/dynamic-rss-feeds-using-php-mysql-and-apache

why? what happened? what errors? what file did you try? please be more specific with your posts - and not just this one.

DeathStar, can you post a test account username/password. Will make things a million times easier for those not that fussed about registering...

no worries. it's just you don't often find a "step by step" guide for work on a real-life site without it sounding all too stuck-up or technical, but yeah i liked that one - i've lifted several ideas from it already with regards to something i'm working on right now.

lol nah you're ok for now. when Chris mentioned double posting, it was pre-empting that you may go off to the Beta Test forum and post the same topic as this one. Hence he mentioned "for future reference". critique would generally involve people looking at the site and thinking "wow, that looks good" or "damn, i'm gonna yaff up my guts if i see that page again" and outlining their thoughts. in this case, all there is to say is "there have been 2 or 3 other sites posted very recently that use the same template from the same people with no modifications. Check their critiques out so we dont go over the same ground." beta testing would be more concerned with trying to smash your site to pieces (ie, testing the back-end stuff, security, injection, functionality, etc not literally smashing it to pieces ) so that you can fix up security, functionality, etc. as for your current site, i'll just paste from my above example: it looks good, but same old. if you're good at designing, then do yourself a huge favour and knock up something new, or (at very least) go find a not-so-popular template. Hope that all helps Cheers Mark

with basedir restrictions, just make additions to the "domain" within your VPS. depending on the nature of your VPS (ie, assuming it's linux and if it's set up anything like mine), it'll be at /var/www/vhosts/{domainname}/conf/httpd.include. i've got a setup quite similar, only i actually run my sites all off one framework installation. eg: /var/www/vhosts/framework/ <- contains my framework. i chose not to install framework into root as i didnt like the idea of giving full server access to php scripts. /var/www/vhosts/site1/conf/httpd.include <- open_basedir changed to include framework dir /var/www/vhosts/site1/httpdocs/ <- my first site which uses framework /var/www/vhosts/site2/conf/httpd.include <- open_basedir changed to include framework dir /var/www/vhosts/site2/httpdocs/ <- my second site which uses framework etc whether that a) is the best way or b) answers your question properly, i dont know. all I know personally is that if i make changes to my framework in terms of improvements or additions, they're immediately accessible to all the sites that use it. once my framework is fully up and rocking and i'm happy with it, then maybe i'll start to seperate things a little bit....

Hello all! So .... you've finished your site and you need critique. Or you just feel like helping out or having a dig at someone's efforts. Well - this IS the place, but please be aware of the following: For those after critique: If you used a template, and you have not provided the relevent credits to the template creator as required, DO NOT POST YOUR SITE FOR CRITIQUE HERE. We do not condone blatant theft of other people's hard work. If it's not your own site you want critique on, DON'T EVEN GO THERE! The Website Critique board is for getting help, suggestions and feedback for your site - not a place to plug for new site members, as this makes your topic nothing more than spam. If you want people to test out member-only features, provide a test account username/password. Do not encourage people to join up. The general forum guidelines do apply here still... before you ask for a critique, please view your site at different normal resolutions and with at least two browsers. You may be amazed to learn that not everyone has the same choices as you think are the best. For critics: "it's great", "wow", "nice job" or even "it's rubbish" with nothing to back it up is NOT a critique, but most probably a quest to increase one's post count. As these type of posts offer no help to the site owner and no help to those reading, they will more than likely be removed. If you like a site, say why. If you dont like it, say why. it's helpful to identify what browser(s) and resolution(s) you used to view the site. Many times, a comment is incomprehensible to the OP who may be stuck using wizzbrowser 27.0 at a screen resolution of 4000x4000 If you need to find out more info that is not offering your own thoughts, help, suggestions, etc (such as "wow, how did you do that? where did you get that from?" - a PM to the member in question is all that's required, and will keep the topic - well - on topic. Besides, many questions that are asked that fall under this category can be answered by one of the items in the Resources Sticky Cheers!

Ladies and Gents I came across an article today for those who struggle with designing/redesigning a website (often me, as design one of my weaker/lazier areas), which I've found pretty interesting and has given me a few ideas towards my own approach. http://www.digital-web.com/articles/redesigning_the_expressionengine_site/ Many seasoned PHP users will have heard of CodeIgniter (a framework) or possibly ExpressionEngine (a CMS built by the same company) which are both open source. Recently the whole "network" went under a total lick of paint and the results are quite nice. The article I've linked to goes through pretty much the whole design process - from taking the brief through to completion - and definitely a good read. (PS, this is NOT a plug and i have NOTHING to do with anything regarding the site) Enjoy Cheers Mark

I would request that you re-read point 2 and the forum guidelines, so that we dont HAVE to clean up. I do understand there's a fine line between asking for help/spam when posting for critique or beta testing, but blatantly pitching for new members, irrespective of the awful one and two word "critiques" is not on.

"Excuse me, Mr Perv. Can you tell me why you've been sitting outside the salon all day drooling at us? ... No you can't have my frigging telephone number..." haha

... such as? ...

this topic is was treading on very thin ice for a few reasons. personally, if i'm after critique, i'm well pissed if i get responses such as "great" or "well done" with no additional help or offer of improvements, as that is (or should be) the purpose of posting here. else one may think you're just advertising and no better than those that clog up the forum with spam links. Two things: 1, to those that feel that 1 or 2 word "critiques" is OK, forget it. It really doesnt help anyone apart from your own postcount, and hence they sort of look oh-so-tempting to delete anyway. (edit which i've done) 2, evilgenius, you're either after critique or spamming for new members. If it's former, post a test account username/password for people to play with. if it's the latter, quit it - this isn't the place. please refer to the forum guidelines.

yeah. from past experience, it's extremely rare to need to do a totally clean install, whatever the circumstances, although sometimes it's the easiest option so the recovery console - would that be more for "saving" data, or repairing? considering that i'd be repairing a Home version with a Pro CD and wishing to (ideally) keep both licences intact. I've never personally had to use the recovery console before and, as I'll prob be without a net connection (and hence no Google to get additional help) the simpler it is the better. Neal - thanks for the details. Failing all of the above, that might just be a bit handy. In Microsofts defence, I've actually spoken to them on support before and they're (at least in the UK) nothing short of fantastic. Cheers all so far.

Hi all. A friend of mine has a computer running XP Home, which came pre-installed. He got it from his sister who does not have the disks that came with the computer. The licence key is stuck to the computer. Just before the login prompt, his computer reboots, regardless of whether trying to run in safe mode or not. (ie, exhaused all the startup options). Notably, the computer threw a wobbly after trying to do a Windows Update, and even removing the updates now have no effect. I have a PC with a FULL version of Windows XP Professional which I bought seperately about 18 months back. I'm looking at switching to Linux. My questions: 1, does anyone have any ideas of what maybe wrong, and how you can fix a computer that has no original disks that cant even get into Windows in safe mode. 2, can I use my XP Pro disks to repair his computer without falling short of activation issues? 3, If I'm going over to Linux and therefore wont have a need for my Windows XP, does anyone know how easy it is to get set up on another comp (ie, transfer the licence)? 4, I'm off on my travels to visit him tomorrow to try and fix the issue(s). I'm thinking (from Google) that it maybe a virus. I'm taking along my copy of Windows XP Pro. I would normally consider making a floppy boot disk, only my comp doesnt have a floppy drive, just a CD R/W. I can't take an internet connection for granted, so anything else to make sure it's not a wasted journey? For any help on any of the above i'd be very grateful. Cheers Mark

the colours definitely a change for the better. try shrinking the mouse image to about 75% of what it is right now, as it just strikes me as a touch too big.

got a test account username/password, or is it just a plug to get more members/publicity?

there's a bunch of nasty ones in the last topic: http://www.phpfreaks.com/forums/index.php/topic,109166.0.html

*holds head in embarrasment* I should have known. One of my sites uses it for the logo... oh well.

what is it with this template and not feeling the need to credit the original author?! http://www.phpfreaks.com/forums/index.php/topic,124045.msg514926.html#msg514926 http://www.styleshout.com/templates/preview/Refresh/index.html

new one definitely seems less "forced" in terms of looking/trying to look good, but i dont like the position of your nav. it just kinda unbalances things a lot and on a 1024x768 res, goes off the edge of the page.

Nameless, I'm going to agree with you on most points. However (yeah there's always a however) 1, Overloading is supported by php4, albeit with a little extra with the overload function. CakePHP does PHP5 simulation very well for PHP4, within reason. 2, 'var' (rather than specifically stating public/private/protected, etc) still works on PHP5. 3, PHP5 is much better with OOP, but PLEASE dont just write off php4 as an "entry point" to OOP. remember, like it or not, most are still on v4. I'd prefer to be the chap writing a nice big project without the comebacks along the lines of what version I wrote it in. 4, MVC is over hyped for a particular reason, not to mention it helps prevent you churning out lots of spaghetti shit, by enforcing certain practices. However, I personally use the whole MVC thing very loosely - in that I practice seperation between DB/Logic/Presentation, but break lots of the "rules". Either way, don't ignore the ideas behind MVC, even if the pattern itself doesnt seem useful to you personally. cheers Mark

i generally get additional fonts from here: http://www.dafont.com/ as for getting a rundown of the nicest/top 50, i think it's a personal taste and very dependent on how it's used - so everyone's top 50 will be vastly different. personally I like Century Gothic for professional stuff, and "typewriter" style fonts for more quirkier news sites.