Utah Graphic Artists Forum

Read boolean HTML attributes with jQuery

After much testing, I have concluded that in order to use jQuery with boolean attributes (and have it work in the big four browsers), the following markup must be used: checked=”checked”.

While browsers except any of the following…

checked
checked=""
checked="true"
checked="1"
checked="checked"

…only the last option works with jQuery in all browsers.

• wade
• 1 response
•  Code

Display 12, read/write 24 TimePicker jQuery plugin

Jason Huck’s jQuery TimePicker plugin didn’t work for me as-is since it reads and writes in 12-hour format. While most people (strangely) prefer 12 hour format for interacting with, database time fields are 24 hour. I could have converted the format with scripting on the back-end but decided I would prefer to have the picker display 12-hour but read/write 24-hour. So, I took Jason’s great design and rewrote it to suite my needs.

Other changes I made were adding a colon between the hour and the minute select lists, adding a space between the minute and the am/pm list, and changed the hours and minutes arrays such that the hours no longer have leading zeros and the minutes are every five instead of every fifteen.

I have intergrated tomsalfield (issue 3) and jasonalanharris’ (issue 5) changes as well.

My version of the script can be found in the issue tracker on the Google Code project for the plugin. Here’s a screenshot of it in use next to a date field:

• wade
• 0 responses
•  Code

40% off PHP titles through Wiley Publishing

Spreading a little Christmas cheer, Wiley Publishing has offered our group 40% on the following PHP titles. Please use promo code PHPH1. Offer valid from December 15th, 2009-January 31st, 2010. read more »

• wade
• 1 response
•  Announcements

Methods for Mockups: A Geek’s Guide to Design

For our November meeting, Velda Harper Christensen will present on fundamental concepts that won’t replace your designer, but will help bridge the gap between logic and aesthetics. Velda is a designer, blogger, mother, geek, and full-time student. As usually, after hours party to follow!

We are also running a tech book drive to assist those who are just starting to learn web programming! You and I both know you’re not using those HTML books anymore! bring them in and let somebody else benefit from something collecting dust on your shelf! Bring in what you can, HTML, JavaScript, etc, I promise it’ll go to good use.

• mindjuju
• 2 responses
•  Announcements, Presentations

Sams Teach Yourself PHP, MySQL, and Apache by Julie Melonie

As you can guess from the title, this book is a primer geared towards beginning AMP developers. I’ve probably read half a dozen books like this over the last year, and this is one of the best I’ve seen.

Melonie is the Technical Director at i2i Interactive in Los Altos, Callifornia, and has written 8 books on web development topics, mostly centered around PHP and MySQL. This book assumes no previous knowledge of PHP or MySQL. The only real requirement is a working knowledge of HTML. Melonie explains the material in a clear, non-intimidating fashion which makes it truly accessible to anyone. She does a good job of explaining concepts that are often difficult for new programmers (such as objects), and gives plenty of examples to illustrate.

One thing that’s missing from a lot of other introductory books is the Apache piece. I like that this book dedicates some time to Apache besides just the usual cursory overview of how to install it. Melonie explains what you need to know about the Apache configuration file, and covers some useful topics like implementing virtual hosting and setting up a secure web server.

Final word: I can definitely recommend this book as a good starter for anyone wanting to get their feet wet in AMP development. It could probably even serve as a refresher for more experienced developers, or a reference for anyone.

• brawlins
• 0 responses
•  Reviews

Post to group through Google Wave

I have created a Google Group for us so that you may “wave” to everyone in the group via Google Wave. Unfortunately, we didn’t get a pretty URL or email address because they were already used and Google has a lame rule that they can only be used once, even if the previous instance has been deleted (which was by me, which makes it even more lame).

Visit the Google Group home page for more information. Join the group and then add the address “utahphp@googlegroups.com” to your Google Contacts list. You can then add the group address to new waves and everyone will have access to it.

Note that Wave will bark that that user does not have a valid Wave account when you try to add it. Ignore that and simply strike the return key and the address will be added to your contact list.

• wade
• 0 responses
•  Announcements

High Availability Figlet applications using Goto

For our October meeting, we’ll be having an open forum on general questions and a small presentation on High Availability Figlet applications using Goto.

• wade
• 0 responses
•  Presentations

CSS live coding demonstration

For our September meeting, our founder, Wade Shearer will present on front-end web development, specifically focusing on markup, styles, and foundation architectural structures. The presentation will be a live coding demonstration developing a global site template using HTML and Cascading Style Sheets. He will take an audience-submitted design and produce production-ready code and site assets as far as time and questions will allow. Attendees interested in submitting a design should come to the meeting prepared with a digital copy of artwork for a website or web application (layered Photoshop file preferably). The design used will be selected randomly from those in attendance. A basic understanding of web technology and coding is recommended.

Wade Shearer is a professional graphic artist, interaction designer, and software engineer. He is a graduate of Brigham Young University’s Visual Arts College and an active member of local communities advocating and supporting the arts, computing, and internet technologies. He is the founder and administrator of the Utah PHP Users Group, the Utah Apple Users Group, and the Utah Graphic Artists Forum. You can also find him publishing in the online journals North Temple and Utah Preppers.

Wade is an avid outdoorsman, gardner, and cyclist. He is currently employed by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day saints where he works as a senior interaction designer and user advocate for custom web application development. Previous employment includes Senior Manager of Interactive Marketing and Operations at Omniture, Creative Director at Doba, and Interaction Designer at 3Form. He also consults for clients, offering services such as identity development, brand management, art direction, campaign and collateral design, environmental graphics, and interior design.

• mindjuju
• 0 responses
•  Presentations

Effective caching with PHP + Memcache

For our August meeting, Justin Carmony presented on effective caching with PHP and memcache. Scaling your Database or other resources your website needs can be complicated. Why not reduce their load instead? That is where memcached can help. Developed by the creators of LiveJournal, memcached is a light weight application that does one thing extremely well: caching data in memory and retrieving it very fast.

Carmony has worked in web development professionally for the last five years. With emphasis on PHP, .NET, and Web Services, he has worked on projects ranging from simple websites to complex communications between thousands of remote systems. He currently is working as an independent contractor & private consultant. If you have any questions, comments, or curiosities you can contact him (justin AT justincarmony DOT com) or read about his latest endeavors at his blog.

View slides from the presentation

• wade
• 0 responses
•  Presentations

A Web Developer’s Guide to System Security

For our July meeting, Josh Fenio will present on A Web Developer’s Guide to System Security. The presentation will track the day to day aspects of a security-minded systems administrator. Topics that will be covered include intrusion prevention, intrusion detection, and recovery, along with relevant tools to accomplish each mission.

Josh Fenio is a software engineer in Northern Nevada, known as “stderr” or “dataw0lf” on the IRCs.

• mindjuju
• 0 responses
•  Announcements, Reviews