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Lab Eleven Blogs
Web design & Programming tutorials
Category >> Graphic Design
Posted by: twmeier
on Jan 29, 2010
 One big question that iPhone developers have about the iPad, is whether or not existing iPhone app will also work on the iPad. The answer to that question is YES. The iPad in many ways looks like a large iPhone, and in many ways it acts like one too.
The iPad can run all of Apple's iTunes App Store iPhone and iPod touchs apps. And, just like an iPhone, you can upload your existing apps, music, pictures, videos etc. to your iPad. When you run your apps in the iPad, you can choose to display them as their original iPhone size (320 x 480) or you can hit a 2x button on the screen and double the size. At 2x the original size, the app will not completely fill the screen.
Posted by: twmeier
on Aug 7, 2009
Adding a singe image to a product is easy. Adding additional images can be confusing.
To add additional images to a product, find your product in the Product list in the backend of your website.
 In the "Media" column, you will see a small icon. Click this icon. On the next page, you will be able to add more images to the product. You can also add other types of media such as a PDF. That is all there is to it.
Posted by: gbluma
on Jul 9, 2009
Joomla seems to have everything figured out — Breadcrumb support is no exception.
Recently we were writing some custom component for a client and needed to handle the breadcrumbs in a special way that Joomla couldn't manage automatically.
As a simplified example, imagine we redirect a user to a component that isn't attached to a menu. We would expect the breadcrumbs to simply output "Home" and provide a link back to the index of the site.
Posted by: twmeier
on Jun 10, 2009
Opening a link in a new window is very easy. A link in HTML looks like this: <a href="someurl.com">Link Text</a> To open the link in a new window add target="_blank": <a href="someurl.com" target="_blank">Link Text</a> If you are using a text editor to create you links, you will often times see the option to open the link in a new window.
Posted by: twmeier
on May 19, 2009
Embedding videos inside your Joomla content is easy. There are several Joomla plugins that make it a snap.
The plugin I would suggest is called the AllVideos (by JoomlaWorks), and can be downloaded for free at www.joomla.org.
Once you have installed the plugin, you will need to enable it by going to the "Plugin Manager" in the backend of your Joomla site (/administrator).
Below are some of the plugins features: 1. Dozens of video providers supported, including localized versions of YouTube and Google Video (e.g. es.youtube.com).
2. Stream your own media content, using the most popular video or audio formats for the web (flv, swf, mov, mp4, wmv, wma, mp3, 3gp, divx). You can even use high-definition videos!
3. Easily embed your media content either directly from your server or a remote server!
4. Simple controls inside the plugin's parameters page provide layout consistency on all the videos shown in your Joomla! website. Set your preferences in seconds, publish the plugin and you're ready to start streaming content!
5. Easy, descriptive syntax for media embedding - {format/provider}filename{/format/provider}. You can also use syntax like {format/provider}filename|width|height{/format/provider} (e.g. {youtube}he73js822|600|450{/youtube}) to display videos at different dimensions!
6. Skinnable! AllVideos uses CSS templates to wrap the players, we provide 2 to get you started.
Basically to use this plugin, you must first install and enable it in the backend of you Joomla website (/administrator), then you would simply insert the curly bracket text into your content. This does not need to be done in HTML, and can simply be text.
To embed an FLV file directly into your content, you would simple upload the video to the folder that the plugin has designated (by default it is images/stories/videos), and use the following text:
{flv}btodd09|500|400|true{/flv}
From this example, you will notice that you do not need to include the .flv extension. You will also notice that the width and height are determined by the 500 and 400 respectively. By adding "|true", you will can also automatically start your video. You can get more information on how to use the plugin at their website:
http://www.joomlaworks.gr/content/view/35/41/
Posted by: twmeier
on Mar 2, 2009
While working on an AJAX function this week, I found the need to parse an XML string using JavaScript and PHP. The following JavaScript was used to retrieve an XML string from a PHP file: function someJavascriptFunction() {
xmlHttp=GetXmlHttpObject();
url = "/components/com_component/ajax/ajax.php?task=someTask";
url += "&cc_number="+document.getElementById('cc_number').value;
xmlHttp.open("GET",url,true);
xmlHttp.onreadystatechange = function() {
if (xmlHttp.readyState == 4) {
xmlDoc=loadXMLString(xmlHttp.responseText);
var response = xmlDoc.getElementsByTagName("response")[0].childNodes[0].nodeValue;
document.getElementById("someID").innerHTML = response;
}
xmlHttp.send(null);
}
function GetXmlHttpObject() {
var xmlHttp=null;
try {
// Firefox, Opera 8.0+, Safari
xmlHttp=new XMLHttpRequest();
}
catch (e) {
//Internet Explorer
try {
xmlHttp=new ActiveXObject("Msxml2.XMLHTTP");
}
catch (e) {
xmlHttp=new ActiveXObject("Microsoft.XMLHTTP");
}
}
return xmlHttp;
}
As you can see from the code above, the XML field I was interested in was the "response" field. The XML string that was created and passed using xmlHttp.responseText from the PHP file looked similar to this:
<authorizationResponse>
<message>Some Message</message>
<response>Some Message</response>
....
</authorizationResponse>
Not only did I need to parse the XML from the responseText in javascript, but I also need to parse it inside the PHP function that the JavaScript function called. The XML above was retrieved from a payment gateway in the PHP function using CURL and naned $xmlString.
The only field I needed in the PHP file was the "message" field, and to retrieve it, (or any other field), I did the following in the PHP file:
$xml = new SimpleXMLElement($xmlString);
$message = $xml->authorizationResponse->message;
Don't forget you still need to echo out the entire XML string in your PHP file order to be used by your JavaScript function:
echo $xmlString;
Posted by: jstartup
on Jan 16, 2009
Shiny, glassy buttons in eleven steps. I've used Photsoshop on a PC for this tutorial, but the idea is really the same for all setups. Basically you need a solid shape with clean lines, some lighting effects, and a good-looking vector shape to lay on top of the whole thing. Shape fonts area a great source for icons, from shopping carts to stereo control icons. They can be set to any size you'd like and are easy to switch out when making a full set of buttons. 
As with any tutorial the exact numbers used are simply a suggestion, to familiarize you with the lighting techniques being used. The exact opacity percentages and the depths of your dropshadows will depend entirely on the shape, size and color of the button you create.
Posted by: jstartup
on Dec 18, 2008
All colors are the friends of their neighbors and the lovers of their opposites. ~Marc Chagall 
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