Downloadable Web 2.0 and AJAX Widgets
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Friday, February 03, 2006
It seems as though every other day a new web 2.0 or AJAX widget comes to the attention of del.icio.us or Google.
Many user interface elements lend themselves to being "ajaxified". Calendars, image galleries, contact forms and auto-complete search functions are currently very popular. The problem is how to find working and downloadable examples. This post is an attempt to provide a list of the current best of the best web 2.0 and AJAX widgets that can be downloaded and integrated into your website.
I've been looking at AJAX widgets for about six months now through my own site
mHub so these are ones 've downloaded and installed so I've made sure they are understandable by the average designer or developer.
Before you use the following widgets, it would be a good idea to read the following articles. These articles will guide you on what to do and what not to do with AJAX. Have fun. : )
Jeffrey Veen posts: Designing for the subtlety of Ajax
Increasing the Strength of Ajax
Alex Bosworth posts Ajax Mistakes
AJAX: Image Galleries
Zen Photo
One of the nicest and most complete image gallery with AJAX functions. Features include uploading, comments, AJAX-powered edit-while-you-browse, and a theme engine.
AJAX Image Gallery Example - Alpha Release
Both of these are extreme alpha developer releases. These two examples are really mash-ups of existing code to show what is possible.
AJAX Calendars
Monket Calendar
An Ajax enabled online calendar. Drag and drop events to change dates, drag the start/end of an event to create multi-day events, create and edit events without refreshing the page, all with an iCal style interface.The current release works in all major browsers (Firefox, Opera, Safari, and Internet Explorer). IE support still has a few bugs, namely the previous/next month links not working, and the need to click on a multi-day event before you can resize it.
AJAX Contact Forms
Dustin's Ajax Contact Form
At this point this is probably the most used AJAX contact form on the web. I first found it right after he first made one for himself and announced it but had no download or documentation. Now he has a nice page devoted to his easy to use AJAX contact form with a download and documentation.
AJAX and PHP Form Processing
This is a nice tutorial, with example file that shows you how to make a php contact form with some easy to understand AJAX effects from Scriptaculous.
The Zapatec AJAX Forms
Very nicely executed forms with a stripped down free download. These forms, "perform validation, provide feedback, and display error messages that enrich the user's experience while reducing the communications with the server behind the scenes." The paid versions have some amazing functionality.
Ajax Keyword Suggest
Ajax Keyword Suggest Demo
Want to add Keyword Suggest functionality into your site without installing new software? No Problem. Simply Login to ajaxed.com and create and customize your own Keyword Suggest List. All you have to do is copy and paste a small piece of code into your html page and you'll have the feature running instantly.
Ajax Suggest box for HTML Forms
Tutorial explaining how to use Ajax (Asynchronous Javascript and XML) to create a drop-down 'suggest' box for form fields which updates as you type by querying the server in the background. Similar to the 'Google Suggest' application. Full tutorial, code snippets and further reources.
AJAX Login Systems
Creating a secure login system using XMLHttpRequest
This is an example of a login system that does not require page refreshes, but is still very secure.
AJAX Slideshows
AJAX Slideshow
It resizes, it transitions, it fades in and out and it's not flash! The new AJAX slideshow on the homepage of my site comes to you courtesy of Scott Upton at Uptonic.
AJAX Surveys
Asynchronous Polling
This example shows how you can use AJAX to do server-side polling without to update page data without a page refresh.
Tabbed AJAX Websites
Make an AJAX Website in Less than 10 Minutes
I've been toying around with AJAX apps and XMLHttpRequest but have wanted to put up a site that loads all of its content asynchronously. If you're like me and you learn best from working with examples you're only 10 minutes away from your first AJAX website.
Ajax Project - Tabbed Page Interface
There are quite a few Javascript implementations of tabbed interfaces out there on the web. How much better, though, to be able to change from pagetab to pagetab without a page refresh? Here's an example of a tabbed interface using Ajax to load the new pages.
[Technorati tags:
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Comments on this post
Tom on 02/03 at 09:49 AM
What is the actual download/documentation location for the Ajax slideshow?? It would be nice to see an easy-to-use Ajax version of the captcha used on this form.
Thank you, Tom
max on 02/03 at 08:54 PM
Hi Tom,
Thanks for the comment. I’ve just updated my post AJAX Slideshow with a download link for the slideshow. There is no documentation however, the set-up is fairly simple. AJAX captcha would be great. Do you have a resouces?
Thanks, Max
Kashif Aziz on 02/04 at 12:12 PM
Nice post Max. I am trying to keep track of everything AJAX these days 
Harry Maugans on 05/28 at 09:52 PM
The only problem with developing a content site around Ajax is SEO is very difficult. Without a proper href, it’s hard to get a search engine to follow the link.
luxbot on 10/16 at 09:34 PM
Thank you for this list! Great reference and help! Max we are big fans of you. Your work is great so please keep it up!
LB/Always in a state of BETA
ranjith on 11/13 at 03:54 AM
its really good
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Renu on 12/10 at 08:06 PM
I added cool AJAX capabilities to my site (http://www.doojo.com) in less than a day. Thanks for the information.
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Good agreegation!
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