We’re going to make a simple panel slider using the JQuery toggle function. Here’s how the code will look:

Code Explanation

Let’s break this down to show how simple it is using JQuery

$(document).ready(function() {

Our standard JQuery statement declaring that when the document is fully loaded we can execute the following

$(“.trigger”).click(function(){

Here we are stating that our page element with the class ‘trigger’ is going to do something when it’s clicked on

$(“.panel”).slideToggle(“slow”);

Here we see the details of our instructions for when the ‘trigger’ is clicked. Essentially telling the div with the class name ‘panel’ to ’slide – Toggle’ open. The ‘Toggle’ part means that it will open when clicked then close when clicked again.

The HTML

The HTML is relatively simple. First, though, we need a little styling for our elements

Followed by our HTML which is entirely up to you how you want it to look. For our demo purposes we’re using just the standard Lorem Ipsum text jargon:

Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipisicing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis aute irure dolor in reprehenderit in voluptate velit esse cillum dolore eu fugiat nulla pariatur. Excepteur sint occaecat cupidatat non proident, sunt in culpa qui officia deserunt mollit anim id est laborum.
Section 1.10.32 of de Finibus Bonorum et Malorum, written by Cicero in 45 BC


The standard Lorem Ipsum passage, used since the 1500s

Live Demo

To get a live view of the sliding/toggling panel Click Here

$(document).ready(function(){
  $("#link1").click(function() {
  $('#text').load('latin.txt');
});
  $("#link2").click(function() {
  $('#text').load('latin2.txt');
});
  $("link3").click(function() {
  $('text').load('latin3.txt');
  });
});

Ok, what we’ve created here is a series of functions that specify the id’s of 3 hyperlinks (shown below) that, when clicked, will ‘load’ the external pages referenced (latin.txt, latin2.txt and latin3.txt) into the same div element with the id of ‘text’. Here’s the HTML:

This text will be replaced when you click the hyperlinks below

Link One
Link Two
Link Three

Explaining The Code

JQuery is pretty easy to learn once you get the hang of how the functions flow. Here’s some tidbits about this simple AJAX call:

$(document).ready(function(){

JQuery uses the $(document).ready(function() { to ensure that the document is fully loaded and ready to provide you with the ability to execute your code

$(“#link1″).click(function(){

We are stating here that the hyperlink with the #id of link1 should perform a function when it is clicked. So, basically, if you read it like a sentence it states “when someone clicks on the #link1 do the following”.

$(‘#text’).load(‘latin.txt’);

The function we want to perform is to insert content into a specific div element in our page. The first part, $(‘#text’) identifies the element by using it’s id tag #text, the id of our target div. The second part, .load(‘latin.txt’);, tells what content to load into that location. So, reading it like a sentence it says: “find the div with the id of ‘text’ and load this file into that location”.

I’ve repeated the process three times in order to identify the 3 different links. The hyperlinks can be placed anywhere on your page and point to your target div. The content you summon can be a wide variety of formats including txt, html, images, etc..

For our external files they reside in my public folder and contain the standard Lorem Ipsum text for this demo. Here is the ‘live’ example of how this would look when arriving at your page.

Link One | Link Two | Link Three

Clicking on the links will summon the different content without having to refresh the page. This saves on load time and at the same time allows you to designate a specific area for as much content as you’d like to cycle through instead of having a new page for each one.

Live Demo

To see this work Click Here

Methods

There’s 3 basic ways you can create a rollover effect:

Flash animation

Javascript

CSS

For our purposes we’re going to skip the first two and use strictly CSS and a tad bit of HTML to make it all work. We’re going to be using a sprite in order to accomplish this. If you don’t know what a sprite is it’s basically a single image with all of your different colored effects self contained. The fact we use a single image means that there’s no additional preloading that has to be done which, when using multiple images, can cause a flicker or pause in the initial display of the mouseover event. Here’s an example of a sprite image which consists of two identical designs but with different colored backgrounds:

The goal here is to use this image in a rollover event for a hyperlink.

CSS

Here’s the CSS Code we’ll be working with:

#imageLink
{
  display: block;
  width: 200px;
  height: 40px;
  background: url("compare-sprite.jpg") no-repeat 0 0;

}

#imageLink:hover
{
  background-position: 0 -40px;
}

#imageLink span
{
  display: none;
}

First, keep in mind that we are creating a hyperlink. Therefore we are going to utilize this code when we create our link by assigning the id to the hyperlink like you would a class. We’re going to explain the code just a bit.

• the height and width represent the single button, not the entire image. So, if the entire image is 80px tall and divided perfectly between the two versions then we set our height at 40px.
• On the :hover we want the background position to move down 40px. Therefore we set the position to -40px to make the effect. Same image, just showing a different portion of it.
• The use of the span tag is to complete our hyperlink since the background image isn’t really creating a link. Therefore, something tangible has to be there. But, the trick is, we set the display to none which makes it invisible to the viewer and all they see is the image

The HTML

Here’s the HTML:

Some text here

You can have as many rollovers on one page or throughout your site as you wish using this code. But, you have to copy the code and assign each one its own unique ID. And, of course, their own images if applicable.

Project Specifications

• Extensive use of CSS for restructuring the page layouts
• Javascript for controlling certain windows for displaying media
• A search engine integrated into the site utilizing MySQL/PHP
• CSS dropdown navigation
• Multiple header images

Project Screenshots

Below are some screenshots of the before and after for your viewing.

Pavia Systems Home Page Before Redesign

Pavia Systems Home Page After Redesign

Pavia Systems Product Page Before Redesign

Pavia Systems Product Page After Redesign

The T

/* For PDFs */
a[href $= '.pdf']{
    padding-left:20px;
    background: transparent url(pdf.gif) no-repeat scroll left top;
}

Let’s take a look at this to see how it works:

• The a[href $='.pdf'] aspect is stating that all ‘a href’ tags where the suffix is .pdf to attach the following formatting to it
• The padding-left: 20px; allows for the room needed to place the icon (you can pad left or right depending on where you want the icon displayed)
• The background: tag outlines the parameters for how and where and location of the icon using standard CSS

You’ll notice the $ before the =, this is specifying that we want what is at the end of the href.  There are more tags like this to specify different locations.

• $=   End of String
• ^=   Beginning of String
• ~=  String contains the word and is separated from other words by spaces.
• *=   String contains the word. (doesn’t have to be separated by spaces)

So, armed with this you can make one modification to your CSS file and affect many elements of your pages. Another example of this would be to add an icon to all ‘mailto’ links. Like this:

/* For Emails */
a[href ^= 'mailto']{
    padding-left:20px;
    background: transparent url(mail.gif) no-repeat scroll left top;
}

Here, the ^ symbol means to search for the ‘mailto’ at the beginning of the href string. Then, attach the icon to all the links that qualify only.

Let’s say you want to add an icon to all links that are scheduled to open in a new window:

/* For external links */
a[target = '_blank']{
    padding-left:20px;
    background: transparent url(external.gif) no-repeat scroll left top;
}

Notice that instead of ‘href’ it states ‘target’ which is the method used for determining if a hyperlink is going to open in a new window or in the same window, etc. This CSS command applies just to those hyperlinks that state target=”_blank”.

You can also specify a certain class in the event that you have different styles set up for your various hyperlinks. This method lets you do the following:

/* For popups */
a[class ~= 'popup']{
    padding-left:20px;
    background: transparent url(popup.gif) no-repeat scroll left top;
}

Even if you don’t create different classes for your hyperlinks but would like to have icons next to some of them you can simply assign the class tag to the hyperlink and it will merely add the icon without changing any of the other formatting.

For best results we recommend you use very small icons of 16 x 16 or less. Otherwise they could cause messy looking text lines if your hyperlinks are located within paragraphs.

1. Use the id=”nav” in the <ul> tag
2. Create a <div> wrapper to contain the <ul> and assign the id=”nav’ to the div

Here’s the HTML:

Home
Photos
Videos
Add a Restaurant
Delete a Restaurant
Logout

Notice it’s just a standard HTML unordered list. Nothing fancy nor is it hard to reproduce. The magic occurs in the CSS formatting to give it the look and feel you want.

Here’s the CSS:

Let’s explain this simple code so you understand how these particular selectors change the appearance of the typical list:

1. First the navigation bar is created with #nav, margins and background color
2. Next we have to set the li to list-style: none; to get rid of the bullets
3. At the same time we use display:inline; to force the list items to go horizontal
4. Some padding it also added in order to move the boundaries of the nav bar to equal proportions above and below the text
5. The font family, size, weight, color and style is chosen
6. We add the ‘hover’ effect to the actual hyperlink by having a color change
7. Now we add the ‘hover’ effect to the entire padded link
8. Last we add the ‘hover’ effect to the
9. element itself which produces the downward pointer image

The final output will look like this:

• Horizontal Navlist Demo

Because it’s a pet related site we decided to make the style fun and colorful. The project is done entirely in CSS with potential use for some Javascript/Ajax and some PHP to parse the scheduling forms data.

We will also be optimizing the site for search engine friendliness with the goal being first page results on Google for searches related to pet sitting in their local cities and surrounding areas.

Below is a full screenshot of the home page mockup.

Little Pawz Pet Sitting Custom Design by SimcoMedia

ShopperPress Wordpress Plugin

View The Demo

ShopperPress Demo

The entire layout is done in CSS and the use of Jquery and lightbox effects. The color scheme and graphics were the original concept provided by the client including the logo. SimcoMedia now provides the hosting.

Screenshots

Here are some screenshots of the site.

Painterman custom web design by SimcoMedia

Painterman custom web design by SimcoMedia

Painterman custom web design by SimcoMedia