8 Free AJAX Scripts Every Developer Should Know About
Almost everyone is using some AJAX, or at least they should be. With thousands of ready-to-use scripts available, you can spend hours searching for the kind of script you need. We've done the dirty work for you here and present our list of the top 8 scripts. All of the scripts listed below are based on the prototype library or are javascript agnostic.
AJAX IM
Browser-based instant messaging for use with communities, social networking or even real-time support. Familiar features include buddy icons, add/remove buddies, right-click context menus and chat room creation. While no longer frequently updated, the project still has an active support forum.
AJAX Inline Text Edit
Though limited to span tags, a simple onclick functionality allows inline editing of text. Sections can be as small or as large as you want. Once the text field is blurred, the script updates your database and returns the new text to the display.
AJAX Progress Bar
A percentage or progress bar that dynamically updates by increments. It comes with several standard classes but is also fully customizable. Create your own progress bar or even one that changes color at pre-set intervals.
Relay - AJAX File Manager
A quick, clean directory manager. Offers drag-and-drop, multiple users, thumbnail views, folder structure and in general just a slick improvement over most standard file managers. Check out the live demo or interact with the community on the project wiki.
AJAX Suckerfish Hover Lightbox
Sometimes if you mash a lot of good ideas together, you get something that works really well. This is one of those times. Suckerfish menus with image hover and Lightbox on click. Now that there's gallery descriptions and even multiple galleries in a menu item, there's lots of possibilities.
AJAX Tabbed Content
A useful tabbed content script that lets you pull data from outside the page including an IFRAME mode. In addition to nested tabs, you can also set other div areas to open/close as a user switches tabs. A scroller and slideshow mode are also available.
AJAX Bubble Tooltips
Enhance your tooltips with an image that matches your site's theme. Set them to display anywhere on your page or only in the sections you desire. Supports multiple lines and links within tooltips and degrades invisibly for browsers with no DOM or javascript support.
AJAX Clickheat
Create a visual heatmap of any html page and track what interests users on your site. Requires the GD image library with PNG support to generate the maps. The script is well optimized and complete transparent to your visitors. The scripts ability to group pages by keyword helps you track metrics for different areas of your site.
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Excuse me while I vent a bit:
Why is using the biggest security threat on the Internet today so important?
I can see that sometimes AJAX provides functionality that you can get nowhere else, but most of the time it should be used only as a last resort.
Sure, I was awed the first time I noticed that Google maps got information without me initiating an apparent HTTP transaction. But then soon it became as ho-hum as the wonderful BLINK tag. Sometimes it can be about as annoying also.
To begin with, you are sneaking third parties information onto your visitors computers. As they realize what is happening, many will resent you doing this.
While it is convenient, is the convenience really worth the threat? It looks to me like most of the convenience goes to developers who don't want to take the time to find a safe way to do the same thing. Developers should be thinking about the users/visitors instead of looking for prettier eye-candy.
Finally, what about people such as myself who surf the Internet without any dynamic scripting capabilities. I will only turn it on once I have decided the site is to be trusted and gives me what I need. With NoScript becoming more and more popular, I no longer feel alone. But how many first time visitors are you turning off and how much of your message are they not getting?
So a site run by AJAX has little or no respect for it's visitors that care about privacy and security, or have a non-standard browser. Like Flash, it has its place on some sites. But when I run into a site that uses Flash or Javascript as the only method of navigation, I usually leave and don't come back.
If there is one thing all developers should be doing has little to do with AJAX ... they should stop and think. At least if they respect their clients.
Thank you for giving me this chance to opine.
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