UPDATED 2009-02-10: Due to problems with the ‘management’ of PHPClasses.Org I’m adding the zip file for this package here:  awfdialog v1.2 zip file.

Originally posted March 23, 2008.

The first significant component I’ve written from the ground up in PHP, the awfDialog Wizard is a PHP class object that allows you to dynamically generate multi-page wizard dialogs, just like you’re already used to seeing in Windows application installers.

Why write this? Well first of all, I needed something to sink my teeth into while learning PHP and AJAX. Second, that I can find there is not another component like it available to developers, so it fills a void in the re-usable PHP software world.

I’ve added all the end-user documentation and supporting examples here to the site. You can download the awfDialog Wizard’s latest distribution from PHPClasses.Org.

If you’re looking for help using or support issues with awfDialog Wizard just leave a comment on this post until I get the support forums up and running.

Lastly, if you use this class, or find it interesting, please write a comment or review on PHPClasses, FreshMeat, or HotScripts. awfDialog debuted on PHPClasses last week with a 5-star “Notable” rating and topped out the week as the #7 most downloaded class.

Thanks.

Tags: AJAX, awfDialog, class, component, PHP, wizard

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The awfDialog class received a nomination for the PHP Innovator Award for the month of March from PHPClasses.Org. Voting goes on through the month of April, so, shamelessly, I’d like to ask for your support. The nomination text reads as follows:

Wizard is the name that is called to user interfaces that guide the user
through a series of steps that need to be performed to achieve a certain
task. This kind of user interfaces is typically found in desktop
applications.

It is possible to implement wizards in a Web site by showing a sequence of
pages with all the steps. However, multi-page wizard are not as usable as
desktop application wizards, as they make the user wait for the next page
to load.

This class provides a solution to implement Web based wizards that uses
AJAX to minimize the time it takes to load the next page. This way, Web
based wizards are practically as usable as desktop application wizards.

Tags: award, awfDialog, class, PHP, wizard

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After Wes Friend’s earlier catch on the ajax errors in IE6, I did some more testing and, wouldn’t you know it, there are more things to be fixed for the errant browser… Currently known problems between awfDialog’s rendered output and IE6:

1. Some of the elements referenced using the SetCSS method don’t appear to get their CSS styles under IE6. Most notable is the Title element. You can still get around at least some of those issues by being more explicit with your title string, meaning you can embed the raw html to fix display properties using the SetTitle() method
2. A larger problem is the clipping region of the BodyPane div. Although everything should scale dynamically based on the width property you set, it seems IE6 is going to ignore this and render roughly the right 30pixels of the BodyPane outside the div, clipping it. And it is ignoring the “overflow” CSS attribute. I’m stumped at how to deal with that, but it is a real issue if you are in Wizard mode, as it ends up hiding the Next button. Anyone know how to trick IE6 regarding div overflow and clipping regions?

Tags: awfDialog, CSS, Internet Explorer

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I’m aware the ajax.js file provided with the Gradient Builder example in awfDialog is not compatible with IE 6. Thanks to Wes Friend for notifying me. There is an updated version of that file posted to the package.

Tags: AJAX, awfDialog, cross-browser, Internet Explorer, javascript

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Shortly after submitting the awfDialog class to PHPClasses I received the following email:

This message is to let you know that your package “awfDialog Wizard” was considered notable. Congratulations!

This means that the site users interested in packages that have something special, are being notified to pay special attention to your package.

Notable packages are carefully hand picked by a site moderator. The moderator that picked your package wrote the following comment:

“Interesting solution to render Web based multi-step user interfaces using AJAX for faster page switching.”

Not a bad start for my first raw PHP project. Now comes all the feedback to tell me all the PHP best practices in application design I was ignorant of…

Tags: awfDialog

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