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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You’ve seen the “PHP Pinup” girls dressing up the menu column of my site. Most of these come courtesy of El Roubio , a French PHP developer who’s made it his mission to spread PHP logos and related art throughout the web.

I’ve created my own new contribution to PHPinup art. Click the thumbnail for a larger image.

Tags: logo, PHP

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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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Sneak preview: I’ve started working on another new PHP-based HTML and AJAX rendering class, called awfRadial. Click the thumbnails for a bigger storyboard image of rendering concepts.

The premise is simple: display between 1 and 48 rendered “objects” in radial form around a central element, each object having user configurable HTML, CSS, and AJAX properties for complete customization. This will be generic so that it can be implemented in many ways; I’ll probably release several additional wrapper classes for some common implementations such as radial context menu, or data drill-through applications.

Having read-up some on other attempts to create browser-happy radial menus, I’m assuming this will be a fairly daunting project, as most people have moved on to Flash or Java applets to make it work. I aim to make the end result as extensible as possible, but I always take the “crawl, walk, run” approach with new projects. So the first version will likely be rendered as a flat HTML table emulating a circular layout. To do this with raw CSS positioning will have to wait for a later release. The cross-browser issues relating to DIV positioning are my pet peeve and I want to at least get proof of concept functional before banging my head against IE6.

Tags: awfRadial, class, CSS, menu, PHP

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