richarddavies.us

Alternate Feed2JS implementation using Google Feed API

Tue, 11 Oct 2011 11:11:08 -0800

I've used the Feed2JS service for a web site at work to convert RSS feeds into HTML to easily display feed content on web pages. Unfortunately, this service isn't very forgiving with feeds that contain invalid XML markup. In addition, the future of this service is currently in question.

Sexy Buttons

Thu, 10 Dec 2009 16:55:20 -0800

I've just launched an HTML/CSS-based framework called Sexy Buttons that makes it super easy to add stylish, skinnable buttons to your web site. This makes it possible to turn any button or link into a beautiful call-to-action button.

ColdFusion proxy for After the Deadline

Wed, 18 Nov 2009 11:10:17 -0800

I recently switched our CMS spellchecker on PortlandOnline from Google's spellchecker to After the Deadline. After the Deadline is a new breed of spellchecker---likely very different from the spellcheckers you're used to using. AtD offers contextual spell checking so it can detect words that are spelled correctly, but used incorrectly. It also has an advanced style and grammar checker and offers helpful explanations of all the detected issues.

Web Developer position at the City of Portland

Mon, 19 Oct 2009 13:27:44 -0800

My team at the City of Portland is hiring another web guru. We're looking for someone more on the front end (graphic design / HTML / simple scripting / media creation) than back end programmer. We're getting ready to overhaul our online presence and this person will play an important role in this project.

See the job posting for more details or to apply. (And don't let the "Web 0.5" feel of the job posting web site scare you away...)

ColdFusion Tip: Query columns in correct order

Fri, 17 Jul 2009 10:27:32 -0800

One quirk in Coldfusion that I've had to battle before is that columns in query objects are sorted in alphabetical order. Normally this isn't too much of an issue because you just output the columns in the desired order when you're displaying the output on a page. But there are times when you need to loop over a list of the columns and you'd like them to appear in the order defined in the SQL query or DB schema.

Run IE6, IE7, and IE8 on the same PC!

Fri, 06 Mar 2009 19:32:21 -0800

Web designers and developers rejoice---browser compatibility testing just got a whole lot easier! For years we've been complaining to Microsoft about the fact that you can't have more than one version of Internet Explorer installed on a computer at the same time. So the only way to test a web site in multiple versions of IE was to use multiple computers, virtual machines, or resort to various hacks. None of these methods was ideal and all left us wishing for a better way.

FireScope: Add HTML & CSS reference to Firebug

Tue, 27 Jan 2009 11:54:21 -0800

SitePoint has just released a Firefox add-on named FireScope. It's actually a plugin for the Firebug add-on. (Ya, I know—we've got plugins for plugins now... crazy world, isn't it?) FireScope integrates SitePoint's HTML and CSS reference web site with Firebug.

Download ZoneAlarm Pro for free

Tue, 18 Nov 2008 08:37:24 -0800

Today only CheckPoint is giving away their ZoneAlarm Pro firewall software for free.

Take the A List Apart survey for people who make websites

Wed, 30 Jul 2008 16:19:07 -0800

Please take a moment and take A List Apart's 2008 survery. This annual survery of "people who make websites" is very informative and helpful for identifying trends in our industry. And best of all, they publish the results so you can take a look at them.

10 Dropbox invites up for grabs

Mon, 28 Jul 2008 12:45:05 -0800

Following Scott Pinkston's lead, I've got 10 Dropbox invites to give away. Leave a comment if you'd like one.

Free PDF book: Firefox 3 Revealed

Thu, 19 Jun 2008 07:27:08 -0800

The much anticipated update to everyone's favorite internet browser, Firefox, was released earlier this week. Firefox 3 contains may great new features and improvements, but do you know what they are and how to take advantage of them?

If you want to learn more about the new browser, here's your chance. SitePoint is giving away a free PDF book titled Firefox 3 Revealed. [Download link]

Google Maps API for Flash

Thu, 15 May 2008 08:33:05 -0800

Google has announced that you can now use their Google Maps API inside Flash components. Previously Google Maps was only available through a JavaScript API. Judging from the demo included with the announcement, this API opens up the door to exciting new possibilities.

Official Google Maps API Blog: Introducing the Google Maps API for Flash

Free PDF book: The Photoshop Anthology

Wed, 14 May 2008 12:47:16 -0800

For a limited time, SitePoint is giving away free PDF copies of their book The PhotoShop Anthology: 101 Web Design Tips, Tricks & Techniques. [Download link]

Web standards awareness among CF developers

Tue, 13 May 2008 08:19:58 -0800

I've been a ColdFusion web developer now for almost three years. During this time, I've attended two major ColdFusion conferences: CF United in '06 and most recently cf.Objective() of this year. While thinking about the sessions that I attended at cf.Objective() an interesting observation came to me: there doesn't seem to be much talk in the CF community about "web standards." And by web standards I mean things like plain semantic HTML, CSS styling, unobtrusive JavaScript, accessibility, and microformats, etc. Prior to joining the ColdFusion community these topics were all the rage among the various web development blogs I followed. But for some reason they don't seem to get nearly as much attention among the CF bloggers and conference speakers.

ColdFusion tip: Dynamic column names in ValueList()

Thu, 03 Apr 2008 15:41:14 -0800

Today I discovered that the ValueList() function in ColdFusion only works with a static argument in the form "query.column". So you can't use this function if you need to dynamically determine the column name at runtime. Luckily there is a nice little hack to work around this problem.