CMS + CSS + JQuery + Ajax = ?
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- matski
I'm a bit of a newbie to developing, so to those developers out there - is it possible to set up a CMS system which draws info (inc images) and processes the info through CSS (which includes JQuery and Ajax) to animate some content taken from the CMS into a website?
I hope this makes sense, atleast to someone? ;)
- Stugoo0
in short yes.
- version30
it may ¢0$† you... though this is wrong
"processes the info through CSS (which includes JQuery and Ajax)"
- matski0
What is wrong with "processes the info through CSS (which includes JQuery and Ajax)" ?
- version30
css styles markup. it "processes" nothing
- BattleAxe0
what kind of animation are we talking bout here
- matski0
Does Ajax not "process" the info from the CMS?
- version30
id like to hear you tell us what ajax is
- BattleAxe0
have a look here
http://malsup.com/jquery/cycle/- Ironically, the twitter chatter effect is more akin to what I'm looking for!matski
- matski0
I don't fully know, as I say I'm a newbie to developing.
Does xml in Ajax not take info from the CMS and input it into the CSS to be formulated?
- ukit0
Time to learn how the internets works kid.
A CMS is just an application that lets you manage content. It could potentially be created to work with any kind of language or technology. It allows you to store your content in a database and manage it in an online UI independent of your layout/ design. It would then dynamically construct the site for the end user using PHP or some other means.
Mentioning CSS and JQuery is a bit odd since every website uses CSS. CSS is just a file linked in the head of the document which tells it how to look. It's completely independent from the workings of the CMS which constructs the actual, unstyled pages. JQuery to add animations or whatever is equally trivial to add to any webpage regardless of the way in which it was produced, since it is only doing it's thing on the client side.
As far as AJAX, that is a bit more difficult, since that would directly interface with the CMS code. However, I've successfully integrated AJAX into both Wordpress and Expression Engine, and I'm not even a developer, so it can't be that hard to figure out;)
- matski0
Thanks ukit.
So how do you get scrolling/rotating promo banners (images) from the CMS to animate (fade in and out one after the other) into a site?
- ukit0
It depends if those banners are all linked in the original page or not. The difference between JQuery and AJAX is something a lot of people get confused with since they are often used together.
JQuery (like fading in an image) is an animation using Javascript that happens on the front end. It's initiated by adding JQuery Javascript in a SCRIPT tag on the page, or in a linked .js file. So if you hard coded all of your promo banners into the original page created by the CMS - i.e., img1, img2, img3, you could use something like the Cycle plugin linked above to fade them entirely on the client side with JQuery.
AJAX on the other hand is the process of pulling new info not in the original page from the database, or from a file, without reloading the page (using something called XML HTTP Request). So if you wanted to dynamically pull your banners into the page one by one without hard coding them, you would need AJAX for that. AJAX does not have anything to do with the actual animation.
- a clear answer with no cynicism or irony or anger...... ahhh refreshing!linearch
- matski0
Ok, so Ajax calls in the banners one by one. What calls the .js file with the JQuery in to make the banners animate in the front end?
- ukit0
The .js file would simply be linked in your doc (or included as SCRIPT tag in the code itself). Sections of JQuery code can either be set to execute when the document is loaded, or when certain page events happen.
- matski0
Thanks again. I understand how JQuery works and is pulled in as I know actionscript.
I'm just trying to understand the step-by-step process of how a client (when they upload a batch of banners) into the CMS it gets from the CMS to the site and animates?
- BattleAxe0
word press plug ins do this for you
best to set up a Word Press (CMS) and look for a theme with banner rotation plug in
that way the client or the content manger just logs in goes to the module (plug in) section then just uploads the banner from an existing file on there local machine
the Word Press backed will take care of the rest
Starting with word press you can dive into customizing the theme's look and feel (CSS)