AJAX is one of those things that every webmaster needs to know about. In today’s e-commerce world, every move toward making a site easier to navigate and interact with is a big plus, and using AJAX is one method of doing just that.

AJAX stands for Asynchronous JavaScript and XML–in english, that just means that xml and javascript are being used on a page to load content asynchronously with the rest of the page. In other words, a webpage that has an ajax component can fully load and remain static even while the ajax component is still processing data between the user and the server.

The beauty of AJAX is that it allows a user to do things without requiring the entire page to reload. This makes it a powerful way of improving the speed and functionality of your site. But, perhaps more importantly, it makes your site seem more professional. As end-users, we are so used to seeing interactivity cause page refreshes that whenever we interact with a page and it doesn’t refresh, that by itself can make it feel professional.

And yet, strangely enough, AJAX is not some complicated new technology. It’s just a new way of processing information, and its power, though perhaps more psychological than anything else (saving page loads isn’t that big a deal, when you stop and think about it) is sufficient to make it a staple of all the new web 2.0 technologies.

Writing AJAX into your site is not difficult if you’re already familiar with javascript. In most cases, a good webmaster will be able to integrate AJAX into a site without too much technical trouble. (A good tutorial on writing AJAX is available here.) The hard part is not writing the code; it’s recognizing which parts of your site should integrate AJAX.

Try to find an interactive part of your site that would not lose functionality by making it just a small box on your main page. For some, this might be a link to subscribe to your newsletter; although if you are marketing a product, you should keep in mind that a ’subscription confirmed’ page is not fluff, but is an important and viable marketing stategy. Another idea might be to integrate a sales presentation on your site if you have a product to sell, or a virtual home tour, if you are a realtor. Although these functions could also be done in flash, AJAX is preferable because of standards. Nearly everyone has javascript available. Also, flash loads much more slowly, since the entire program has to be uploaded before it can even begin.

As you can see, AJAX is a powerful tool that webmasters can use to increase the speed, functionality, and professionalism of their site. I hope that these ideas will convince you to start working on implemenmting AJAX on your own site. Oh, and if any of you care to share, please post any examples of AJAX you’ve used on your website in the comments. (c;

Posted by Eric Herboso.
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Wordpress 2.3.1 is the most recent version of one of the most popular blogging platforms on the web.  Known for its ease of use, Wordpress is designed to be accessible to bloggers of all backgrounds.  Setting it up on a server is designed to be as simple as possible, and maintaining your blog involves little to no knowledge of servers or really any web technology.  It is not just an entry level system, however, as it provides support for plugins that make it a powerful application.  Out of the box, however, it has limited functionality in many ways.  For the purpose of this review I will take into account the core functionality of Wordpress, but if plugins do exist to solve issues, I will make note.

The core of Wordpress is the “Write” pane, where you create your posts and pages, simple permanent pages linked from your site that are edited the same way as posts.  The editor includes 2 modes, a rich text editor and an html editor.  The rich text editor has all the normal formatting options, and includes a spellcheck, but it also has some serious glitches.  I, like many, write and edit my posts on my desktop machine and paste them into my Wordpress blog.  Unfortunately this leads to some confusion, as Wordpress attempts to correctly format the text to match its source.  This process has been greatly improved over the three years I’ve been using the product, but it still occasionally runs into problems.

Issues with the rich editor may lead you to using the HTML editor, but this comes with its own problems.  Wordpress only offers limited html support, and specifically limits an extremely useful tag for formatting text, the forced line break.  While there are ways around this issue, for example line breaking and placing only a space then breaking again, this can be very troublesome when working with page templates that format text poorly.  Still, this is the only major difficulty I uncovered working with the HTML editor, which is overall an enjoyable experience.

By far Wordpress’ greatest strength is the widely customizable options it provides, making them easy to use.  Trackbacks are simple to implement, categories are easily managed and permalinks can be formatted virtually any way the user desires.  While the included templates are boring, there is a massive database online offering near limitless options for customizing your blog.  If you know how to edit templates, this gives you even more power.

There are, unfortunately, a few areas where Wordpress lacks features, but there are numerous plugins that help.  There is no built in system for tracking traffic and keeping statistics on your site.  Customization for search engine optimization is lackluster, but again, numerous plugins can be used to solve this problem.  Both of these would benefit the functionality of Wordpress if implemented into the core system.

One area where Wordpress shines is the inclusion of a “widget manager” directly in the software.  This allows you to not only run small applications on the sidebars of your site, but also organize the location of the applications, making providing extra functionality enjoyable and attractive.  Different options include syndicating and RSS feed or providing videos from youtube, among many others.  Again this requires use of plugins, but this system was previously a plugin unto itself, meaning Wordpress is being updated to function as its users desire.

Overall, Wordpress is the most powerful basic blogging tool I have ever encountered.  It is easily customizable, and so has a large community of developers making content for it.  There is little that you can’t do with it, making it a great application to transition to from simple web based systems like livejournal or blogger.  You will run into problems, especially if you are using a large number of plugins that conflict with each other, but overall it is a stable program.  The success of Wordpress is also a testament to its greatness, and as such I can say I recommend the program to anyone who might be interested in blogging, from the uninitiated to computer whizzes, everyone can get a great deal out of using Wordpress.

Posted by Ian Logsdon.
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