guides
i tend to figure things out on my own as much as i can, but sometimes it sure is nice to find helpful information on the internet. with that in mind, i’ve written up a few things i’ve figured out and think might be of use to other people. if you have something you would like to contribute, use the link below and i’ll review it and probably put it up here.
last updated guides
- jul 20thajax suggest
- using ajax to suggest possible values when a user starts typing in a field can help get more consistent values as well as saving time for users. i wanted to add an ajax suggest feature to track7 and couldn’t find all the information i needed in one place, so i decided to write up what i learned. this guide walks through the steps of creating an ajax suggest feature that supports selection with keyboard or mouse from scratch using javascript, css, php, and mysql. usernames are used as an example since that’s the first place track7 used ajax suggest. this guide will make more sense to those with intermediate knowledge of javascript and basic knowledge of ajax and css.
- may 12thgetting started with ajax
- ajax can be a great way to enhance the user experience of a website. this guide discusses the basics of ajax and introduces useful javascript functions and properties involved in implementing ajax features from scratch. basic dom-based javascript knowledge is assumed. php is used for the discussion of the server-side support.
- jan 2008 (updated jan 31st)linux server setup: file, ftp, web, and tv
- this guide is the steps i went through when i upgraded my “server” hecubus to fedora 12. hecubus serves as a file server (samba and nfs), ftp server (pure-ftp), web server (apache, mysql, and php), and personal video recorder (mythtv). setup for fedora 12 as well as these other packages are detailed. mythtv setup includes setting up hauppage hvr 2250 and pvr 150 cards with schedulesdirect guide information.
- apr 2007show times in users’ local time zones
- this guide explains a method of displaying times in the correct time zone for each logged-in user. it requires that you already have a user login system in place, with some way of storing settings for each user. if you’re not sure how to get that far, there’s a user login system guide over at allsyntax.com that will probably help.
- apr 2006website layout evolution
- requirements and advantages of different ways to have a consistent layout throughout a whole website. details the path track7 took to get to where it is today, but using a simple two-page site as an example. covers copy / paste (html), javascript, ssi, and php methods.
- apr 2006multi-file css
- this guide shows how to break up the styles for an entire site into multiple files, and automatically reference the correct ones from each page using php. css and php knowledge is assumed.
- oct 2004functions, classes, and objects — oh my!
- this guide should be enough information to get you started using objects and classes in php, with a quick review of functions. we will be working with functions that help build an html form as an example.
- apr 2004setting up windows xp
- "letting you in and keeping everyone else out." this tutorial steps through an installation of windows xp professional the way i do it: it involves disabling a lot of annoying / unnecessary things to make your computer more secure as well as customizing a few things that microsoft didn't supply us with the ability to customize.
- aug 2002dual install windows xp and windows 98 se
- windows xp thinks it's too good for windows 98 se, but considering that some software and hardware is incompatible with xp, it can be useful to have both versions on the same computer. one way is to use an external software package and install each version on its own hard drive partition, but actually windows xp can be influenced to support dual-booting with windows 98 se through a few relatively easy steps. there are likely other ways of doing this, but i did it and this is how i got it to work.
