Dissertation Writing

I've been spending the last couple of weeks writing various parts of my final-year dissertation. Report wrigint is second only to exams in terms of things I hate. It seems that no matter how well the project has been developed and how much it meets the requirements, there's still that final hurdle.

CSS Tutor is a web-based application designed to aid the learning and teaching of CSS, or basically any computer language. Students work through various content and tasks which are created by the tutor. 

Nothing too complicated, but try explaining that in 50 pages — its going to take quite a lot of screen shots!

• How to finish your dissertation without agony — Jim Gibbon.com
  

Dynamic Drive

Dynamic Drive has, for over ten years now, been the place to go for quick an easy DHTML [wiki] scripts and, more recently, CSS code.

The website includes all sorts of scripts from menus & navigation systems to clocks & calendars and the more basic simpler browser window effects and roll-overs. For the less technically minded creating DHTML scripts, working with DOM [wiki] and JavaScript [wiki] can be a bit bewildering.

Scripts are rated according to difficulty and are fully documented with all the related source code and documentation. This includes a live preview of each script with step by step instructions for adding scripts to your webpages.

Dynamic Drive is a fantastic resource for any budding web developer. Scripts are continually updated to ensure compatibility with latest browsers. It should be noted however that some of the scripts may not be the best in terms of design - smaller, faster scripts could be possible.

None the less Dynamic Drive continues to be the “#1 place on the net to obtain free, original DHTML & JavaScripts to enhance your web site!“

HTML iFrames

An iFrame is a HTML element which allows a HTML document to be embedded within another. It can be useful for including external content in your webpage without having it coded in your page.

It’s worth noting that iFrames are distinct from standard Frames which are actually a special kind of HTML page consisting of several external documents. Unlike a standard frame, an iFrame is embedded within the page, just like an image…

As the page is scrolled the iFrame will move up and down along with the rest of the page content. However, the contents of the iFrame is completely independent from the surrounding page and will not in itself be effected by it. iFrames are very easy to construct….


<iframe src="page.html" width="200px" height="300px">
<p>This text will appear if the user’s browser doesn’t support the use of iFrames.</p>
</iframe>

Basically all you need are the contained document (src), width and height. Of course the standard HTML attributes: id, class, title, style can be used to modify it. There are also some specific attributes to the iFrame tag:

• scrolling - This may be set to any of three setting: “on” – scrollbars appear, “off” – scrollbars never appear, and “auto” – the default scrollbars appear as they are needed.
• marginwidth, marginheight – This can be used to set the distance between the frame border and the frame’s contents.

Sorted.

Colour Lovers

COLOURlovers.com (American: COLORlovers.com) is a fantastic resources for web developers, or for anyone who loves colour. Choosing the right colour scheme is a hugely important factor in web design. Getting the right scheme can be the difference between an okay site and a fantastic one.

I’ve been using COLOURLovers for quite some time now, it’s usuallty my first stop in the design research process.

If you already know the colour you want to use, simply enter it in the search box and the site will return a complete set of palettes and patterns. If you haven’t a clue search the site for keywords “christmas”, “seaside”, or even “something“! If I were to extend this sites colour scheme here are some of the results for #3399FF.

Once you have found the perfect colour, palette, or pattern, use the links to download the pallet as HTML, ZIP, Photoshopm, GIMP or others. You can also scroll down to get quick access to the HEX or RGB values for that scheme.

Enjoy!