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izwar
10-09-2006, 10:19 AM
what is ajax i keep hearing about it, is it some new programming language?
KelliShaver
10-09-2006, 11:07 AM
No, there's nothing new about it at all. The technology has been around for years, it jsut never had a buzzword to go with it.

Basically, in a nutshell, it's using javascript to send/receive information to and from the server and display it to the user without reloading the webpage.
agua
10-09-2006, 05:13 PM
Ah - so is it like the old DHTML? (I haven't had time to look at it fully)
bbolte
10-10-2006, 07:06 AM
not really dhtml, but that can be an aspect of it. AJAX stands for Asynchronus JavaScript and XML. it can do numerous things, but it's primarily situated around doing XML/Http requests, which basically means that one can do server calls client side without sending the page back to the server.
bbolte
10-10-2006, 07:12 AM
and actually, if you notice the quick reply and edit features of this forum are using it (or it at least behaves like it)...
agua
10-10-2006, 05:30 PM
OK thanks for enlightening me :)

So (thinking out loud) in theory you could have the content of a whole site on one page... how would/does that effect SEO?

I suppose if you use ajax for non content items - such as login boxes (like Google I believe) then you should be OK.

I'm going to look into this more when I get time.
bbolte
10-10-2006, 07:04 PM
how would/does that effect SEO?
depending on what you're doing, most likely it's not good for SEO as it's all JS driven.
Todd W
10-16-2006, 12:07 AM
AJAX is pretty nifty.

My only usage so far is for filling in txt fields after a user has typed some data. I believe the new VB uses this when searcing by someones username.
bbolte
10-16-2006, 06:49 AM
the main thing that i've used if for is form validation, enabling/disable fields as the users goes along and not enabling the submit button until certain fields validate.
Todd W
10-16-2006, 11:02 AM
the main thing that i've used if for is form validation, enabling/disable fields as the users goes along and not enabling the submit button until certain fields validate.

That's a great idea i'll have to research it more.
KelliShaver
10-16-2006, 03:41 PM
Ajax is nice for form validation, agreed.

Probably the nicest use of ajax I've seen in a while is in Mephisto's (http://www.mephistoblog.com) admin section. It's used for marking things saved, deleted, etc. It's quite nice. There's a link to the demo, and admin section for said demo on their site if you want to check it out.

I use ajax on my site (http://www.kellishaver.com) for the photo/image galleries.