> Some people say using frames/flash/ajax destroys the functionality of > the back/forward buttons in the browser. (which I basically agree with) > The way this site works, it also damages the effectiveness of the > back/forward buttons. Most user clicks update the current page, so if > you want to go back, you have to go back through several iterations of > the same page you are on. Using post also gives scary messages to the > user when you go back to a page that was posted. This detracts from > using back/forward also. The three options I though of were to
this can all be avoid with sound design and development. imho, i think some of the simplest methods are always overlooked. i think a site that i have been impressed with their use of ajax has been netflix.com. they use it for additional features that makes the site that more enjoyable. meaning that if you have javascript turned off, then the site functions with no problems. > 1) switch from post to get > This still makes using back/forward cumbersome. this would be my first choice. the difference between and post and a get is just that: post means you are doing crud on something. get means are you retrieving/requesting information. if you are not performing crud then you should us a get call in your forms. > 2) build my own back/forward links > Dumb, dumb, dumb i agree here with that. > 3) use ajax to update the current page, but use regular links for site > navigation. > I think option 3 is what I want to do. The pages I want to use ajax on > either have simple forms to update information or links that show > additional information on the same page. it sounds like you have already made your decision. however, if i could perhaps offer a suggestion here. I'm not sure why you need to do asynchronous for posting information all the time. the one thing that i would like to point out is that ajax was conceived for retrieving information; thus allowing the site to be more responsive and faster in the end-users experience. i wonder if this aspect might help you in your decision making. > I think I can keep my existing backend and simply add an option to not > display headers/navigation/footers (Just the stuff that is updating.) > Then I would have some javascript that would rewrite the links/forms to > pull/update the content ajax style. this is kinda what I am thinking. improve the user experience via ajax...complementing the stuff that is standard design. > Now, that probably isn't asking much, and I could probably do it myself. > (with respect to doing it myself, I don't know much javascript. just > tinkering now and again. It might take a while.) I don't want to learn > all the browser inconsistancies with respect to javascript. So I think I > want to use a small toolkit. Having briefly looked over some of the ajax > stuff mentioned previously on this list, mootools looks potential. i would probably suggest easing into the javascript realm and add things where you see fit. <general> i'm not sure why there is a big push in the development world to make things so overly complicated.</general> -- thebigdog _______________________________________________ UPHPU mailing list [email protected] http://uphpu.org/mailman/listinfo/uphpu IRC: #uphpu on irc.freenode.net
