I’m sure you’ve seen some of the sweetness of JQuery and most likely you’ve used Prototype for dynamic web applications like Lightview, Prototip, etc. However, let’s say we want to use the two together, on the same page. Problemo!

The Problem

JQuery uses a “$” as a shortcut for “jQuery” and Prototype uses “$” as well. We can’t have JQuery and Prototype using the same “$” namespace.

The Fix

Thankfully JQuery has a neat little function called jQuery.noConflict( ) which you basically just need to stick at the top of your JQuery file and replace the “$” alias with “jQuery” for each function. Example:

jQuery.noConflict();
// Do something with jQuery
jQuery("div p").hide();
// Do something with another library's $()
$("content").style.display = 'none';

Of course, there are other ways of solving this issue with jQuery.noConflict( ), but the method above was the most simple and straightforward for me.

NOTE: JQuery doesn’t get along with MooTools and YUI very well either, luckily this can also be solved with the jQuery.noConflict( ) trick.

Let me know if you have any questions or run across any other issues while using JQuery and Prototype. I have a feeling the more popular JQuery becomes, the more and more people will run into this issue.

Leet (1337) is an alphabet of ASCII characters used by ‘elite’ internet users. Purposes for using Leet can vary, but I find it particularly useful for creating passwords. Here’s an example:

Leet sentence: 1337 |$ \/3|2′/ |_|$3|o5|_|1 |o50|2 [|2347||\|9 |o4$$\/\/0|2|)$
Plain English: Leet is very useful for creating passwords

Basically, Leet is just another way to write words using numbers and symbols. I know, incredibly geeky, but it can be a lot of fun! There are several different ways to write Leet, so you kind of have to settle on a standard format for your own use, or you may find yourself using 20 different versions of “M“. For a complete chart, click here.

Like I said, Leet can be used for just about anything, but I like to create passwords using Leet. Reason for doing so, is simply more security. Symbols and characters add a whole new level of security to passwords. It’s not for everyone, but I find 1337 intriguing.

Have you heard of 1337? Do you use it for anything?

It’s not impossible, but not exactly something you can whip out in a few minutes (Well, not me anyway). Wouldn’t it be nice if you could just make a form using some sort of drag and drop online application, and tell it you want certain fields to be required and have the data go to a specific email address and…and…

Well, say hello to Wufoo. Wufoo basically makes all of this stuff incredibly easy. Chris over at CSS Tricks, recently did a screencast giving a rundown of how Wufoo works and how to start using it. The video is about 28 minutes but worth the watch.

I have built several forms from scratch, used wordpress plugins, etc but will now be using Wufoo for ALL of my form creation. It simply cuts the time it takes to build a form in half and offers plenty of flexibility. If I need something truly custom I may resort to building it from scratch, but for everything else: Wufoo.

No, I am not getting paid by Wufoo to post this article (I Wish), I am simply in love with their application. Take a look for yourself, play with it. Tell me your thoughts. How do you create forms?

Finding a good Content Management System (CMS) is pretty easy. Paul Anthony has a wonderful post including 13 free CMS solutions with reviews. However, finding a good CMS that fits nice and snug with a preexisting web template is another story.

In the past I had no problem finding the perfect CMS, plugging in a template and going from there, but doing things the other way around was next to impossible. It meant you had to dig through the CMS source code and somehow sync your design up with the original framework. Not fun.

Welcome to CushyCMS – The totally simple and easy to use CMS system that plugs right into your already designed web template. That’s right. Simply add a website to your CushyCMS account, provide some FTP info, add a couple classes to your HTML source code and your good to go. Kick back and relax, no more calls in the middle of the night for that critical text change.

Do you use a CMS? If so, what has worked for you?

There are tons of add-ons out there, some good, some bad, and some that you can’t live without. The following list of add-ons are some I’ve been using for quite a while. I wouldn’t recommend installing too many, just because it can slow down your browser a bit. But don’t let that scare you away from adding a few to your arsenal. Hopefully I have included a few that you haven’t seen before. Enjoy!

Web Developer

1. Web Developer

Web Developer is a must have for any web developer. It adds a toolbar to the browser with various web developer menus including:

• Disable – Options for disabling cache, javascript, java, page colors, popup blockers, etc.
• Cookies – Cookie management.
• CSS – Management and viewing options for stylesheets.
• Forms – Form Management.
• Information – About the size of the web page, meta tags, links, etc.
• Outline – Images, Div’s, Tables, Links, etc.
• Resize – Window and resolution.
• Tools – For validating CSS, Forms, HTML, Links, Feeds, etc.
• View Source – And edit in browser window.

2. Fire FTP

Fire FTP is a sweet FTP client that allows you to transfer files quickly and efficiently, FireFTP also includes more advanced features such as: directory comparison, syncing directories while navigating, SSL encryption, search/filtering, integrity checks, remote editing, drag & drop, and file hashing.

3. ColorZilla

ColorZilla allows you to get a color reading from any point in your browser. Use the eye dropper to copy any color code and paste it into another program or CSS file for an exact color match. You can also zoom in on the page you are viewing and measure distances between any two points on the page. The built-in palette browser gives you the option to choose colors from a pre-defined color set and save your most often used colors in custom palettes.

4. ScreenGrab

ScreenGrab takes a snapshot of a web page and makes an image out of it. Nothing to fancy but very helpful when doing online tutorials or sending web clips to friends.

Tabbed Browsing

5. Tab Mix Plus

Tab Mix Plus enhances Firefox’s tab browsing capabilities. It includes such features as duplicating tabs, controlling tab focus, tab clicking options, undo closed tabs and windows, etc. It also includes a full-featured session manager with crash recovery that can save and restore combinations of opened tabs and windows.

6. NewTabURL

NewTabURL does one simple thing – allows you to open a new tab with any URL you specify. Perfect for those that just need the bare necessities.

7. ColorfulTabs

ColorfulTabs is pretty self explanatory – basically it allows you to have different colored tabs. This is especially helpful when you have several tabs open at once and need to label specific tabs for organization.

Google

8. GooglePreview

GooglePreview is one of my absolute favorites. It inserts preview images (thumbnails) of web sites and Amazon products into the Google and Yahoo search result pages, so you don’t have to be constantly clicking the back button in your browser when you are disappointed with the result of a clicked link.

Downloading

9. Download Statusbar

Download Statusbar packs in more useful features than the standard download window. The fully customizable interface auto-hides when not in use, allowing full control without interruption.

10. UnPlug

UnPlug scans web pages and tells you where media players are getting their data from, and displays it as a link: in most cases, you can then follow the simple download link to save the media file. Unlike many other extensions, UnPlug scans the page, and if it doesn’t know where the data comes from it can guess – correctly most of the time. UnPlug works for lots of sites including youtube.com, ifilm.com, current.tv, revver.com, peekvid.com, video.google.com, mobuzztv.com, etc.

Security

11. NoScript

NoScript provides extra protection for Firefox: allowing JavaScript, Java, Flash and other plugins to be executed only by trusted web sites of your choice (e.g. your online bank), and provides powerful Anti-XSS protection.

Weather

12. Forecastfox

Forecastfox puts a totally customizable status bar in your browser with real-time weather forecasts from AccuWeather.com.