Myspace 2.0ize: Beta 2 Developement layout
Recently, Ive been doing my best to expand my knowledge of AJAX to create this complex online application. One of the most complex parts in developing this online application will definitly be the making the application able to calculate the distance between the profile area border and the dropped widget. I believe just for the sake of time, the first release will just be drop in area and placed via numbers by the users (with relative positioning). The application will work as follows.
Widgets:
the widgets will all be contained in an XML file. each widget will contain standard styling and standard content, which can then be customized by the user. Eventually, I plan to add a wizard to the process to make editing the content of complex widgets (flickr, calender, rss feeds) that much easier. Since the widgets are based on an XML system, users can send in custom widgets and they will be uploaded to the custom widget area for other users to enjoy.
Code Generation:
The code generation doesnt seem to complex to me. just time very time consuming. When users add a widget to the profile area, they will be asked to give the widget a name. This name will then act as a class name for the styles applied to the division. When the users are done creating the profile, the variables will be used to generate the two separate parts necessary for myspace. The styling by class name will be added to the about me section with the neccessary myspace hack codes. The content divs will be added to the about me section with the neccessary myspace hack codes.
Saving:
Saving will occur with the use of PHP and the variables sent from the myspace 2.0ize page, to create a XML file. The contents and styling will be stored by the widget name as shown below. When users come back the load option will read all the widgets from the XML file and put them in the content area as stated in the XML file. as of right now, i suppose this will involve users either pasting their xml into a text area or uploading the file to the server. For the servers sake I hope for the first.
<?xml version=”1.0″ encoding=”iso-8859-1″?><data>
<widgets>
<textbox style=”background-color:#CCCCCC; height:200px; width:200px; overflow:hidden; border:1px #000000 solid; font-size:200%;” content=”<p>Hello World!</p><img xsrc=’picture.jpg’ alt=’picture’ style=’float:right;’ />”/>
</widgets>
</data>
As always, I would appreciate any help I can get, especially people with knowledge of AJAX, PHP, or webdesign.