Some Useful Umbraco Links

http://www.neehouse.com/umbraco_cms/resources/xslt_library_functions.aspx

http://umbraco.org/blog/

http://umbraco.org/blog/2007/12/2/dec-2-resources-and-where-to-find-help
http://umbraco.org/blog/2007/12/3/dec-3-umbraco-basics-document-types
http://umbraco.org/blog/2007/12/6/dec-6-document-types-part-ii
http://umbraco.org/blog/2007/12/7/dec-7-templates-part-i—the-introduction
http://umbraco.org/blog/2007/12/12/dec-8-adding-page-information-to-templates
http://umbraco.org/blog/2007/12/13/dec-9-using-master-templates

Using AJAX With Struts and Tiles

This post explains a technique for building websites using Struts and Tiles templates, in such a way that AJAX can be integrated into the application. When the user does not support AJAX or JavaScript, the website will still function because it will fall back on the standard HTTP protocols and the standard Struts framework.

Read the rest of this entry »

Umbraco Learning Curve

I really really don’t “get” umbraco yet; it just seems so incredibly difficult to use compared to the other CMS’s (Joomla!) I’ve used.

Right now all I want to do is render a Blog Description in a “Home Page” template but I cannot figure out how to do it.  Umbraco uses a lot of XSLT which I am not too hot with – something else I need to address.

The initial learning curve for developing in Umbraco seems to be much steeper than Joomla!

Well, following some of the tutorials on the Umbraco website seems to have helped: the information is there if you need it!

Umbraco

Well I’ve decided to leave Ford to join Connect-Digital, a new media agency.  I already know most of the team as I have worked with them in the past.  I think this is gonna be a lot of fun, but a lot of hard work!

The CMS of choice is Umbraco – a .NET based open source system.  As I am a J2EE developer, I’m going to need to cross-train toot suite!

Indego Consulting

Well my first solo CMS site has now gone live.  Indego Consulting is based on the Joomla! Content Management System.  Joomla! is a PHP based open source CMS and it is an amazing tool, so easy to learn and use but with a great deal of scope for customisation.

The Indego site has some custom modules written to display RSS feeds from external websites and to highlight latest news information.

Why not check it out?

Jaguar Configurator goes live

Well, the Jaguar configurator finally went live – a couple of days ahead of schedule!  Written on a Websphere platform, it uses Struts and lots of css/javascript/ajax effects while trying hard to remain accessible.

It’s based on the same platform as the Ford Configurator, and the soon to be released Land Rover Configurator.  I think the Land Rover site is definitely the best looking…

No news yet

Well, I still haven’t got involved with Song Bird as I have been far too busy at work.
We are prototyping a new “Configurator” for Jaguar and Land Rover. It uses a lot of AJAX and DHTML on the client, and Java/Websphere on the server.

I am determined to make the site as accessible as possible however. Keyboard controls, mouse control, CSS/XHTML; unobtrusive JavaScript; AJAX can be switched off and the site works just fine.

I’ve also been experimenting with AJAX and Screen Readers, to find a way to ensure that page updates are reported correctly. I’ve been experimenting with using an IFRAME in lieu of XMLHttpRequest objects, to varying degrees of success.

Windows Eyes, JAWS, and FireVox all work well with this technique, but IBM Home Page Reader just will not respond to focus change events; and cannot be forced to switch frames programatically: the user must press a combination of keys to force the reader to switch out of the IFRAME.

I will add more detailed results of these tests here soon – they may prove useful to someone else!

Songbird

Its long been an ambition of mine (well, more like a new years resolution) to take part in an Open Source project. I’ve been writing code for a number of years now; but trying to find the spare time to get involved is difficult.

The other problem I have found is, how do you get involved? I’ve looked for advice on the web (Google) and have yet to find a good description.

The best I have found so far is this: Getting Started With Open Source Development.

Well, recently I discovered Songbird, an iTunes challenger based on the Mozilla codebase, which is at version 0.2. I am resolved to take part in some way, even if it is simply to fix a few minor bugs.

So far I have downloaded Song Bird onto my Linux (MEPIS) laptop, but installation has proved problematic: I had some difficulty getting the gstreamer libraries to install correctly. Specifically, I couldn’t get Songbird / gstreamer to play files over http. I think I’ve cracked it now: It looks like I need the gnomevfssrc package.

Well it is a learning experience after all…

So, initial advice: make sure you install all the gstreamer libraries!

If you are having trouble installin Songbird, there are plenty of tutorials available; here is one which may be useful from arsgeek.com: How to install Songbird on your Ubuntu box and then enjoy the music

Now to play for a while, then I have to try to install it from the source code!