BlocksIt.js – jQuery Plugin for Dynamic Grid Layout like Pinterest

October 23 2013

Let me introduce you the jQuery plugin that you’ll might use on the next project when the client will ask for a Dynamic Grid Layout similar to Pinterest.
I give you the BlockIt.js. It’s an easy-to-implement and light-weight jQuery Plugin for dynamic and responsive pinterest-like layout.

First, include the jquery min library then the blocksit java script in the head tag of the html:

Then call the main function .BlocksIt() :

$(document).ready(function() {
   $('#container').BlocksIt({
      numOfCol: 5,
      offsetX: 8,
      offsetY: 8
   });
});

The following image describes what of the parameters in the main function stand for:

The following javasript code allows the resizing the browser and changing the number of coulms depenging the size of the screen:

var currentWidth = 1100;
    $(window).resize(function() {
        var winWidth = $(window).width();
        var conWidth;
        if(winWidth < 660) {
            conWidth = 440;
            col = 2
        } else if(winWidth < 880) {
            conWidth = 660;
            col = 3
        } else if(winWidth < 1100) {
            conWidth = 880;
            col = 4;
        } else {
            conWidth = 1100;
            col = 5;
        }
         
        if(conWidth != currentWidth) {
            currentWidth = conWidth;
            $('#container').width(conWidth);
            $('#container').BlocksIt({
                numOfCol: col,
                offsetX: 8,
                offsetY: 8
            });
        }
    });

And the following code is an example of how to implement the plugin.

<div id=”container”>
    <div class=”grid”>
        <div class=”imgholder”>
            <img src=”/images/img1.jpg” />
        </div>
        <strong>Sunset Lake</strong>
        <p>A peaceful sunset view…</p>
        <div class=”meta”>by j osborn</div>
    </div>     
    <div class=”grid”>
        <div class=”imgholder”>
            <img src=”/images/img2.jpg” />
        </div>
        <strong>Herringfleet Mill</strong>
        <p>Just a herringfleet mill…</p>
        <div class=”meta”>by Ian Flindt</div>
    </div>
    .
    .
    .     
    <div class=”grid”>
        <div class=”imgholder”>
            <img src=”/images/img3.jpg” />
        </div>
        <strong>Sundays Sunset</strong>
        <p>Beach view sunset…</p>
        <div class=”meta”>by Robert Strachan</div>
    </div>     
</div>

For this totorial I've uploaded the demo and the zip of the source files, use the following links:

Creating Switch view option using jQuery and CSS

December 7 2010

Creating Switch view option using jQuery and CSS

The web user today wants the sites to be more interactive and that interaction to be done on faster and more user-friendly level. Now I’m going to show you a few-step tutorial that will help you to increase the interaction on your site.

You can download » Creating switch view option using jquery and css « full demo files packed in zip file!

Lets start!

1st Step: Creating the wrapper

Down below you can see the HTML and CSS for the whole wrapper and its consist of unordered list with list items and their css attributes will be manipulated via jQuery to get the different view.

HTML

ul.thumb_view li{ width: 250px; } =“color: #777;”>/*–Switch the width
to accommodate for the three column layout–*/>
ul.thumb_view li h2 { display: inline; }
ul.thumb_view li p{ display: none; }
ul.thumb_view li .content_block a img { margin: 0 0 10px; }

For the image link that will present the switch for the view we use a technique called CSS sprites.

HTML

<a href=“#” class=“switch_thumb”>Switch Display</a>

CSS

a.switch_thumb {
width: 122px;
height: 26px;
line-height: 26px;
padding: 0;
margin: 10px 0;
display: block;
background: url(switch.gif) no-repeat;
outline: none;
text-indent: -9999px;
}
a.swap { background-position: left bottom; }

 

a:hover.switch_thumb {
filter:alpha(opacity=75);
opacity:.75;
-ms-filter: “progid:DXImageTransform.Microsoft.Alpha(Opacity=75)”;
}

And finaly the jQuery code that makes the magic touch of this example. Remember that you have to include the main library between the tags of the html document. You can download the latest version from here.

jQuery

 

<script type=“text/javascript”>
$(document).ready(function(){     $(“a.switch_thumb”).toggle(function(){
$(this).addClass(“swap”);
$(“ul.display”).fadeOut(“fast”, function() {
$(this).fadeIn(“fast”).addClass(“thumb_view”);
});
}, function () {
$(this).removeClass(“swap”);
$(“ul.display”).fadeOut(“fast”, function() {
$(this).fadeIn(“fast”).removeClass(“thumb_view”);
});
});});
</script>

I hope that you’ll find a perfect situation to use this example.

You can download » Creating switch view option using jquery and css « full demo files packed in zip file!

UPDATE

Beacause of the comment of Cyber Carl, I’ve created some new (reverse) version of this example first to load the grid and then to switch to list view; you can download it » Creating switch view option using jquery and css(reverse) «

Web Design – The Basic Concepts

September 21 2010

First of all I want to say Hi and Welcome to our Web Design Blog. This is our first blog post and as a introduction a few words about the basics of the web design. So comments are more than welcomed! Let’s start!

The elements that are using for web and print design are the same. The big difference between these two type of designs are the different rules that are implementing for each kind of design. Some print designs can not be implemented for web.

Fonts and Typography

We must be careful when we want to use some font when its talking about web. There is a elis Fonts are the way your text looks on a Web page.

And most Web pages have large amounts of text. When you’re thinking of design, you need to think about how the text looks on a micro-level (the font glyphs, what font family, etc.) as well as the macro-level (positioning blocks of text and adjusting the size and shape of the text).

This is the list of font-family that can be used for web:

How to Use Color

If you can notice form the image the most successful companies on the web are using the same pallete of colors for their logos and also for theis websites. Color is everywhere. It’s how we dress up our world and how we see things. Color has meaning beyond just “red” or “blue” and color is an important design element.

Graphics and Images

Graphics are the fun part of most Web pages. As the saying goes “a picture is worth 1,000 words” and that’s also true in Web design.

Web Layout Basics

When people think of Web design often what they mean is the layout. Layout is the organization of elements on a Web page. First you need to start with basic design principles. Once you understand them, you can move through how to place elements on your Web page. These links and resources will take you through the steps to learn good Web layout design.

Tackling Web Navigation

Navigation is how your customers get around from one page to another on a Web site. Navigation provides movement and gives your customers the chance to find other elements of your site. You need to make sure that the structure of your Web site (the information architecture) makes sense so that your customers aren’t forced to simply use search.

Accessibility and Usability

Accessibility and usability are often seen as a detriment to Web design, but a good designer focuses on making their site useful to as many people as possible. The links below take you through the basics of making an accessible site without compromising the design.

Web Design Software

Most Web designers prefer to work in WYSIWYG or “What You See Is What You Get” editors because they provide a visual interface to the design. But finding the best Web design software is more than just WYSIWYG or not. Plus there are other tools you will need to build Web pages beyond just the Web editor.

For Windows and MAC the most popular WYSIWYG ediotr is Dreamweaver, but it’s not free.

There are WYSIWYG editors for other operating systems such as Linux to, one of them is Nvu. It’s comletly free. For Linux the Nvu verrion is called KompoZer open-source.

I want to share this post with you readers because I think it’s very useful and some information are taken from About.com some are written by me from my personal experience with the web design.