A few applications I’ve been developing recently have either had things from script.aculo.us applied for fun, to add effects our client would like, or they’ve been designed with Ajax and visual effects from the start.
A very beta application I’m working on is Multitap.net. Since it’s my project, and I don’t have clients to answer to, I’ve done whatever the hell I want with it. I had these things in mind when creating it:
- I’d use Ajax to allow users to post comments on things, to cut down on page loads. The site features screenshots from videogames as the main content, so I didn’t want to be loading a lot of images all the time.
- I’d use some of the transitional effects from script.aculo.us to make it obvious when new things have been added, and when hidden things appear. Visual queues can be very helpful, especially when posting comments.
- Being able to hide things such as settings and edit panes would keep the pages simple on the surface, and keep the focus on the content.
I have a group of friends who have been testing it and making suggestions. I found they liked the visual effects, basically for the reasons I described just there, but also because it makes the site seem quite unique.
One of them mentioned that it would be nice to have a login box on all pages, instead of having to leave a page if you forgot to login. Sticking with my idea of keeping pages simple, I used a popup login box like Odeo uses. They liked this, and said “more Web 2.0!” as a little joke on the side… :)
