₦airaland Forum

Oga moderator, na wa for u o

Okay, I don post for there. What's next, oh mighty one?

May 2009 bring to us all as Nigerian webmasters the following:

1) Better quality websites
2) Better business
3) Websites whose code validates
4) Better designs

and for this forum:

1) More mature conversations
2) Posts from which we can actually learn
3) Less of the trivialities (arguments, etc)

It is well with us all

As my ogbomosho friend would say pie1ct, "shame" to you

To that web dev list, I would add "work smart and not hard" cos you could work less but still do it the hard way

Good luck to us all in 2009 and beyond.

Sure, as long as you give me due credit and I trust you to do that right?

afam4eva, sure.

I believe there is XAMP and WAMP which are software programs that enable you to develop and run PHP/MySQL based app on your local machine b4 you upload to your hosting server. I stand corrected though and others are free to chime in.

Yes, hence the "MY" in "MYSQL"

It's not that much sha. SQL is the standard while MYSQL (along with others like MSSQL, etc) is proprietary. I bet www.w3schools.com and/or google have a thing or 2 to say about it

Big Star,
No offense but your english leads me to blv you hv started taking new year shack a bit prematurely (it's only 4pm ) - gibberish

davidt,
You could probably do something like this:
var sel = document.getElementById("selectTagId";
var sel2 = document.getElementById("selectTagId2";

//Then run a loop copying the elements of one to the other, like so:
sel.options[sel.selectedIndex].value = sel2.options[sel.selectedIndex].value;

//OR, you use the DOM to get the child elements of teh SELECT and then append the children of sel to the sel2 tag.

I haven't tested but hopefully you get the point. The DOM is pretty powerful

soki2ng,

Letz look at the original post, shall we? 

Even though Google Chrome is still in Beta, while IE8 is just around the corner, and Firefox 3 is taking extreme lead, which of these three is giving the most of what you wanted as a webmaster?

Note what is in bold.  If he said for common man (or avg user) that wd be another discussion

Either way, you have to always code for lowest common denominator.  You get this info either upfront by establishing a baseline or from your web logs.  MSFT recently put out a warning that everyone should stop using IE because of security leaks. Yes, MSFT said that.  I blv it is even on the forum somewhere.  Now u tell me, supposing I never used FF before but was told by MSFT to use another browser and I settled for FF and I liked it so much that when MSFT says to return to IE, I don't go back?  U c where I am going with this?

Again, always code for the lowest common denominator.  80% of the folks out there use IE so it makes sense to make sure your site(s) show up there.  Having said that, other browsers are gaining ground, I bet you the %age will only increase over time.

It is better to code for all major browsers upfront and forget it than to go back and tweak in the future. If you are like me, looking at old code once I am done is like a dog going back to his puke

methodman, release the url. it is the only way we can truly help.

dhtml

Then check your folder. if u have images in an images folder, your image link must reference the folder like this:
<img src="images/folder.gif">

weeell, not exactly. Tis best to do <img src="/images/whateverimage.giforjpg" /> as if the images are in a secondary folder and you reference using ur way, u will get broken images. Or if ur files get moved to another server, u cd get the same issues. With my way, it doesn't matter where your files reside. this also works by the way for other files as well.

Just thought I should throw that out there.

dhtml, I am happy you like it. I hope others share the same sentiment.

It's a features thing. What I would do rather is ask those here what they have and list advantages/disadvantages if they have used the other. Also, you could always also contact the web host, tell them what you want to accomplish with your sties (db, etc) and let them recommend a server for you.

u can try www.w3schools.com for a crash course in just about anything you want to learn. After you finish with that, you can then google for more in-depth tutorials.

Good luck!

Here is my rationale, albeit I stand corrected:

1)

I want to know the computer program to run, i'm interested in web development,

That right there tells me he doesn't want to do software development. That weeds out Java and languages similar to it.

2) If you check for instance alexa.com for nigerian websites based in nigeria, you will see that 99.9% of them are written (even if it is really HTML) in PHP.

3) I like to use NL as a benchmark for web dev in Nigeria and based on the posts that I have read thus far, those that have to do with websites are 99% PHP/MySQL.

4) Prior to joining NL, I didn't know a lick of PHP (I come from a JSP background) but decided to learn it, again, based on posts here on NL. Why? Because it seems PHP, being open source, is what most web dev ppl in Nigeria are into and I wanted to speak in their language, so to speak.

Based on the above, I recommended PHP to the poster. Make sense?

Lovely addition to the forum. These are the types of posts I look forward to seeing in 2009, as opposed to "chest thumping, do you know who i am?" posts.

Thanks brother.

as my friend smartsoft would say, "Cooooouuuuurrrrrttt!"

auwal, r u paid to prove things beyond a reasonable doubt? y not channel your talent into some useful tutorials here so we can all learn

Whether chrome is in beta or not is irrelevant to me. What is though is that when I code a site, that it looks good in all major browsers, chrome not being one of them for now and hence, the original intent of this post.

Cooooooouuuuuurrrrtttt!

If you are in Nigeria, you might as well go for the programming language du jour - PHP. It only makes sense.

So, by now you all must have finished chopping your Sallah ram or Xmas goat. Now that you have egested all that stuff, letz get back to business

I obtained a copy of "Elite" magazine from a friend earlier today.  I got it, I must confess, for the wedding photos.  While browsing, it occurred to me the possible website biz opportunities for my peers in Nigeria, with respect to those getting married.  Then I decided to look at the ads.  Many had yahoo.com addresses and some didn't even have any form of online contact.  Thatz when it hit me - what would happen if I were to send an email to all the generic email addresses from that and other magazines?  If I were to send 20 such emails, wouldn't I get at least 1 or 2 responses, regardless of whether it is +ve or -ve?  This is how my brain works.

I also noticed that of all companies that advertised in the magazine, 6 actually had websites.  Una trust me now - I immediately got on my PC and "visited" each of the URLs.  I put visited in quotes because NONE of the URLs worked.  Now, I am going to put more faith in my fellow Nigerians and believe that they didn't just state non-existent websites for "effects" purposes.  I will give them benefit of doubt that the sites actually worked at some point.  Alas! I can't.  I mean, I don't see how any reputable company would knowingly put out a website that doesn't work in an ad, assuming those ads were submitted within a week or 2 or the magazine going to print.  Regardless, yet another opportunity to get some biz.

So there it is folks.  That is how my mind works.  I strongly believe that if I were to send out 20 emails asking for their web biz, I would get at least 2 responses back (by the way, it is an established fact in the states that form letters get a 10% response rate, hence my saying "2" ).  I am not there and don't feel like dealing with time differences, etc at this point to want to contact potential clients from my present location hence my willingness to share this with you all.

Have you tried this before and it didn't work? Don't give up!  Keep on keeping on.  You never know when your own opportunity will hit.

Good luck to us all in 2009 and beyond!

Here is a quick and dirty way of doing it. I don't think you have to do any reloading, based on your own requirements:

1) say you allow the user to fill a max of 5 text fields. You give them an ID like so: text_1, text_2, text_3, text_4, text_5.

2) You set display to none for all 5. Let's also assume your FORM name is "textForm"

3) You have your dropdown like so: <select id="makeSelection">. I set an "onChange" function in the SELECT tag like so" onChange="showTextFieds(form.subject.options[textForm.makeSelection.selectedIndex].value])". Letz say I select "3".

4) In your javascript section, you define "showTextFields" like so:

function showTextFields(num) {
var numToPrint = num;
var i;

for (i = 0; i <= numToPrint; i++) {
document.getElementById("text_" + numToPrint).style.display = "block";
}
}

And that should do it.

NOTE:
I have not tested this out and should you get any errors, you should hopefully be able to fix them. But I have laid forth the general ideas.

Good luck!

The area to the left where you have 2 links, one of which says, "Six Online Income Streams", why the funky layout there? What were you shooting for? Things are just jumping around so much that it I am left distracted a lot.

Just wondering

davidt,

Yours, IMHO, is perhaps the best response to this thus far. I never thought of it that way

webdezzi,

It really is something unofficial per se. If I had known, I would have collected them all year. I just see a quote I like and I notify Seun to write it down. Hopefully he is. Regardless, I will start collecting such quotes next year and I guess will organize a "quote of the month/year" competition of my own.

GoodMuyis,

Nice to see you have a contact form that actually validates

Question:
Why would the form, upon successful submission, take me to a white page that says 'Thank you for visiting our site, we shall get back to you as soon as possible, " with no semblance to the "mother site"?

Just curious

08025189515 (its a deaf and dumb phone)

Yet another candidate 4 quote of the year

On a more serious note, I have looked at the spreadsheet and unless I am missing something, the spreadsheet doesn't say anything that would help me code the site and/or give you a price. Question(s): Are you just doing data entry for the different included reports (in other words, a DB may not be required and you can hardcode those values without any DB involved)? Are you to build forms that collect the data as represented in those sheets? Are you actually sharing with us everything regarding the project?

I would request a word document from the client detailing exactly what he wants. Personally, without ironed out requirements, I can't give an estimate and I can't give a price. Even if it means delaying the project a few weeks (though you probably could use the money now) or losing the project altogether, always insist on requirements. At the end of the day, it is good for both you and the client.

Using the sales principle of AIDAS (Attention Interest Desire Action), I say he has succeeded in the A and I parts. You guys all fell for it too. Marketing at its best

By the way, you may have noticed that I didn't include the final "S" - Satisfy. It is now up to the poster to deliver on that as well to be a true salesperson

The only issue I have with FF3 is when typing an address in the address bar. Let's say I visited in the past 10 sites with "ing" in either the URL or the "title". All those sites come up and it is usually in the order of which one I visit the most. At times, the impatient one that I am will hit enter at the first choice. Of course it is the wrong one and so I have to click "stoP" and repeat the process. Sure, I know I could probably turn it off but I like to suffer some times

Funny, FRCn claims to be the largest network in Africa

When you hear such, you should always ask yourself, "based on what criteria" cos it cd really be that based on the parameters they are using, they are the largest. It's their Unique Selling Point

Welcome back, Mr. Woods

what I like more from chrome is d fact that I can search google directly from the address bar, its cool.

u can do the same in FF

i got a yellow Igbo guy

ROFLMAO!!!

This is yet another "NL quote of the year" candidate.

Seun, are you keeping tabs?

It depends.

Security? Given the recent announcement that MSFT has advised users to use another browser while they try to plug a recently discovered security hole, sorry, but throw IE8 out the door.

Web Standards? I have tested all 3 browsers and Chrome came up short for what I was trying to do at the time. It is still green behind the ears and could be better in the future but again sorry, I am not one of those to jump on the "whatever google does I will adopt" train just yet.

Tools for a web developer? Give me FF any day.

I personally will say FF but to each his/her own.

It is better to try and fail than not to try at all.  Some one or some people should go for it.  You will never know what might be by sitting on the sidelines.  That is all I am saying.  Everything happens for a reason.  This might be someone's moment.  You never know. All I ask for on my end is that it be built to last 1,000 years and to bring respect to the trade in our corner of the globe.

paribus:

The Nigerian website has not been developed to transact any serious business (compared to say direct.gov.uk for example), it was most likely a by-product of someone high up there getting a dodgy proposal approved and laughing real hard to the bank for delivering what is at best a mediocre project.

I agree but neither has http://www.usa.gov/

I beg to disagree that the availability of the site having any bearing on national security (unfortunately a very broad and vague term used by different tiers of the government and politicians for reasons mostly borne out of convenience)

It does and so as not to bore, I won't go into detail. I will say this much though: A website such as this has the potential to attract Foreign Direct Investment into a country, something which is good for trade, trade being one of the pillars of any economy and by extension, an issue of national security, though Nigeria being a consumer nation might give reason for pause here.

The possibility of capable nairalanders (including yourself) being given this job? - zero I'll say

Again true but you never know. I have turned in at least 20 proposals for various websites to my state government and all but 2 were approved. And guess what? I will keep on submitting. Who knows when the next one will bite? Besides, this started off as a volunteer effort as in, no pay guaranteed. It was more of a patriotic act to show those interested that things can be done in a better way. Something for the resume/CV should one go applying for a job. Getting a job from the FG would simply be a bonus.

Would a ministerial fiat such as this help or encourage true IT development in the ministry? - I doubt. It would only benefit cowboy web developers out to make a quick buck (and of course their collaborators in the agencies) all in the name of giving a website to each agency.

I agree with you here. You do need to address the root of the matter here - Akunliyi is not fit for the job and therein lies the problem. If I were in charge, what would I do? Thanks for asking:

I would ask each university to send to me their top 5 students or so and have them over in Abuja over whenever the longest holiday break is, hire them as interns and have them in that time, design/develop the best site out there. For their efforts, they would get paid. In the end, it would be a win-win situation - They get to apply what they have learned, we get the site we want and they get paid. The next year, I do the same thing and have the next site improve upon what is out there and so, like the waterfall method, things would improve over time. This would probably be cheaper than having a dedicated department or contracting the work out.

It would only benefit cowboy web developers out to make a quick buck

I like the term, "cowboy web developers", cos thatz what many are

Again, the aim of this project isn't get to any cash awards (although if given, it wouldn't be rejected ) but to get some us together so that they can experience first hand how a web project can and should be done from start to finish. Consider it like the YUI project which is done by a group of developers for the benefit of all. A site where fellow developers from all over the world would visit for ideas on how to get the job done right

Merry Xmas.