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- 1. 76 Technique Dreamweaver CS3 or later New ways to present your images Animating the images in your online portfolio is a snip if, like Anthony Zinni, you know which libraries and plug-ins to employ While jQuery and similar JavaScript libraries have been popular in the development community for some time now, the technical nature of these libraries has typically left them outside the role of the web designer. Luckily, there are developers willing to share their code and simplify the process for designers. One such web developer is Alen Grakalic of cssglobe.com, who has created the extremely easy-to-use and appropriately named Easy Slider plug-in for jQuery. This tutorial will teach you to use Easy Slider and a couple lines of code to add sliding blocks of content or images to your portfolio quickly and easily. Once the script is installed and functional, we will use CSS to customise its appearance and improve the usability of its Previous and Next buttons. Finally, we will use the script’s configuration options to make the animation fit the design more appropriately. 02 Launch Dreamweaver 01 Start out by copying the folder and open both the index.html and named ‘working_files’ and the code_ screen.css files you copied from the CD. blocks.txt text file from your disc to your Continue by making sure index.html is computer. Next, visit jQuery.com and the active file, and select File>Preview in download the latest production version Browser>Firefox to open the file in your to the ‘js’ folder contained within the browser. You should now see the layout ‘working_files’ folder. of the portfolio without styles applied. 03 Minimize Firefox and return to Dreamweaver. Right/ Ctrl+click anywhere Anthony Zinni On the disc Time needed within the code view Anthony is a The files you need for 1 hour and select CSS Styles> Chicago-based art this tutorial can be Attach Style Sheet. director and partner located in at the design firm DiscContents Skills Using the new window, Resources Installing jQuery browse and select AssociaDirect. In his Dreamweaver Easy Slider screen.css from the spare time he likes customisation to talk about graphic ‘working_files’ folder. CSS image design on his blog, Select ‘Screen’ within rollovers Positive Space. Find the Media field, then out more at www. associadirect.com click the OK button to and www.positive attach spaceblog.com the CSS file. Computer Arts June 2009 www.computerarts.co.uk ART162.tut_dw 76 2/4/09 5:53:27 pm
- 2. 77 05 The first step in animating the 06 Installing the Easy Slider portfolio shots is to install jQuery. To do plug-in is almost as simple as jQuery. To 04 Return to Firefox and refresh the page to see the this, copy and paste the first section of install Easy Slider, copy and paste the layout of the portfolio. Currently there is only one image, so we code from the text file you copied from second block of code from the text file will need to add more in order for the script to cycle through the CD onto line 7, directly below the link onto line 8, just below the jQuery line. them. To do this, find line 21 in index.html and duplicate it to the CSS file. Because you downloaded Make sure to place this code below twice. Change the source link of the image tags on these new jQuery, it is important that the file name jQuery, otherwise it will not work. lines to the second and third sample photos and update their matches the one you downloaded, accompanying alt descriptions. otherwise it will not work. 07 In order to finish installing 08 To see the slideshow in Easy Slider, you will need to add some action, return to Firefox and refresh the styles to the bottom of the Screen.css page. You will notice that there is now file. Switch over to the CSS file and then only one photo visible and that next to it copy and paste the third block of code there is an arrow pointing down. If you 09 The default behaviour of the script is okay, although from the text file onto line 129. These click on this arrow, the photo will slide in order to make it more usable we should add rollover styles set the appearance of the area for from left to right and the upward- animation to the arrows. This can be done by returning to the the images, and set the placement of pointing arrow will appear. Screen.css file and copying and pasting the fourth block of the Previous and Next buttons used to code onto line 172. This CSS code will make each arrow graphic control the animation. change when the mouse pointer hovers over it. 10 Finally, in order to make the script match our More on Easy Slider design, we should Easy Slider is such a great script. Not only it is a quick and easy way make the animation to add scrolling images to your portfolio, move vertically. This but HTML content as well. For this reason can be accomplished it has been used in a wide range of by replacing line 11 applications. For more information on in the index.html file how Easy Slider works or on its other with the final piece of uses, visit http://cssglobe.com/post/ 3783/jquery-plugin-easy-image-or- code in the text file. content-slider Return to Firefox and refresh the page to see the result. www.computerarts.co.uk Computer Arts June 2009 ART162.tut_dw 77 2/4/09 5:53:28 pm