1. November 2015

tracking.js – real-time color tracking, face detection and much more

“The tracking.js library brings different computer vision algorithms and techniques into the browser environment. By using modern HTML5 specifications, we enable you to do real-time color tracking, face detection and much more”

Tracking.js

20. October 2015

Flexbugs – Time to go flexboxing

“This repository is a community-curated list of flexbox issues and cross-browser workarounds for them. The goal is that if you’re building a website using flexbox and something isn’t working as you’d expect, you can find the solution here.”

Github (CanIUse)

1. September 2015

Google Analytics Custom Event Tracking – jQuery

With inline content being loaded via ajax, you are loosing a lot of interesting usage data. These can be tracked using Google Analytics Events or by sending a Pageview.

LETS SHOW IT ALL FIRST

(function($) {
track = { 
   config:{
	pageName	 : "Your Page",
	eventSelector	 : ".trackEvent a, .trackEvent",
	pageviewSelector : ".trackPage a, .trackPage",
   },
 
  init			: function(){	
	  
   $("body").delegate(this.config.eventSelector	,"click", function(){	  
    
	// Navigation / Readmore / Apply / FAQ / Contact / Share
    var cat		= $(this).attr("data-track-cat")    || "Navigation";
    var action  = $(this).attr("data-track-action") || "Click";
    var label   = $(this).attr("data-track-label")  || $(this).text() ;
		
    this.sendEvent(cat, action, label);	 
	  
  });

  $("body").delegate(this.config.pageviewSelector, "click", function(){
	  
   var label =  $(this).text() +" - "+ this.config.pageName		
   var page  =  "/"+label.split(' ').join('-').toLowerCase()+"/";
	  
   this.sendPageview(page,label);	
	  
  });
  
  },
  
  sendEvent: function(cat, action, label){
	   
  ga('send', 'event', {
	'eventCategory'	: cat ,
	'eventAction'	: action,
	'eventLabel'	: label,
	'eventValue'	: 1
  }); 
  },
  
 sendPageview : function(page,label){
	  
  ga('send', {
	'hitType': 'pageview',
	'page'	 : page ,
	'title'	 : label
   });
 }
};

/* INIT */
track.init();

})(jQuery);

(function($) {

track = {

config:{

pageName : "Your Page",

eventSelector : ".trackEvent a, .trackEvent",

pageviewSelector : ".trackPage a, .trackPage",

init : function(){

$("body").delegate(this.config.eventSelector ,"click", function(){

// Navigation / Readmore / Apply / FAQ / Contact / Share

var cat = $(this).attr("data-track-cat") || "Navigation";

var action = $(this).attr("data-track-action") || "Click";

var label = $(this).attr("data-track-label") || $(this).text() ;

this.sendEvent(cat, action, label);

});

$("body").delegate(this.config.pageviewSelector, "click", function(){

var label = $(this).text() +" - "+ this.config.pageName

var page = "/"+label.split(' ').join('-').toLowerCase()+"/";

this.sendPageview(page,label);

});

sendEvent: function(cat, action, label){

ga('send', 'event', {

'eventCategory' : cat ,

'eventAction' : action,

'eventLabel' : label,

'eventValue' : 1

});

sendPageview : function(page,label){

ga('send', {

'hitType': 'pageview',

'page' : page ,

'title' : label

});

}

};

/* INIT */

track.init();

})(jQuery);

The above allows to automate tracking by attaching simple classes and use HTML5 data attributes to assign category, action and label. Direct tracking is also possible. Lets split it up :)

EVENT TRACKING INIT

$("body").delegate(".trackEvent a, .trackEvent","click", function(){	  
    // Navigation / Readmore / Apply / FAQ / Contact / Share
    var cat	= $(this).attr("data-track-cat")    || "Navigation";
    var action  = $(this).attr("data-track-action") || "Click";
    var label   = $(this).attr("data-track-label")  || $(this).text() ;
		
    this.sendEvent(cat, action, label);	 
	  
  });

$("body").delegate(".trackEvent a, .trackEvent","click", function(){

// Navigation / Readmore / Apply / FAQ / Contact / Share

var cat = $(this).attr("data-track-cat") || "Navigation";

var action = $(this).attr("data-track-action") || "Click";

var label = $(this).attr("data-track-label") || $(this).text() ;

this.sendEvent(cat, action, label);

});

This monitors links with the class .trackEVENT attached and fills the event data using HTML5 data attributes. All attributes have default values assigned.

A possible link would look like this:

<a href="#" class=".trackEvent" data-track-cat="Subscribe" data-track-action="View" data-track-label="All my news!">Subscribe to my news!</a>

1	<a href="#" class=".trackEvent" data-track-cat="Subscribe" data-track-action="View" data-track-label="All my news!">Subscribe to my news!</a>

The sendEvent function than sends this to Google Analytics.

PAGEVIEW TRACKING

$("body").delegate(".trackPage a, .trackPage", "click", function(){
	  
   var label =  $(this).text() +" - "+ this.pageName		
   var page  =  "/"+label.split(' ').join('-').toLowerCase()+"/";
	  
   this.sendPageview(page,label);	
	  
});

$("body").delegate(".trackPage a, .trackPage", "click", function(){

var label = $(this).text() +" - "+ this.pageName

var page = "/"+label.split(' ').join('-').toLowerCase()+"/";

this.sendPageview(page,label);

});

Much simpler, this just gets the element text and submits the click as a new Pageview. The label gets the pagename attached and the actual page url is constructed from the label. The sendPageview function than sends this to Google Analytics.

DIRECT USE

track.sendEvent(cat, action, label);

track.sendPageview(page, label);

track.sendEvent(cat, action, label);

track.sendPageview(page, label);

Really simple and effective way within a simple OnePager or a bigger web application. BTW I am using delegation to make sure that also links within AJAX content can be tracked.

Enjoy coding …

31. August 2015

Bootstrap 4 alpha & IE8 support

We are getting closer to Boostrap 4 and I really love what we are getting with the first alpha version.

Improved grid system
Opt-in flexbox support is here. Nice.
Dropped wells, thumbnails, and panels for cards.
Consolidated all our HTML resets into a new module, Reboot. Much cleaner.
Dropped IE8 support and moved to rem and em units. Finally REM units and IE8 free. I know there will be still projects with IE8 requirements, but the amount of projects is getting less and less :)
Improved auto-placement of tooltips and popovers. They are using Tether, have been using that for projects for some time now. GREAT!

Bootstrap Alpha 4 / Documentation

17. July 2015

Ridiculously Responsive Social Sharing Buttons

Responsive social sharing buttons.

Github

3. June 2015

Fullpage.js Addon for Visual Composer – Video Preview (Update 07.03.2016)

This video should give you a good idea what the addon can actually do.

In my last article I gave you a rough overview of the features & requirements. Here some more details and additions:

Added the fixed header & footer container to the admin interface. You can add special padding, to the top and bottom, through the fullpage settings and make room for them. These are standard content containers, that can hold any Visual Composer content or row setup.
Added automatic menu, which adds links to each section as they are created. Link title matches the section title.
Define section and slide anchors, which are reflected in the browser history.
Sections and Slides can have different backgrounds, providing nice effect options. I added an image background to Section 1 and semi-transparent background colors to the Slides.
Fullpage.js configuration is fully integrated and working. The system sets defaults for a quick start.
Fullpage.js CSS override has been added, but is not complete yet. Added code editor.
Fullpage.js Events have been added and are fully functional. These events are triggered after load, after slide load, after leaving a slide and other events.
iScroll can be seen in Section 2. Added resize handling and configuration options. Still need to do some minor tweaks.
iScroll custom scrollbars are on my list, but not sure I will add these yet.
Prebuild Templates will be added, so that you can quickstart your design. Visual Composer 4.5+ provides some nice new options.
Visual Composer requirement will be 4.5+.
The admin provides a nice color separation for all components and count for slides & sections.

The addon is mostly done. I am finalizing the main admin area this week and will do a final cleanup next week, for the first beta release.

Many people have asked me for a release date. I currently plan to have a fully working Beta in the next 2-3 weeks. Will offer the Addon to a small closed group of customers first, before I think about other release options. I think I will offer between 20-30 slots for the beta run. If you are interested let me know.

Regards
Alexander

Updates

Quickly choose which section / slide to load, when the page is opened.
The addon is injecting its own page template, to make sure that the main container is clear of any theme related margins or padding. As soon as the Fullpage container is added to the layout, the template gets selected dynamically.
21.06.2015 – updating to latest fullPage.js version (2.6.6) and adding new options and changes
13.08.2015
– beta has been delayed due to my vacation & an accident I am recovering from. This is still just a side project ;)
– updating to latest fullPage.js version and adding new options to admin
– updating to latest Visual Composer version
03.09.2015
– moving to Visual Composer 4.7
– finalizing the admin area
14.01.2016
– moving to Visual Composer 4.9x
– fullpage.js version update
– iScroll update
– admin /front-end cleanup … getting close :)
17.02.2016
– works pretty flawless by now
– plugins are updated
– admin complete, working on some minor cosmetics
– not sure yet about distribution :) … my current projects come first!
07.03.2016
– adding version / requirement checks for all linked libs
– moved to VisualComposer 4.10
– fullPage.js version bumped to 2.7.8
– final cleanup of all areas on the way

20. May 2015

WordPress as a development platform & the JSON evolution

Many developers hesitate to call WordPress a PHP development platform. I know what I am talking about, as I developed a platform of my own. PHP platforms normally only provide a skeleton and we need to

Decide on a database schema
Create the database
Setup backends and dashboards
Design the presentation layer
Implement user-level authentication and similar

THE FRONTEND EXPERIENCE

With WordPress you get most of this out-of-the-box, with some predefined structures.

Having a flexible administration backend in place makes it easy to concentrate on the things that matter for a project, which is designing a frontend experience.

JSON MATTERS

And especially with the JSON REST API finding its way into the core slowly, you are completely free when it comes to using the stored data in your frontend designs.

Sure that was possible before, just with some more work on our side ;)

But WordPress embracing the “freeing of data” through JSON, shows us where the ride is going.

THE NEW SINGLE APP UNIVERSE

There has not been a single project of mine in the past year, that has not used the REST API in some way. And all of this fits perfectly into the new single page app universe.

WordPress interfaces with your javascript framework setup (client side templating, DOM manipulation, data binding, routing …) and frees you from any design handcuffs.

It has become much easier and faster over the past 2 years to say “YES” to many of my clients wishes.

Its nice to finally see data flow from the server to the client and back that easily.

If you are not exited about this … I am :)

…enjoy coding

10. May 2015

Shield.io – Quality metadata badges for your open source project

Pixel-perfect
Retina-ready
Fast
Consistent
Hackable
No tracking

Shield.IO

27. April 2015

Hosting MP3 files on Google Drive + HTML5 Audio Player

What Google Drive Sharing offers us!

I am doing a Podcast on portalZINE.TV since last year and always host a backup of the MP3 episodes on Google Drive.

The link that you create, when enabling file sharing on Google Drive, can not be used to actually embed it on your website.

The link looks something like that:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/78BygKccgGms9ET2lUM0RPVUI1T0U/view?usp=sharing

1	https://drive.google.com/file/d/78BygKccgGms9ET2lUM0RPVUI1T0U/view?usp=sharing

To actually use it directly, we need to get the ID. Sure, you could just extract the ID, but often we just want to copy and paste. The sharing link is also your actual reference to the original file, which I store together with the podcast.

Apply a simple RegEX

We use a simple Regex to extract the ID:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/([a-zA-Z0-9_]+)\/

1	https://drive.google.com/file/d/([a-zA-Z0-9_]+)\/

PHP

$input = "https://drive.google.com/file/d/78BygKccgGms9ET2lUM0RPVUI1T0U/view?usp=sharing";

preg_match("/https:\/\/drive.google.com\/file\/d\/([a-zA-Z0-9_]+)\//", $input, $match);

$GoogleDriveFileID = $match[1];

$input = "https://drive.google.com/file/d/78BygKccgGms9ET2lUM0RPVUI1T0U/view?usp=sharing";

preg_match("/https:\/\/drive.google.com\/file\/d\/([a-zA-Z0-9_]+)\//", $input, $match);

$GoogleDriveFileID = $match[1];

JAVASCRIPT

var input = "https://drive.google.com/file/d/78BygKccgGms9ET2lUM0RPVUI1T0U/view?usp=sharing";

var res = input.match(/https:\/\/drive.google.com\/file\/d\/([a-zA-Z0-9_]+)\//)

var googleDriveFileID = res[1];

var input = "https://drive.google.com/file/d/78BygKccgGms9ET2lUM0RPVUI1T0U/view?usp=sharing";

var res = input.match(/https:\/\/drive.google.com\/file\/d\/([a-zA-Z0-9_]+)\//)

var googleDriveFileID = res[1];

Just use it!

This ID can than be used to embed the file directly using HTML5 audio controls.

Its important to use the “https://docs.google.com/uc?export=open&id=” url to open the file, as it provides the direct access to the shared file

 <audio controls>
 <source src="https://docs.google.com/uc?export=open&id=<?php echo $GoogleDriveFileID; ?>" type="audio/mp3">
<p>This browser does not support HTML5 audio</p>
 </audio>

<source src="https://docs.google.com/uc?export=open&id=<?php echo $GoogleDriveFileID; ?>" type="audio/mp3">

<p>This browser does not support HTML5 audio</p>

</audio>

15. April 2015

Defer Parsing of JavaScript in WordPress – new filter & old hack

When the defer attribute is present in the script tag, it specifies that the script is executed when the page has finished parsing. A requirement that is enforced by Google for example (Page-Speed ranking).

Currently the WordPress wp_enqueue_script provides no easy way to add new attributes, but there is a way around that :)
The below hack / filter needs to be added to your theme function.php. The filter should be your preferred solution, as the clean_url filter has been deprecated.

Make sure that your website / theme is still loading after adding these changes. If needed you can add more exceptions, as I did for jQuery.

Hack for WordPress before 4.1

if(is_admin() === FALSE){
function defer_parsing_of_js ( $url ) {
if ( FALSE === strpos( $url, '.js' ) ) return $url;
if ( strpos( $url, 'jquery.js' )  ) return $url;
return "$url' defer ";
}
add_filter( 'clean_url', 'defer_parsing_of_js', 11, 1 );
}

if(is_admin() === FALSE){

function defer_parsing_of_js ( $url ) {

if ( FALSE === strpos( $url, '.js' ) ) return $url;

if ( strpos( $url, 'jquery.js' ) ) return $url;

return "$url' defer ";

}

add_filter( 'clean_url', 'defer_parsing_of_js', 11, 1 );

}

Filter for WordPress 4.1+
Updated: 26.04.2015 – using clean Regexp

if(is_admin() === FALSE){
function add_js_defer($tag, $handle, $src){
 if(  strpos( $tag, 'jquery.js' ) ) return $tag;
  preg_match_all('/([\w\-.:]+)\s*=\s*("[^"]*"|\'[^\']*\'|[\w\-.:]+)/i', $tag, $match);
		
	$newtag = "<script ";
	
	foreach($match[1] as $key=> $val){
		$newtag .= $val."=".$match[2][$key]." ";	
	}
	
	$newtag .= "defer></script>";
	
    return $newtag.PHP_EOL;
 }
 add_filter( 'script_loader_tag', 'add_js_defer', 11, 1 );
}

if(is_admin() === FALSE){

function add_js_defer($tag, $handle, $src){

if( strpos( $tag, 'jquery.js' ) ) return $tag;

preg_match_all('/([\w\-.:]+)\s*=\s*("[^"]*"|\'[^\']*\'|[\w\-.:]+)/i', $tag, $match);

$newtag = "<script ";

foreach($match[1] as $key=> $val){

$newtag .= $val."=".$match[2][$key]." ";

}

$newtag .= "defer></script>";

return $newtag.PHP_EOL;

}

add_filter( 'script_loader_tag', 'add_js_defer', 11, 1 );

}

Browser Support

All modern browsers
Support in IE9 is flaky, as the execution order isn’t guaranteed.
Can I use