bojan.blog » Web http://bojand.org/blog Sun, 11 Apr 2010 04:03:46 +0000 en hourly 1 ezproxy redirect bookmarklet http://bojand.org/blog/81.html http://bojand.org/blog/81.html#comments Tue, 10 Nov 2009 15:17:02 +0000 Bojan http://bojan.info/blog/?p=81 A while ago I wrote a Google Toolbar button for redirecting the current page to the same page accessed through an EZproxy server. As I was missing this functionality in browsers without Google Toolbar (it’s still not available in Google Chrome), I realized that it’s a very simple thing to do with a bookmarklet. Here is the code:

javascript:window.location=location.protocol+'//'+location.hostname+'.ezproxy1.library.arizona.edu'+location.pathname+location.search+location.hash;

To make it work, copy the above code, and paste it as the URL in a bookmark. In all modern browsers, alternatively, you can just drag this link to the bookmarks bar:

In either case, make sure you edit the javascript code and replace ezproxy1.library.arizona.edu by your EZproxy server.

Once "ez" is in your bookmarks, clicking on the bookmark will have the same effect as clicking the ezproxy Google Toolbar button.

]]> http://bojand.org/blog/81.html/feed 0 Hello WordPress! http://bojand.org/blog/1.html http://bojand.org/blog/1.html#comments Thu, 29 Oct 2009 18:54:35 +0000 Bojan http://blog.bojan.info/?p=1 If there is a good thing about having a cold/flu it’s that you get around to do those little things you’ve been putting off for months or years (because you’re not up for much else) — like getting your blog in order. I’ve used Blogger some time ago, then installed WordPress, but never moved old posts… So here they come now.

]]> http://bojand.org/blog/1.html/feed 0 Blogger, WordPress, b2evolution: Blog Engine Choice http://bojand.org/blog/37.html http://bojand.org/blog/37.html#comments Mon, 14 Aug 2006 20:04:27 +0000 Bojan http://blog.bojan.info/?p=37 As I signed up with Blogger a few years ago, and have never looked at alternatives, I decided to do so now, just to check whether I'm missing on something. Here's what I found.

]]> As I signed up with Blogger a few years ago, and have never looked at alternatives, I decided to do so now, just to check whether I’m missing on something. Here’s what I found.

b2evolution

A google search for blog engine (I wanted something I controlled completely on my own server) gave me b2evolution as a first result. After a glimpse of its capabilities, and reading a few positive reviews, I decided to give it a try. So I downloaded the Summer Beta release, i.e. version 1.8 beta, which is supposedly stable. (BTW this is the only 1.x stable version, although a beta!)

Pros
The setup was pretty straightforward. I was really impressed with the configurability: the backoffice has an amazing spectrum of options. I also liked the multilingual features, i.e. the fact that you can specify the locale for each post separately.
Cons

The basic setup leaves you with ugly URLs, which in the worst case look like [code]]czo3NDpcIltiYXNldXJsXS9pbmRleC5waHA/dGl0bGU9cG9zdF90aXRsZSZhbXA7Yz0xJmFtcDt0Yj0xJmFtcDtwYj0xJmFtcDttb3J7WyYqJl19ZT0xXCdcIjt7WyYqJl19[[/code], and are a little better with what they call extra info: [code]]czo0MTpcIltiYXNldXJsXS9pbmRleC5waHAvMjAwMy8wNS8yMC9wb3N0X3RpdGxlXCI7e1smKiZdfQ==[[/code] (note [code]]czo5OlwiaW5kZXgucGhwXCI7e1smKiZdfQ==[[/code] in the middle!). There are some situations (not many though) where I could live with URLs like that, but a blog is not one of them.

So I tried to fix it with [code]]czoxMTpcIm1vZF9yZXdyaXRlXCI7e1smKiZdfQ==[[/code]. According to the few forum threads dealing with the issue, this should be not hard to fix, but it turned out to be a nightmare that took me hours, although I'm used to dealing with [code]]czoxMTpcIm1vZF9yZXdyaXRlXCI7e1smKiZdfQ==[[/code]. It seems that the latest version of b2evo engine interacts in some way that it took me quite some time to hack it. I will not go into details here, maybe in another post, since the solution is far from obvious. In any case, even after solving the problem, the URLs were not uniform: some links to the root of a blog were [code]]czoxOTpcIltiYXNldXJsXS9ibG9nMS5waHBcIjt7WyYqJl19[[/code], some [code]]czoxNTpcIltiYXNldXJsXS9ibG9nMVwiO3tbJiomXX0=[[/code], and some as the latter but with a backslash in the end. The best I could do to fix this is to do a 301 redirect of both cited URL types to [code]]czoxNjpcIltiYXNldXJsXS9ibG9nMS9cIjt7WyYqJl19[[/code]. But links with .php are still in the navigation system, and this bothers me. I would need to edit the template to fix this.

Another thing that I didn't like about b2evo are the skins. They are not terrible, but compared with Blogger and WordPress, they just look like amateur work; they don't come even close!

Overall, I do enjoy having the power of its backoffice, but the version that I had felt a little buggy. And the documentation is pretty poor. Some day, this could be a great blog engine, but right now there's a little something missing.

WordPress

This was a completely different story from b2evo. Everything about it is very neat, very professional looking. The skins are great. The documentation is much, much better than b2evo's. This is really a great blog engine... or would be if it weren't for one small thing: it's Rich Text Editor with all the javascript around it that just won't let you be in control of the code of your posts! There's no way of turning off these functions, and there is no simple HTML editor. For instance, I could not insert a piece of code with [code]]czoxMTpcIiZsdDtwcmUmZ3Q7XCI7e1smKiZdfQ==[[/code] tags, since the editor would always strip off all line breaks, leaving all the code in one line! How ridiculous!

Conclusion: if all you are going to be posting is text (no code), and you don't care about HTML editing of your posts, WordPress looks like a great choice. If only it had a simple HTML editor in addition to the Rich Text editor, like Blogger does, it would be my first choice.

Edit: The visual rich editor in WordPress can be turned off! See my coment

Blogger

So for now, I'll stick with Blogger. The only thing I'm missing with Blogger are categories, and I can't understand why in the world won't they add such a simple functionality that would draw so many more people to Blogger! I see many people choosing WordPress or other engines over Blogger for this and this reason only.

What I like about Blogger is the fact that all files are static HTML, that they are physically on my own server (which is a big psychological thing for me), there is no php burdening the server, and all URLs are nice as they are, with no [code]]czoxMTpcIm1vZF9yZXdyaXRlXCI7e1smKiZdfQ==[[/code].

So, Blogger, I'll stick with you for now, but if you want me to stick with you in the long run, do something about those categories, please!

]]> http://bojand.org/blog/37.html/feed 1 Pitanja i odgovori o web standardima http://bojand.org/blog/10.html http://bojand.org/blog/10.html#comments Wed, 05 May 2004 15:37:48 +0000 Bojan http://blog.bojan.info/?p=10
Šta je World Wide Web?

World Wide Web (u slobodnom prevodu Svjetska mreža) je medij za razmjenu informacija putem Interneta.

Šta je World Wide Web Consortium?

World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) je regulatorno tijelo za standarde web tehnologija. Njegov prvi i sadašnji direktor je izumitelj Weba (zajedno sa Robertom Cailliauom), Tim Berners-Lee.

Zašto će nam standardi?

Kako bi Web ispunjavao svoju svrhu, sve aplikacije moraju koristiti zajednički jezik (bilo da se radi o HTML-u, XHTML-u, XML-u ili CSS-u). Kada bi svaki browser koristio sopstveni jezik, danas ne bismo imali jedan World Wide Web, već Internet Explorer Web, Netscape Web, Opera Web itd.

Zašto neki browseri ne podržavaju adekvatno W3C standarde?

Tokom godina kada se par korporacija borilo za tržište browsera, one su se usredotočile na dodavanje novih mogućnosti i uvođenje dodatnih sopstvenih standarda pored osnovnog skupa W3C standarda, umjesto da striktno primjenjuju sve W3C preporuke. Vrhunac ove ere je generacija 4 Internet Explorera i Netscape Navigatora. U mnogim slučajevima, ova dva browsera su prikazivali istu stranicu na vrlo različite načine. Na sreću, ta vremena su iza nas i ovi browseri se danas vrlo rijetko sreću.

Šta je CSS?

CSS (Cascading Style Sheets) je tehnologija koja je evoluirala nakon HTML-a (ali ipak dosta davno). To je moćan alat za layout (prikaz stranice), koji omogućava ne samo da se podesi veličina i boja slova, već i da se pozicioniraju blokovi na stranici i da se riješe i svi drugi aspekti dizajna.

Prije CSS-a, web dizajneri su morali naveliko koristiti HTML [code]]czoxMzpcIiZsdDt0YWJsZSZndDtcIjt7WyYqJl19[[/code] elemente, ugnježđujući ih jedne unutar drugih kako bi postigli ono što su zamislili. (Ovo nije bila prvobitna namjena [code]]czo1OlwidGFibGVcIjt7WyYqJl19[[/code] elementa kako su je zamislili tvorci HTML-a.) Takav pristup rezultira u mnoštvu suvišnog koda i stranicama koje su prilagođene samo za prikaz na ekranu.

Sa CSS-om, moguće je potpuno razdvojiti sadržaj i layout. Tako, sama HTML (ili XHTML, ili XML) stranica sadrži samo čisti sadržaj, kojeg mogu, ako se pravilno strukturira, lako čitati mnogi drugi uređaji, kao što su dlanovnici (handheld devices) ili aplikacije za slabovidne osobe. Poseban CSS fajl - stylesheet - se brine o svom raspoređivanju i izgledu ovog sadržaja na stranici. CSS fajlovi mogu čak i ciljati specifične medije, tako da je moguće imati posebne stylesheet-e za ekran, štampanje, dlanovnike kao i druge medije.

Jednu impresivnu demonstracija kako različiti CSS stylesheets mogu prikazati jednu te istu HTML stranicu (sadržaj) na potpuno različite načine (prikazi) možete vidjeti na CSS Zen Garden-u.

Zašto stariji browseri ne podržavaju CSS u potpunosti?

Nažalost, dugo vremena je trebalo browserima da počnu ozbiljno implementirati CSS. Podrška browsera za CSS je tek u zadnjih par godina dovoljno raširena da web dizajneri mogu da ga koriste za kompletan layout stranice.

Koji su browseri "standards compliant" (koji se drže standarda)?

Browseri koji dovoljno podržavaju CSS da bi se sajtovi zasnovani na CSS-u u njima prikazivali na odgovarajući način, i koji imaju prihvatljiv nivo pridržavanja drugih W3C standarda uključuju sljedeće:

(Ova lista nije isključiva. Internet Explorer je svjesno stavljen na zadnje mjesto zbog notornog broja bagova i nedostatka podrške za naprednije CSS mogućnosti.)

Zašto sajt ne može biti kompatibilan sa svim browserima i svim verzijama?

Dok se stranica sa jednostavnom strukturom može prikazati gotovo identično u svim browserima i svim verzijama, to postaje nemoguće kada izgled dostigne određeni nivo kompleksnosti.

Rješenje koje su primjenjivali web dizajneri za vrijeme rata između Internet Explorera 4 i Netscape Navigatora 4 bilo je da se pravi jedna verzija sajta prilagođena jednom browseru, i druga prilagođena drugom. Danas, kada su W3C standardi povratili autoritativnost koja im prirodno pripada, web dizajnerima se takva praksa više ne preporučuje. Umjesto toga, oni bi trebali da osiguraju saglasnost njihovih stranica sa standardima, dok proizvođači browsera trebaju da implementiraju te standarde u svojim aplikacijama - to je upravo ljepota standarda!

Problem je u starijim browserima, koji se više ne razvijaju i kojima je obustavljena podrška proizvođača. Ali to je cijena koja se mora platiti u bilo kojoj evoluciji. To je bio motiv koji je pokrenuo Browser Upgrade kampanju, koja je bila najaktivnija prije par godina.

Treba ipak istaći da, kod sajtova kod kojih je razdvajanje sadržaja i layouta izvedeno u potpunosti, kao što je slučaj i sa ovim sajtom, kada se ukine stylesheet, sajt ostaje savršeno upotrebljiv u starijim browserima koji ne podržavaju CSS. Zbog toga, ako gledate ovaj sajt sa browserom koji ne podržava standarde, onda vidite pojednostavljeni izgled koji je kompatibilan sa svim postojećim browserima, uključujući i tekstualne browsere.

]]> http://bojand.org/blog/10.html/feed 0 Web Standards FAQ http://bojand.org/blog/8.html http://bojand.org/blog/8.html#comments Wed, 05 May 2004 15:37:22 +0000 Bojan http://blog.bojan.info/?p=8
What is the World Wide Web?

The World Wide Web is a medium designed for sharing information over the Internet.

What is the World Wide Web Consortium?

The World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) is the regulatory body for web technology standards. Its first and present director is the inventor of the Web (together with Robert Cailliau), Tim Berners-Lee.

Why do we need standards?

In order for the Web to fulfill its purpose, all applications must use a common language (whether it is HTML, XHTML, XML or CSS). If every browser used its own language, we would in fact not have one World Wide Web, but an Internet Explorer Web, a Netscape Web, an Opera Web etc.

Why don’t some browsers adequately support W3C standards?

During the years when a few corporations were fighting for the browser market, they were focused on adding new features and introducing additional standards of their own to a basic set of W3C standards, rather than on following closely all W3C recommendations. The peak of this era was the generation 4 of Internet Explorer and Netscape Navigator browsers. In many cases, these two browsers displayed a same page in very different ways. Fortunately, these times are behind us and these browsers are very rarely seen today.

What is CSS?

CSS (Cascading Style Sheets) is a technology that evolved after HTML (but still a long time ago). It is a powerful layout tool, which allows not only to set the text size and color, but also to position blocks on the page and take care of all other aspects of design.

Before CSS, web designers had to use extensively HTML [code]]czoxMzpcIiZsdDt0YWJsZSZndDtcIjt7WyYqJl19[[/code]s, nesting them one inside another in order to achieve the layout they had in mind. (This was not the initial prupose of the [code]]czo1OlwidGFibGVcIjt7WyYqJl19[[/code] element that HTML creators had in mind.) Such an approach results in a lot of redundant code and pages adapted only to screen view.

With CSS, a complete separation of content and layout is possible. Thus, the HTML (or XHTML, or XML) page itself contains only pure content, which, if properly structured, can be easily read by many other devices, such as handheld devices and applications for visually impaired persons. A separate CSS file - the stylesheet - takes care of all the layout of this content on the page. CSS files can even target specific media, so that it is possible to have separate stylesheets for screen, print, handheld and other media as well.

For an impressive demonstration of how different CSS stylesheets can display one and the same HTML page (content) in different ways (layouts), see the CSS Zen Garden.

Why don't older browsers fully support CSS?

Sadly, it took a long time for browsers to start implementing CSS seriously. In fact, browser support for CSS has been sufficient for developers to start using it properly for complete page layout only in the past few years.

Which browsers are "standards compliant"?

Browsers that support CSS sufficiently for CSS-based sites to be displayed properly, and which comply with other W3C standards to an acceptable degree include the following:

(This list is not exhaustive. Internet Explorer was intentionally put last in the list for its notorious number of bugs and lack of support for advanced CSS features.)

While a page with a simple layout can be displayed almost identically in all browsers and all versions, this becomes impossible when the layout reaches a certain complexity.

The solution applied by web designers at the time of the war between Internet Explorer 4 and Netscape Navigator 4 had been to develop one version of the site adapted to one browser, and another to the other one. Nowadays, when the W3C standards regained the authority that is rightfully theirs, web designers are discouraged from such practice. Instead, they should ensure the conformity of their pages with the standards, while browser developers are to implement these standards in their applications - that's the beauty of standards!

The problem is in the older browsers, which are no longer developed or supported by their creators. But that is the price to pay as in any evolution. This was the motive behind the Browser Upgrade Campaign, which was most active a few years ago.

It should be pointed out though that for sites in which the separation of content and layout has been fully applied, as it is the case with this site, when the stylesheet is stripped, the site remains perfectly usable in older browsers that do not support CSS. That is why, if you are viewing this site with a non-standards compliant browser, you are seeing a simplified layout that is compatible with all existing browsers, including textual browsers.

]]> http://bojand.org/blog/8.html/feed 0 ccbh.ba / ustavnisud.ba v5 http://bojand.org/blog/5.html http://bojand.org/blog/5.html#comments Tue, 20 Apr 2004 09:05:23 +0000 Bojan http://blog.bojan.info/?p=5 Pustio sam u promet novu verziju sajta Ustavnog suda BiH:

Constitutional Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina
Ustavni sud Bosne i Hercegovine

Biće tu još posla, naročito oko odluka.

Dalji razvoj se može pratiti na posebnom blogu:
ccbh.ba / ustavnisud.ba devlog. ]]> http://bojand.org/blog/5.html/feed 0