Zach Dunn | Build Internet

Author Archive

ActionScript 3 vs Flex 3: Buttons

Flex can’t do it all alone. While it’s possible to build a RIA in strictly ActionScript 3.0 or Flex 3′s MXML, sometimes you have to integrate the two to get the best result.

Be familiar with both methods of coding and you’ll be making some of the best rich internet apps yet. This post outlines the basics of creating button with both ActionScript 3 and MXML in Flex.

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Articles
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How to Build an Author Box in WordPress

Are you claiming your work? A name under the post title is a good start, but what if a reader wants to find out just a little bit more? Are you offering a face to the article? How about a little background? Contact information?

Adding an “About the Author” box to your posts is a simple upgrade to any WordPress blog. In this tutorial, we’ll show you how easy it is to brand your posts in under 10 minutes.

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Tutorials
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XML Basics with Flex 3

If you’re still using arrays and text files to load content, it’s time to upgrade.

With XML, you can condense a whole mess of seemingly unrelated information into a well organized and easy to read file. Today we’ll be looking at how to take advantage of this with Flex 3. This tutorial will teach how to load an external XML file into Flex and then filter the results into labels.

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Tutorials
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Below the Fold: Why Scrolling Isn’t A Bad Thing

“I want a website. It will be cutting edge visually impressive. It will have a wealth of information available. All of our brochures, a full directory of employees, and a shopping cart. I don’t want it the user to have to scroll all over the place though!”

Ever hear this from a client describing their vision? Somewhere along the line having to scroll for information started to bother people. Scrolling isn’t the make or break of a page. Use it to your advantage, and you’ll have a site that seems almost intuitive.

Photo by everdred

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Articles
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Color Scheme Inspiration – Fountains

Having trouble finding an inspirational color scheme? Friday color schemes will aim to fix that! Every week we’ll pick out a topic and build color schemes out of it to inspire. This round of inspiration is from fountains around the world.

Photos are all found on Flickr, and color schemes are all available to download on COLOURlovers.

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Motivation
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Flex 3 Basics – Introduction to Data Binding

It sounds a lot like a buzzword for developers, but what is data binding exactly? Is it even useful? In short, absolutely. Chances are you’ll be working with some sort of data in Flex. With data bindings, a developer can link data automatically between sources and targets. Still confused? Imagine a label set to automatically display the value of a selected button. It’s a simple concept that has an incredible amount of usefulness when building RIA’s. On second thought, let’s just build it.

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Tutorials
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How to Center a Website With CSS

Centering a website is a key part of many CSS layouts. While there are many ways to do it in a variety of situations, the following is an explanation that is purely CSS, avoids messing with percentages, and is compatible with all modern browsers.