User interactivity: fun + games, RSS + ratings
I’m developing my central news hub for the @T (Always the Twain) site, so allocated time today to working out:
(1.) how to leverage Google Docs to generate dynamic RSS into a spreadsheet format — it really works!
(2.) how to build an RSS display scroller with some Ajax, Javascript and CSS — that will also use the Google Ajax RSS API; this works too!
(3.) how to refine grid-based drag+drop in AS3; a few glitches but it works now.
(4.) how to build a 5-star rating system in Ajax and PHP from scratch with a query file to the server-side database. I am NOT building a 5-star rating since my Media Perception Matrix is a lot smarter (but will require quite a bit of code work).
(5.) how to synch bits and bobs with a forum like PHPBB.
These may seem like discrete and disparate strands of technology but they’re actually the constituents of how the likes of iGoogle and netvibes are built.
The difference with netvibes was its strategic move towards creating a social network where friends can share their content links (blogs, news feeds, flickr photos, YouTube videos etc.). In certain ways it was a predecessor to the likes of Friendfeed. What I like about iGoogle and netvibes are their customizability so users can re-arrange the layout according to their own tastes and priorities.
FUN + GAMES
Naturally, I decided to take a break from the brainwork and to refine this drag+drop game (you can click on the image and go to the site to test your mathematical logic if you’d like):
For @T, I do plan to have a games + puzzle area where readers can do jigsaws, play online chess, hangman and crosswords etc.:
This is to provide different forms of user interactivity to what the Papervision3D film wall does as well as the script sample flipbook.
It may seem frivolous but actually some of the design and coding involved in games can also be applied to creating dockable RSS feeds that localize to pre-defined (X,Y) positions in a Flash swf without any need for divs or DOMs.
Developing games also stimulate the creative and problem-solving neurons which can then be transposed to more serious and professional endeavors………
As a child I used to either do an hour of sports or games (chess, cards, bridge, crosswords, Nim’s gate, etc.) before N hours of solid concentration on homework. I did get straight As in school so this process seems to work and I’ve kept it with me in the way I approach adult to-do’s.
Tags: 5-star rating systems, @T, Ajax, Google Ajax RSS API, iGoogle, netvibes, news feeds, phpbb
