2010 July | stratos.me


The (X)HTML strict way to open a new window

Posted by in Thoughts, Tutorials on Jul 22nd, 2010 | 0 comments

There has been a fuss on websites that don’t go through validation simply because they have a wrong way of opening a link on a new window. The old conventional way of opening a link on a new window was simply by adding an attribute like:

  1. <a href="http://example.com" target="_blank">My new window link</a>

This was both easy to remember and implement. Since the 4.0 strict specification though this is not considered valid any more. I was against that until I read the reason why this changed. Simply because the meta information an HTML document contains is related to the current window and current site. Should you want to refer to a new window it’s simply not within the scope of this page’s description. That’s why it is considered to fall within the client side to implement through Javascript for example.

I am not sure I agree with that since it doesn’t really interfere with the meaning of the meta description of the page that the current HTML does, it’s simply an easy way to do it. On the other hand, since you want the validation to be successful, the easiest way to do it is by adding a small Javascript on the link. You can do it like:

  1. <a onclick="window.open(this.href); return false;" href="http://example.com">My new window link</a>

It’s not as hard but it’s definitely not as simply as the first way. What do you prefer? Simplicity or validity? It’s really up to you but I usually go with the first…

Automating WordPress

Posted by in My Coding, Thoughts on Jul 7th, 2010 | 0 comments

I recently thought about creating a small website where I would post all the apps that I try and like for the iPhone/ iPod. But then again, I knew, that if it was hard to post and maintain it then I’ll probably end up deleting the whole thing after a few months at best. Then I started thinking how could I simplify the process and make it so easy for me that it would actually be fun to post those apps there. After a lot of consideration and some coding, MyFavApps was created!

The idea is simple. I downloaded the WordPress app. Then I created a small plugin where when I post, it scans for the app name I want to review and my ratings and does the rest. It downloads pics, description, price and the other data from the official app store using the API, parses my rating and updates the post with all these data. So, whenever I want to post an app it takes more or less 5 minutes to do so.

My point is that sky is the limit and WordPress is the means to get there… Get creative and surprise the world!