If you have spent anytime talking to people in either the Montreal or Toronto WordPress communities, chances are that at some point you have heard the name Brendan Sera-Shriar, or as he is more likely referred to, Digibomb.

Once again the gang over at Microsoft has out done themselves with a really cool competition to go along side one of Canada’s largest Open Source Conferences, Make Web Not War, the “Code Your Art Out” competition.

The concept behind this competition is pretty cool and it comes with a hefty prize, $15,000.

“Code Your Art Out” is about helping non-profits harness the power of technology in order to better serve its communities and members. It’s also about blending Microsoft technologies with other technologies to create applications that connect people, data, and diverse systems in new ways; bringing it all together in one ground breaking application.

The winners will be announced at this years Make Web Not War conference in Vancouver, Canada. As a veteran speaker, supporter, and attendee of previous MWNW conferences I can honestly say “YOU DO NOT WANT TO MISS THIS!”

What’s MWNW

Make Web Not War (MWNW) is coming Vancouver on May 7th, 2011, MWNW is one of Canada’s first cross-platform conference showcasing the latest techniques and technologies available to the ever-evolving web community, jointly sponsored by Microsoft and Open Source communities across Canada. Here we will explore the power and flexibility of new web paradigms, technologies and applications – including the Microsoft web platform, Open Source applications, cloud computing and mobile – to help you develop the ultimate web experience for your clients. Read more.

I hope to see you there!

Official links

http://twitter.com/CodeYourArtOut and #codeyourartout.

http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=175320262514766

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Code-Your-Art-Out-Competition/129146523825367?sk=info

This is a video of my presentation from WordCamp Montreal 2009. Since this presentation I have inundated with questions about FlashPress, When will it be available? Where can I download it? How can I contribute?  We are still working out a lot of issues and are hoping to Open Source FlashPress soon, we apologize for all the delays!!!

Also make sure to check out the other presentations from WordCamp Montreal 2009 on blip.tv

So, why am I written this post? At almost every workshop or class I teach on WordPress  my students always ask the same questions “what is jQuery, and how can I add it to WordPress?” The answer is simple, jQuery is and easy way to add another layer of interactivity and creativity without having to worry about a lot of obtrusive Java or the bulkiness/complications that come with integrating Flash.

I’m not saying that jQuery is perfect, there is code that can conflict with WordPress or other jQuery additions, and not all JQuery versions are cross platform, however it is for the most part the best solution. In terms of an alternative for Flash, it can be very useful. Flash is not bad, but it is not always the answer either. If you require/desire some simple interactivity such as: sliding portfolios, galleries, drag and drop, hide and reveal, rollovers, tool tips, basic fading elements, why bother spending all that development time in Flash and worry about players and plugins?

Here are 2 really good examples of jQuery as an alternative to Flash  http://www.wearebuild.com and http://www.x3studios.com

Ok, enough talk, let’s get started. What is jQuery for those of you who don’t already know?

jQuery is a fast and concise JavaScript Library that simplifies HTML document traversing, event handling, animating, and Ajax interactions for rapid web development. jQuery is designed to change the way that you write JavaScript. – JQuery.com

Loading  jQuery

There are a couple of ways to do this in WordPress.

The first and easiest way is to load the jQuery library that comes bundled with WordPress. To do this we use the wp_enqueue_script() function, which automatically enqueue’s the JavaScript file in your theme header. Open your header.php file and paste the following within the <head> and </head> tags:

<?php wp_enqueue_script("jquery"); ?>

*I have heard that this does not work all the time in WordPress 2.8.1

Quick tip: One thing worth taking note of is the conflict with prototype which may cause it to not work in IE. Be sure to call the noConflict() method.

$j = jQuery.noConflict();

And you can call any jQuery functions like this:

$j(this).fadeTo("normal", 0.5);

The second way to load jQuery is to call it remotely from Google, this way you can be assured you’re always using the most up-to-date version. Otherwise, the version included inside WordPress may be dated.

<script type="text/javascript" src="http://ajax.googleapis.com/ajax/libs/jquery/1.2.6/jquery.min.js"></script>

The third and final way is to load jQuery from your server, so if you have downloaded a specific version you can enqueue it internally. To do this, open your header.php file and paste the following within the <head> and </head> tags:

<script type="text/javascript" src="<?php bloginfo('template_directory'); ?>/includes/js/jquery.js"></script>

*I usually put all my scripts in an includes directory located in my theme directory. You could also use an absolute path if your file is located elsewhere.

Now the fun begins! Once you have loaded jQuery you can take advantage of hundreds of great libraries for adding more interactivity or complexity to your themes.

Here’s a list of some of my favorites

Lightbox

A  light Javascript used to display overlay images on the current page. The original Lightbox was released in 2005. Since then, there are many scripts released with similar features using different approaches and Javascript libraries.

FancyBox

FancyBox is a jQuery plugin that is designed to replace the overused Lightbox. It has similar features, but better transition effects (the design is Mac-like).

jCarousel

jCarousel is a jQuery plugin for controlling a list of items in horizontal or vertical order. The items, which can be static HTML content or loaded with (or without) AJAX, can be scrolled back and forth (with or without animation).

Code Slider

Coda Slider is a jQuery plugin that imitates the panel sliding effects as seen on the Coda website.

jQuery Tabs

jQuery Tabs is a powerful and flexible jQuery plugin that lets you create customizable tab navigation (highly recommended).

jQuery Tool Tip Plugin

Another nice Tooltip plugin.

jQuery Accordion

This plugin creates an accordion menu. It works with nested lists, definition lists, or just nested divs.

jQuery Validate

A very plugin that allows you to build client-side validation and Ajax form.

More resources

• jQuery
• A list of jQuery plugins for WordPress
• More jQuery stuff
• net-tuts – Lot’s of great jQuery and WordPress tutorials

Enjoy!

What a great start to Montreal’s first WordCamp, Congrats to Jeremy and Sylvain for organizing such a great event!

WordCamp MTL was hosted at SAT, a really neat techno center in Montreal. The turnout was excellent, 160+ attendees/speakers from 2 countries all for $30 which included free lunch on Saturday, coffee and of course Montreal bagels every morning! Not only did we get to geek out all weekend in 2 languages, it was also the 30th anniversary of the Montreal Jazz Festival, Just for Laughs, the Warp tour, the Haitian festival, and all the other fantastic things Montreal has to offer.

This weekend was a huge success and next year should be even better. I met so many great people this weekend, would love to list them here, but there are just to many, but you know who you are  It was also great to see so many faces from WordCamp Toronto 2009 making the voyage out to Montreal.

Here are some of my favorite highlights…

• Erin Blaskie on Lifestreaming and the future of blogging. Even though she was in track 2, the smaller room,  she had a full audience, in fact her presentation was so popular it blocked the front door and the organizers had to open up another entrance…
• CT Moore did a presentation on WP-MU 101: How to Install and Avoid Common Mistakes, which I was really looking forward to. He discussed the ins and outs of installing and using WPMU from his development experiences, it was informative, but a little to basic, was hoping for more tech stuff on the subject matter. However, towards the end of his presentation Andy Peatling, Automattic and BuddyPress developer,  joined in the conversation to help field some questions and add some new insights.
• Special Q&A by Matt Mullenweg (Founder of WordPress). Matt discussed a wide range or topics from translation plugins, to community development, education, and the future of WordPress. My favorite audience question was “How do you make money?” You can find some really great interviews from Matt during WordCamp Montreal on amicalmant’s YouTube page.
• After party at the St. Sulpice – Had the opportunity to hang out with Matt and talk poetry and Jazz, met some really great Montreal WP’ers, and was reunited with my long lost brother (Stephane Daury)

WordCamp Gangstas

• Jane Wells did a fabulous presentation on the Future of WordPress. I was very enthused about their call to developers/designers to contribute to WordPress on so many levels. I hope to be able to help out in some capacity.
• Another great after party at the Ste. Elisabeth on Sunday night, then on to the Pizzadelic for dinner, and then to the FREE Ben Harper concert at La Place des Arts, and finished up at the Benelux (it was a really long night…)

Some other quick mentions…

• You should check out some of the great pictures taking during the event at the official Flickr pool, also huge props to EvaBlue for taking some awesome shots during and after the event!
• make sure to check out all or some of the WordCamp Montreal Presentation Slides
• Don’t forget to visit there facebook group, follow them on twitter and #wcmtl, and check out the official page.

Not only can you geek out on Twitter you can wear it and take it everywhere you go!

Twitter Tees features notable Tweets submitted and voted on by Twitter users, with art direction and design of each t-shirt by the in-house creative team at Threadless.

Twitter Tees allows users submit their favorite tweets and have them printed on tees. You can also vote on all tweets that have been submitted. As an added bonus they are currently running a contest to win cash each time you vote on a tweet are submit one.

One of the coolest features of the site is the ability to log in with your twitter account. Once logged in the site will read your twitter feed, tweets, replies, messages, etc. You can the choose to submit anything from your feed to be voting on and printed on tees.

The catalogue is still small, but they only just started, can’t wait to see how quickly it grows.

I’ll be putting together a series of tutorials demonstrating some of the neat jQuery features we integrated on the new site. Let us know what you think of digibomb?

The official press release:

digibomb acquires BackSpaceStudios

Toronto/Seattle – digibomb inc. announced today the acquisition of BackSpaceStudios, a digital marketing agency that specializes in open source web development.

The acquisition comes a strategic alliance with Seattle based marketing firm, New Marketing Direct. Both the acquisition and alliance strengthens digibomb’s and New Marketing Direct’s position as a leading inter-national full-service marketing firm, significantly expanding its web community, and introducing new in-house capabilities in content development, social media, open source design and development.

About digibomb

We believe in Open Source Design and technology and practice this philosophy in all our work. It’s about using Open Source Tools to create an interactive, engaging, accessible, and intuitive experience for every community.

It is our goal to bring Open Source to the commercial workspace, deliver alternatives, and change the face of design as we know it! it is our responsibility to build a better web and help foster Social Media and

digibomb is a small and friendly team in Toronto, Canada. We’re also the minds behind:

• PHUG – Open Source Culture, where designers and developers meet.
• PHUG Workshops – FREE Opens Source Workshops for students and proffessionals.
• WordCamp Toronto 2009 – WordCamp is a conference type of event that focuses squarely on everything WordPress.
• FlashPress – Bridging two worlds! – A full Flash CMS built on the WordPress Platform.

visit www.digibombinc.com

About New Marketing Direct

New Marketing Direct is a subsidiary of Direct Marketing Inc. Josh Bereano, founder, conceived Direct Marketing Inc, based out of Seattle Washington, in 1997 with the intention of developing an Internet Marketing Company. Since its inception in 1997, Direct Marketing Inc. has launched several web based projects, collaboratives, and initiatives.

New marketing Direct is aligned with various companies in its strategic charge into the digital social media world. Our corporate offices are located in Seattle, with satellites in Toronto and Miami.

visit www.newmarketingdirect.com

WordCamp is a conference type of event that focuses squarely on everything WordPress. Everyone from casual end users all the way up to core developers show up to these events. These events are usually highlighted by speeches or keynotes by various people.

So What’s Makes WordCamp Toronto Different?

This year WCT will be exploring more than just a WordPress blog. This years philosophy is “GET Social”, there will be many presentations geared towards social media, community development, open source technologies, education, and more. The idea is show how all these concepts come together successfully on the Social Web.

What’s on the Menu?
There is  an all-star lineup and its growing everyday!

• Nick La - http://www.ndesign-studio.com, http://www.webdesignerwall.com, http://www.bestwebgallery.com
• Peter Flaschner – http://www.theblogstudio.com
• Erin Blaskie – http://www.bsetc.ca
• Jeremy Clarke – http://simianuprising.com
• Lorelle Van Fossen – http://lorelle.wordpress.com

…just to name a few. Check out the Speakers List

Also for the fist time this year there will be an award show, the WCT Awards .

WCT Awards

This year we’re trying something new! You can submit any work you have done with WordPress from plug-ins, themes, blog and site development, and more. Make sure to submit your work before April 1st and check out the current list of nominees.

and…

The Schedule

This year WCT will be 3 days of WP goodness broken down into three tracks of presentations daily! Also, everyday we will dedicate 2 slots to our Dev Camp and Get Social gatherings.

What’s Dev camp?
It’s an opportunity for developers to hang out in one room and code away. Build plug-in, a theme, or anything else creative with WordPress and we will open source at the end of the event. We will also enter the best Dev Camp creation into the WCT Award ceremony.

What’s Get Social?
It’s an opportunity for the WP’ers of the world to unite! We will dedicate an entire room for face to face social time where you can voice your opinion and get involved. Here you can discuss how you use WP creatively, what unique and interesting plug-ins and themes you’ve built or come across, and anything else that on your mind.

There are only 7 days left to purchase a ticket, so be quick before it is to late! - Register

Official Site: http://www.wordcamptoronto.com

A few months ago I posted about Firefox Personas and how to make your own…Here’s a quick recap:

What are Personas? Personas for Firefox is a extension that adds lightweight theming to your browser. Personas is a very simple way for any designer, beginner or advanced, to easily create themes for your browser on the fly.

Once installed, the Persona selector is dynamically loaded and populated from a JSON feed and all designs are loaded via URLs to remote resources. All changes to the browser chrome are applied instantly, with no need to restart.

Read the tutorial here http://dropthedigibomb.com/category/open-source-design/page/2/

Since my last post the persona community has grown and many new features have been added including chrome integration, and a gallery of over 500 persona designs. For more information on new features and latest updates check out the Personas project page http://labs.mozilla.com/projects/firefox-personas/.

In an effort to create more awareness around the Personas project, and after some discussion with developers on this project, I decided to incorporate Personas into my curriculum at Seneca College. I asked my second semester students in the Digital Media Arts Program to produce custom Personas for any category they wanted. I hope to continue adding to this collection every semester…maybe Mozilla will add a student category to the Persona gallery?

Here are the current submissions in no particular order.

[Show as slideshow]

[View with PicLens]

Visit http://www.getpersonas.com/