Color Thief

From the creator of the original javascript lightbox comes Color Thief, a jQuery plugin that analyzes the colors in a given image and returns the dominant color and the color palette. Has some incredible usage possibilites both from from a design angle and also in improving usability. Definitely looking for an excuse to use this on a project.

Three (Somewhat) Easy & (Really) Important Ways to Improve Your Site with jQuery

Web developers have been using JavaScript to layer on enhanced user interfaces and add dynamic content since the days of Netscape Navigator’s dominance. Today JavaScript can be used to build huge advanced web applications but it still remains a valuable tool we use daily to add progressive enhancements that can make the difference between a good site and a great one.

The jQuery JavaScript Library helps make many common tasks easier and gives developers a powerful toolset to handle page events, animations, and more. Complicated, common tasks go from 100 line endeavors to single lines of code. The vast list of available plugins available can add even more capabilities.

Using the jQuery library and leveraging reusable logic makes adding some basic usability and interaction features a no brainer on most projects. Relatively easily we can make important tweaks that improve the overall user experience of your site.

Read on to learn more…

Search jQuery documentation from Spotlight

Just found a great productivity tool for Mac web developers from blogger Mika Tuupola, a native jQuery API dictionary for Mac OS X 10.5. Once downloaded and set up you’ll have access to the documentation within the dictionary, Spotlight searches, and via the contextual info popups in your text editor or Safari. No need to be online to access docs.jquery.com anymore.

Head over to Mika’s site for more instructions and the dictionary download file.

Note: There’s also a similar Ruby on Rails dictionary file available for download.