Human Life Value website -- hybrid: Xara (DPX 9), PHP, jquery, google visualizations

[jonazen]

This project started to be a simple cloning of a single page of an old site that a client wanted to move to its own URL with some additional info. The old site appeared to be very straightforward (if a bit ugly and dated). It really looked pretty easy: I'd create something new and prettier, add the extra content pages, and mimic the conversation between the web page and the back end CGI program that generated some of the content on the fly.

Suffice it to say -- it got a lot more complex after that -- but largely due to me encouraging the client to contribute design ideas, preferences, etc.

In the end, I've got a few pages assembled in DPX9, and augmented by a number of tools and tweaks, some provided by our sledger, without whose quite and helpful responses and tweaks I'd have struggled a lot longer. Acorn's jquery to handle wrapped links turned out to be a perfect solution for my FAQ page.

I've embedded jquery in the header part of placeholders (brilliant feature, Xara!), and calls to PHP code in the body portion of placeholders. Perhaps some of the more interesting parts of this involved having PHP embedded in a DP page, with the PHP code generating and writing out jquery on the fly as the page was processed.

I designed the more complex form using CoffeeCup's form builder, but in the end, I found that I could control both field-level AND form level validation by use of jquery. I didn't want to reinvent the form entirely, so I've stuck with this. But the second (and simpler) form I put together by hand. In the end, I think I may have discovered that although tempting, form builders may take just as much time as design forms and code by hand -- and the hand-coded stuff is much tighter, giving you more control over its function.

Instead of standard javascript alert boxes (which look different on every browser, and generally ugly anywhere), I included "Alertify", an open source javascript library to replace the need for standard alerts. Very nice visual effects possible with this.

If you go to the "Analysis" page and fill in all the parameters, the site talks via PHP "curl" a back-end server at my client's office, and gets an XML response. PHP parses the response, and writes out dynamic jquery that makes use of Googles "Visualization" library to generate really nice graphs and tables on the fly.

So -- yeah -- definitely more complex than I anticipated, but it came together nicely in the end. Now that I know how all the pieces should fit together, it needs some refactoring. But using Xara DPX9 as the primary design tool was invaluable, and continues to make ongoing support end edits incredibly easy.

Take a look at it here:

http://www.humanlifevalue.com/

[pauland]

Hmm. I hate the clinical nature of the site. I didn't find it engaging - particularly for a site that should encourage people in a positive manner. I think the pallette should be warm and engaging not cold - particularly considering the subject and could do with some graphics.

It's workmanlike.

[jonazen]

Thanks for the feedback...I think...

The design elements evolved over time based on client direction, strong client preferences, numerous discussions and experiments with various themes and colors, budget and collaboration. The original plan (and budget) was for a couple of pages with some back end plumbing to replace an existing single page that lived on another organization's site. Much of the effort involved discovery of and coding to undocumented back end interfaces, smooth recovery in the event of server failure, usage tracking, etc. In the end (and I don't intend this to be overly defensive) it's dramatically better than the original single page, has far greater functionality than anything planned or budgeted, and evolved to meet client design, preferences and wishes. I understand and appreciate your points, however the tone is actually exactly what the client was looking for, and fits their overall communication and message - it's really not intended to be warm, cozy and reassuring at all. As you might have gleaned from the opening page, it's more of a wake up call with a somewhat hard and edgy message.

Anyway, thanks. Feedback and critique is always helpful (especially when constructive).

I guess my real aim in sharing this was a bit lost : I was pleased to see how well Xara DPX9 could integrate with javascript, jquery, php, CSS 3, etc., and how a hybrid architecture like this makes it feasible to combine the rapid prototyping and turnaround of a wysiwyg tool with modern web standards, dynamic content merged seamlessly with static content, back end APIs, XML, and more complex tools like Google visualization. I was hoping others might see the integration as an option for what they might need to accomplish one day, and realize that this is totally feasible with a Xara product at the center of it all.

[pauland]

Fair enough. I think your client is wrong though.

I think the tone should have been about celebrating your living value and giving you the power to continue to share that value if you couldn't provide it.

Scaring people to try and make sales is a poor way to do things.

[jonazen]

The company does not sell insurance... The site isn't about selling, and isn't about persuading people to cherish family or adopt any particular behavior beyond becoming better informed about a topic that is poorly explained to, and understood by, most people, including those sell, and those who buy, life insurance. Most of those who have traditionally become familiar with HLV have been litigants in wrongful death lawsuits, economists, expert witnesses on these topics, etc.

I feel bad that the topic meandered in this direction and tone. I understand the comments about aesthetics, but I had hoped users of Designer Pro and Web Designer might look at some of what's going on here that might be of use for their own projects. I've learned so much here (and at another Xara users' site), and thought I'd share another example that illustrates some powerful ways to expand the scope of what the Xara tools can tackle.

If anyone would like to compare notes on any of the integration topics, I'd be more than happy to do so. Most have already been treated here (and on that other site) with good explanations. Just thought I'd add a bit more of an example on topics like blending Xara web tools with:

JavaScript
Jquery
3rd party plug-ins like Alertify
Dynamic charts and tables with Google Visualization library (incredibly flexible)
PHP
PHP Curl (including obscure proxy requirements depending on your Web host)
Dynamic email generation
Forms (with and without a forms builder)

Happy to share what I've learned if anyone could benefit.

[pauland]

I feel bad that the topic meandered in this direction and tone.

Don't be. I appreciate your intentions and the work that has gone into it and I have no doubt many people on TG will be very appreciative and use it as an inspiration of what they can do and indeed be more ambitious.

I may have the wrong end of the stick for the user community that are targeted by the site.

Jon, you may have been interested in encouraging people to see your technical prowess and help them to do the same - I applaud you for that.

I have always thought that the human factors of a website are far more important than the technical aspects. I certainly think that the human factors are more important than any technical innovation and that combining the two is a win-win situation where the human factors are boosted by the use of technology. Technology as such is useless if the human factors aren't addressed.

I was taken aback by your description of the user-community served by the web page: Most of those who have traditionally become familiar with HLV have been litigants in wrongful death lawsuits, economists, expert witnesses on these topics, etc.

The first thing that I read on the page is

You just died. Are you worth more to your family now, or while you were still alive? Know your worth. Know why it matters. Sounds dramatic, but it’s a really important and practical concept that most people don’t think about. You should think about it, and we can help.

That statement seems to address the visitor personally. You just died. You, you, you. I don't find this compatible with the assertion that the website is targeted at litigants in wrongful death lawsuits, economists, expert witnesses .

Jon, I don't mean to upset you and clearly you are less than happy with my comments. I bow out now.

I wish you luck with the project. My comments are meant to be constructive and I still believe them to be so. I'm just sorry they aren't received in that way.