I’ve just seen on Techcrunch that YouTube, just like Digg and a few smaller companys are dropping IE6. I write this quickly and just to express my thoughts. This is a long needed course of direction, and I am happy to be right within the trend of it myself. Developing Web Applications with IE6 Support is a major pain in the ass for various reasons (google about it) and I faded my own effort and support for IE6 a while ago already. It didn’t hurt me very much and I can work faster and better because of this decision. I still support IE7 and IE8 roughly, though I only fix the biggest visual screwups and only if I notice them. I don’t go hunting for bugs on these two browsers, and in general I don’t run into problems with that because Microsoft has improved the IE compatibilitys alot lately. The IE branch still has issues that should not be, but the situation is better - for the users and developers alike. So I am happy to see this development and I am looking forward to other companys dropping their IE(6) supports. And if you are an IE User yourself: Check out alternatives. There are great browsers for any needs, wether you need memory friendly browsers or something feature rich, in most cases they all take the problem of visually screwed up Websites away. Go with an alternative because it lightens up your experience in the web. You do yourself a favor, and dropping IE(6) support does a favor do all companys and developers and leads to a higher quality too.

What alternatives are there? Try Firefox, Opera, Safari, Chrome, or alot other ones. Just look around, you can find alternatives everywhere and they all have something special that may suit you perfectly.

Over and out.

English: New Version 2.0 is now Online! This Version features a heavily updated design, improved search function and sorting by popularity of the offers.

Comparison Screenshots (hosted on imageshack):
Main Page: OLD | NEW
Search Results: OLD | NEW
Detail Page: OLD | NEW

Also, in a previous post I played with the thought to make a comparison after a while on how much a better design with only minor feature improvements may improve a sites ranking and success. The Project now is Online for around half a year or so and there are only minor Marketing efforts. The following are the Alexa.com Statistics as of 05. July 2009 with the old version:
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Since there is so few we write about on this page, let’s give you an update:

I am working on my German Social Dating Community “Phonr.de” (which is not officially an Emotion Pixels project as of the moment) to prepare it for Version 0.2. Very few is missing there (Feedback Area and a good Search) and the new UI looks very sharp. I am personally excited to put the new version live, because the more I code to the script the more stable and quality it gets. In the end, when this script matures to version 1.0 at some distant point in the future, I’d get a nice community script with dozens of features and i18n support, that I may will put to good use for an alternate, english, dating site or for sale or something like that. I haven’t decided, that are just some thoughts I make public here.

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In my own CMS systems I always use the top-notch ezSQL database class to make things easier and faster. For the rating functionality of my items I use the Unobtrusive AJAX Star Rating Bar from Ryan Masuga. For the sake of consistency I wanted to migrate it into my existing system that used ezSQL, so I started looking for an ezSQL port. There was none, so I just did my own and I want to share it with you guys.

Sadly support for that excellent Rating Class has ceased a longer time ago, but that doesn’t mean it can’t be used and/or improved, right? Now, for everyone using ezSQL who has no idea how to adjust the script to use ezSQL, I have a small sweet candy: AJAX Star Rating Bar 1.22 (ezSQL Port 1.0)

Features

• Fully utilizes the ezSQL database class so it can integrate into existing ezSQL projects.
• Based on the last and latest Unobtrusive AJAX Star Rating Bar v1.22. Improved PHP files only, Javascripts are completely untouched.

Requirements

You need ezSQL 2.x to use this port of the script. If you are looking for non-dependend ways, head over to the Original Script from Ryan Masuga

Support

I don’t intend to pickup and extend the abandoned project. Neither do I want to claim the original work from Ryan as my own. I just made it to use ezSQL and “beautyfied” the PHP code a bit, while the Javascripts are completely untouched. I leave the final migration into your project to you, I just give out the already ported basis - exactly as the original script did. So, only expect further improves or bugfixes here if they are related to my ezSQL portation. And remember: No Guarantees, Usage at your own risk.

Have fun now, grab the script here:

  AJAX Star Rating Bar 1.22 (ezSQL Port 1.0) (16.7 KiB, 303 hits)

Deutsch:
Seit PHP Melody 1.5.3 wird das Script bereits “Mehrsprachig” ausgeliefert. Unter den mitgelieferten Sprachen befindet sich auch eine Deutsche Sprachdatei. Diese Sprachdatei ist zwar nicht perfekt, aber generell ausreichend. Da es nun keinen Bedarf mehr gibt unser Sprachpaket zu nutzen, stellen wir unseren Support des Deutschen PHP Melody Sprachpaket nun vollständig ein. Unsere bisherigen Sprachdateien sind auch nicht mehr mit Version 1.5.3 kompatibel, daher nutzen Sie bitte direkt die nun im Script enthaltenen Dateien oder modifizieren Sie diese nach Ihren Anforderungen.
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