Today, I messed around with some cool stuff from a guy named Keith Wood. I’d seen some of his jQuery plugins before, but never really dug in. So, I decided to give it a shot.
Finding the Goods
First things first, I needed to find his stuff. I just googled “Keith Wood” and boom, there was his website. It looked kinda old-school, but hey, the content is what matters, right?
Picking a Project
He’s got a TON of plugins. Like, seriously, a lot. I scrolled through the list and saw countdown timers, calendars, animations… you name it. I decided to play with the countdown timer, seemed like a fun place to start.
Getting it Working
I downloaded the plugin. It was just a simple .js file, so that was easy. Then, I created a basic HTML page, you know, the usual <html>, <head>, <body> stuff. I added a <script> tag to link to jQuery (since it’s a jQuery plugin, duh) and another <script> tag to link to the countdown timer file I downloaded.
I add code in my html:
- <!DOCTYPE html>
- <html>
- <head>
- <meta charset=”utf-8″>
- <title>Keith Wood Test</title>
- </head>
- <body>
- <div id=”countdown”></div>
- <script src=”*”></script>
- <script src=”*”></script>
- <script>
- $(function () {
- $(‘#countdown’).countdown({until: new Date(2024, 12-1, 25)}); //Christmas!
- </script>
- </body>
- </html>
The Moment of Truth
I opened the HTML file in my browser… and BAM! There it was, a countdown timer ticking away. It was pretty plain looking, but it WORKED! I was stoked.
Tweaking and Playing
Of course, I couldn’t leave it alone. I started messing with the options. I changed the date it was counting down to, played with the formatting, and even added some custom text. It was surprisingly easy to customize.
Wrapping Up
Overall, it was a fun little experiment. Keith Wood’s plugins are definitely well-made and easy to use. I’ll probably check out some of his other stuff later. If you’re looking for some simple, no-frills jQuery plugins, definitely give his site a look. I just show how to use it, and it’s really simple. I think I will try other plugin next time.
