<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/7330397@N03/1234248853/" title=""><img src="http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1047/1234248853_04448b595d_m.jpg" width="240" height="180" alt="ejaki web" style="float: right; margin-left:10px; border:0" /></a>

<p>As I&#8217;ve already posted here, I&#8217;ve been working the last two months on the ejaki project. I was assigned to make its web interface and I have it working already.</p>

<p>The previous website was very ugly and the ejaki data displaying was only a list of ejakis with a small google maps thumbnail for each one. It was running in <span class="caps">ASP</span>.NET (SQL server as database) and was using .NET authentication methods.</p>

<p>It was my first time working with <span class="caps">ASP</span>.net (I&#8217;ve only worked with classic <span class="caps">ASP</span> a few years ago) and I didn&#8217;t like quite much the webcontrols and the way things were organized. A <span class="caps">RAD</span> <span class="caps">MVC</span> platform for <span class="caps">ASP</span>.NET is what I really wanted, but <a href="http://midgard.zi-yu.com/">Midgard</a> wasn&#8217;t ready yet.</p>

<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/7330397@N03/1234250047/" title=""><img src="http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1374/1234250047_ef92d65c1f_m.jpg" width="240" height="180" alt="ejaki web new" style="float: left; margin-right:10px; border:0" /></a>

<p>I decided to remake the website all from scratch. The database was changed not to use that heavy .NET authentication modules and to add some extra information. As for javascript, I chose <a href="http://www.prototypejs.org/">Prototype</a> + <a href="http://script.aculo.us/">Script.aculo.us</a> + <a href="http://pastebin.com/f39685fb3">MyPrototype</a> and it was the first time I&#8217;ve seen it being used with <span class="caps">ASP</span>.NET. It works the same way as in ruby, py<b></b>thon or <span class="caps">PHP</span>, you just have to make a ashx file (Generic Handler) with the response you want to load with <span class="caps">AJAX</span> methods.  I found the <span class="caps">MASTER</span> and partial page system pretty weak for some stuff I wanted to do.</p>

<p>In the new website I tried a different approach. Being the data mainly geographical, the map is now the center of the website, and everything works around it. This may raise issues with browsers not compatible with Google Maps <span class="caps">API</span> and Mobile Devices (a target platform). So in the future, a mobile website will probably be done.</p>

<p>As for now, I&#8217;ve revamping the Windows Mobile software so it looks more cool to use. If you&#8217;re attending <a href="http://www.barcamp.org/BarCampPortugal2007">Barcamp Portugal</a>, I&#8217;ll be making a short presentation with a demo, so if you do have a <span class="caps">PDA</span> with <span class="caps">GPS</span>, please don&#8217;t forget it ;)</p>