vCardMaker updates
To date, vCardMaker has been one of the most popular features on this site, as shown by my site’s statistics. However, conversely, it’s also been the least-updated tool on the site - the last time it was updated must have been close to a year ago.
The script was starting to creak behind-the-scenes and an attempt by me long ago to split off the interface and mate it with a third-party back-end proved unsuccessful. Everything got left to rot. It must have been the gradual drop in popularity that prompted me to resume work on it, coupled with the general lack of having things to do at the moment.
Up to now, I’ve done quite a bit of work on it, dedicating the best part of two days to back-end work. However, the interface hasn’t escaped lightly. Just some of the features that I suspect will be popular include collapsible sections, more meaningful field labels, large text boxes and improved support for Internet Explorer 6 (trust me, it hasn’t been easy!)
I have also AJAXified the whole interface with an overlay that displays the resulting vCard and any error messages. I debugged the PHP back-end and removed a lot of errors as well as porting the whole thing to PHP 5. Finally, I’ve added the ability to get your vCard emailed to you. I also tried (unsuccessfully) to bring back the download option - it’s been a problem ever since I introduced it - but I’m not giving up on it just yet.
There are still a few Internet Explorer quirks to sort out and the download option to fix, and then it’s onto the new vCardMaker Wizard (presents a simple interface with only the important fields) and the vCardMaker API to allow third-party scripts to access vCardMaker and make their own vCards. I’m also planning to start using cookies to allow users to store their favourite configuration of collapsed sections and options.