Wordpress and Ajax

One of the hidden features of the new Wordpress 2.0 is that it is ready for Ajax plugins and development.

I’m always reading about Ajax and secretly wondering what the Hell is it? (I just hope that I’m not the only one). I dimly recall from my Classical education that Ajax was a hero in the Trojan War, and then he seemed to crop up as a chemical for cleaning the loo. I presume that the techies are not talking about either of these Ajaxes.

So I turn to the Wikipedia and learn that Ajax (programming) is based on Javascript. I am pleased to say that I already understand that Java is a language that works across all platforms, Apple, Windows, Linux etc. So far so good. (Wrong, Hugh! - see comment from Markus)

Now as far as I can understand, you will know an Ajax application when you see it in the following way. If you come across a webpage that interacts with you without reloading, then that’s probably Ajax. For example, it might be a search function that gives you results without taking you to another page. Ajax commenting might be possible on a blog, so that you are pretty much typing directly onto the page.

That’s my bluffer’s guide to Ajax. There’s going to be more of it about in 2006. You can see it in action on Wordpress blogs using the K2 theme. This is an example of a blog using K2. Try the Ajax search function, and you will see what it’s all about. And you can see the features list here . K2 seemed destined to become the new Wordpress Default, as it’s written by the same author. Ironcially, it turns out that K2 is not yet Wordpress 2.0 compatible, and is conspicious by its absence from the newly released package.

This entry was posted on December 27th, 2005 and is filed under Blog Home, How? What?. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response or Trackback from your own site.