On this day in 2006, I wrote and published a short post here about something that had eluded my attempts at searching for an answer. I thought that archiving the information online might help if I needed to find it again later, and that it might help anyone else who had been similarly unable to track down the answer.

Three years later, the site has served over one million page views to JavaScript enabled browsers in the last year alone, and thousands of you keep tabs on the site’s updates through RSS, email, and/or Twitter.

One step at a time, it’s astonishing just how far this thing has come.

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While there’s no question that HTML, CSS, and JavaScript form the foundation of modern web development, achieving fluency hasn’t been easy for everyone. In particular, the transition from stateful development with pixel-precise layout – such as VB6 offered – has proven to be especially difficult. HTTP’s stateless nature and HTML’s relatively imprecise layout present a new, different set of challenges.

WebForms aspired to insulate us from those inconveniences. Promising rapid, drag ‘n drop layout and event-driven programming, WebForms was an attractive choice for anyone struggling with web development closer to the metal. Unfortunately, it has become apparent over the years that the WebForms abstraction, while convenient, can easily cause more problems than it solves.

More recently, Silverlight’s WYSIWYG layout and choice of familiar CLR languages have made it a similarly enticing alternative to HTML, CSS, and JavaScript among some .NET developers, but is history repeating itself? Are we leveraging Silverlight to move the platform forward or is it being used as another crutch?

Specifically, I want you to consider three areas that are negatively impacted by overzealous use of Silverlight: Usability, accessibility, and maintainability.

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The time for this is long past due. The current logo does not make the sort of first impression that it needs to. It’s a good reminder that we should usually stick to our core competencies (i.e. I shouldn’t pretend to be a graphic designer).

I know at least a handful of you are design focused. So, if you want to take a shot at the contest, head on over to the contest page at Logo Tournament and show me what you’ve got.

Update: The contest is over. I want to thank everyone who participated, especially the winner: Anica Soleva.

Reviewing my stats for the year, you might think the only topic I write about is jQuery. Of the posts I’ve written in 2008, 80% of the most popular posts have been jQuery related.

That’s okay with me though. I’m happy to see so many of you embracing jQuery in your ASP.NET applications.

With Microsoft’s surprise announcement that jQuery will be bundled with future versions of Visual Studio, I think the jQuery tangent that ASP.NET developers such as myself, Rick Strahl, and Matt Berseth have explored this year has definitely proven worthwhile.

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I am happy to announce that the first release of Username Availability Validator is available on CodePlex today: http://www.codeplex.com/UsernameAvailability.

Username Availability Validator is an ASP.NET server control which provides indication of username availability, for use in new user registration functionality.

Features include:

• Choice of automatic validation of the username’s availability as the user types it or validation when the user changes form fields.
• Derived from BaseValidator, so Page.IsValid and the ValidationSummary control function correctly.
• Flexibility of validating against an ASP.NET MembershipProvider or a custom authentication store, through a user supplied web service or page method.

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After about a week of great discussion and development over at CodePlex, the Username Availability Validator control is nearing readiness for an initial release.

While there are still a few outstanding bug fixes up for grabs and ample room for enhancement, most of the control’s base functionality has been implemented. If you intend to enter the Advanced ASP.NET AJAX Server Controls book giveaway contest via code contribution, time is running out, so don’t delay.

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I know I’ve been teasing you for weeks about this contest, but it’s really here now.

Adam Calderon and Joel Rumerman have generously provided three copies of Advanced ASP.NET AJAX Server Controls to give away.

Given the topic of the book, building an ASP.NET AJAX server control seemed like the perfect way to give the book away. So, that’s what we’re going to do. We’re going to build a free, open source server control on CodePlex.

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Well, Justin Etheredge tagged me in Michael Eaton’s software development meme that’s been going around.

As far as blog-chain-letters go, this is a great one. It’s interesting to see how many diverse backgrounds lead us in the same direction.

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I would truly like to thank whoever submitted AJAX username availability check to Ajax Rain yesterday, for introducing me to this great resource. Until seeing it as a referrer in my stats, I was unfamiliar with the site. After taking a look today, it appears to be an absolute goldmine of client side ideas.

If you’re interested in AJAX development of any kind, check it out. Its RSS feed is definitely a permanent addition to my Google Reader.