

Log in page - sangguine

Hi. I have a question. Many website nowadays grays out everything but the log in form when a user clicks on "Log in." Elance.com is one example. Do you know what javascript library they use?
======
halo
According to their source, Elance use YUI containers combined with a bit of
custom JS. This isn't anything special though - it's reasonably simple to
write something similar from scratch and there's plenty of alternatives (e.g.
Thickbox, a Lightbox clone, supports iFrame embedding).

In future, it's worth putting a more explanatory subject line rather than
simply "Log in page", and I'd be surprised if you couldn't have found this
with a simple Google search to be honest.

~~~
jsomers
I understand why my mom used to tell me to "look it up"---it's a good habit to
cultivate. But if someone's available and they won't mind, just asking is
usually 10-100 times faster than looking it up.

If I didn't know much about what I was looking for (per this example), I could
see myself spending a good hour trying to find an answer, vs. the few minutes
it took to get one here.

That's what colleagues are for!

------
dmix
Yeah this is a simple javascript, theres tons of variations just search for
lightbox.

Also, this isn't the most usable way in every scenario. It's alright for login
boxes if you want to drive more towards the signup process. But you just as
easily add the actual input boxes and eliminate the need for a lightbox...
which saves a few clicks and won't make them have to figure out how to close
the pop-up.

Or you can use both, for example: have the login input boxes (username/pw) on
the top right and when they click on an element that requires a login (for
example adding a comment) then the lightbox will pop up.

~~~
jamesbritt
For whatever reasons, the "cover the whole page with a translucent image"
thing is dog slow on my copy of Firefox. Most lightbox effects tend to be
annoying for me, and possibly for others.

Unless there is an actual need, aside from "Boy, this will look slick",
consider other options. Or at least do some user testing to ensure that users
respond well.

------
jamesjyu
Yep, lots of variations on lightboxes. I remember Wufoo had a post with pretty
good library for doing it, but can't seem to find it now.

Overall though, it's easy enough to roll your own without being constrained to
use it in a particular way by a 3rd party library.

------
bprater
Speaking of Javascript, Elance.com is a great example of how not to use Ajax.

~~~
ScottWhigham
I can't speak about the entire site but I actually think some ways they use
Ajax are ideal.

[http://www.elance.com/php/search/main/eolsearch.php?matchTyp...](http://www.elance.com/php/search/main/eolsearch.php?matchType=profile#matchKeywords=website%20template&catFilter=100)

I love the sliders on the left side - much better than the old drop downs.

