Usually programmers use a lot of JavaScript code snippets as functions regularly, These JavaScript functions are lengthy code snippets and are usually tough to understand and edit. Some of the most common functions used are form validation functions , Pagination functions etc.

The day since jQuery has been on the block , It has provided a nifty way of solving a lot of common problems for which we needed lengthy JavaScript functions. I am sharing with you guys top 20 jQuery plugins and code snippets that are pretty useful for daily coding routines.

1) Form validation plugin:- Form validation is probably the most common used JavaScript functionality used these days . However , a lot of repetitive editing is required in the forms and JavaScript regex expressions for correctly fitting the validations.

For this a nifty jquery plugin Valid8 provides a easy to use 4 line code to insert validation in any form !, Valid8 provides various methods including ajax requests, multiple regex validation etc in form validation , I have found ajax requests to be a nifty feature while checking username availability in registration and signup forms

Valid8 plugin page can be found at http://www.unwrongest.com/projects/valid8/

And it can be downloaded from:-

http://jquery-valid8.googlecode.com/files/jquery.valid8-1.2.2.js

2) Drag and Drop functionality using jQuery:- This excellent tutorial showed me a nifty way of making a drag and drop functionality , This drag and drop interface provide a excellent web 2.0 interface in your web projects for user usability. This drag and drop tutorial uses the Google JqueryUi plugin , Which we believe is used by google on it’s products  Drag and drop is used heavily by Google on it’s products such as gmail and igoogle.

For making such a drag and drop functionality you will need the jquery Ui plugin by google which can be located here.

The tutorial can be find at :- http://papermashup.com/drag-drop-with-php-jquery/

The demo of this tutorial can be located at http://papermashup.com/demos/jquery-drag-drop/

And the complete source code of the tutorial can be downloaded from http://papermashup.com/demos/jquery-drag-drop/jquery-drag-drop.zip

3) Pagination using jquery:- This is a official plugin from Jquery guys to provide pagination on any set of data you have. This plugin is a useful replacement of the php pagination classes and provides a neat web2.0 style pagination features.Pretty useful when we have a large sets of data such as search results or data listings.

Since this is a official plugin from jquery guys , The stability of the plugin is definitely unquestionable . it uses a simple javascript funciton which takes page_index and paging container as the arguments. For complete documentation read the official documentation of this plugin

The official Plugin page can be found at:- http://plugins.jquery.com/project/pagination

The demo of the plugin can be seen at:- http://d-scribe.de/webtools/jquery-pagination/demo/demo_options.htm

4) Embed flash using jQuery:- Flash is probably the best intreactive web technology invented till date, The people tend to understand best by audio-visual effects and flash is the ultimate choice on web.

Dealing with flash variables , cross-browser issues and browsers with flash plugin not installed always left a bitter experience for a programmer, But using this Embed flash plugin this issues can be sorted out in a easy manner.

The official plugin page can be found at:- http://jquery.lukelutman.com/plugins/flash/

5) Creating tag cloud via jQuery:- Tag cloud are a excellent way of showing important keywords and categories on your website ! , Usually tag cloud are made through php class via predefined keyword density.

The official plugin dynacloud shows a neat simple tagcloud which is generated dynamically.

The official plugin page can be found at:- http://plugins.jquery.com/project/dynacloud

Demo of the plugin can be found at

http://johannburkard.de/blog/programming/javascript/dynacloud-a-dynamic-javascript-tag-keyword-cloud-with-jquery.html

6) Insert Simple ajax effects using jquery :- Simple effects plugin provides easy methods of inserting cool ajax functionality and UI in your web apps.

UI functionality like Fade toggle boxes and blind toggle boxes are cool effect that can make your web apps UI a lovely experience for your users.

The official plugin page can be found at http://www.learningjquery.com/2008/02/simple-effects-plugins

7) Creating tips with jQuery  :- Tips are some efficient way of showing simple bits of information to users, This jquery plugin gives you a excellent way to create nifty tips in html code

Plugin page can be found at:- http://codylindley.com/Javascript/264/jtip-a-jquery-tool-tip

Demo of this jquery plugin :- http://www.codylindley.com/blogstuff/js/jtip/

These are some basic plugins that can make progrrammers life easy ! Try them and let us know how you find them !, Do list out your favorites plugin below.

Also, If you are beginning your steps on jquery development , Do try this excellent book on jquery . It has all necessary details on beginning jquery development

Html pop up pages are legacy ways that are used across all the web for showing small snippets of information , However they are fastly replaced via Lightbox nowadays !

Here in this tutorial we will be creating a popup javascript function which can be called multiple times on a webpage for creating different popups !, These javascript functions are easy to create and call from the links in html webpage

First of all create a file called popup.js

function popup(URL) {
var popup_width = 600
var popup_height = 400
day = new Date();
id = day.getTime();
eval("page" + id + " = window.open(URL, '" + id + "', 'toolbar=0,scrollbars=1,location=0,statusbar=0,menubar=0,resizable=1,width='+popup_width+',height='+popup_height+'');");
}

This javascript function popup will take URL in the argument and will create a new popup page when executed , The height and width of the popup page can be adjusted via popup_width and popup_height !, This function uses the inbuilt functiionality of javascript by using window.open !, This window.open takes url , id and various parameters for creating the popup page.

This simple and nifty popup page can be called via a simple href link in a html page , A small example is given below.

<a href="javascript:popcontact('pop-up.htm')">Click here</a>

Hope this tutorial helped you to learn basics of creating a popup page , Let us know your thoughts , comments and questions on comments !, We will love to help you !