If you’re looking for a quick and easy way to spice up your Web site, look no further than DevScripts. Over 1,000 scripts are available through DevScripts – ASP, ColdFusion, JavaScript, Perl, and more. The site has just recently launched, so expect many more new scripts in the future.
The scripts are organized in a logical way, according to the scripting language used. They are then sorted into categories by application (guestbook, counters, live chat, etc.). This organizational system is helpful if you’re looking for something specific, or even if you’re just browsing.
Sure, there are lots of script sites, but sometimes the quality of the scripts you receive is questionable. DevScripts solves that problem for you with its peer review system. Each script has an associated “Write A Review” link and “Rating” link. Once you’ve tried out a script, you can write a short review to let others know if you thought it was worth your time. Don’t have the time to write a review? No problem – your opinion still counts. Rate the script on a scale of 1 through 10. If you try a script and get errors, or if it doesn’t work, there’s an error-reporting link as well. There’s a “Tell a friend” link too, but this seems less helpful to the average user than the others.
Each script has a site link as well so you can see the script in action (and of course, view the source and copy it). It’s a quick way to tell if a script will do what you want before you spend time customizing and pasting it into your own pages. Most scripts are free, although some require payment. Commercial scripts are clearly marked.
If you sign up and become a member of DevScripts, you can submit scripts yourself. You can also add clever modifications to scripts already in the archives and submit those as well through a separate link.
I thoroughly enjoyed my visit to DevScripts. Navigation is simple, and it’s easy to find what you’re looking for. There’s even a search engine to help users locate specific scripts, plus “Top Scripts” and “New Scripts” lists to let visitors know what’s new and what’s popular. The only small complaint I have is that the Visit links sometimes point to another script library index page instead of a specific page listing the script. For me, this defeated the excellent navigation system of DevScripts, as you have to search twice to find a script. This is probably an effort on the part of the script authors to prevent deep linking on their sites, yet it is a slight annoyance.
If you need a script for your Web site, don’t spend your time reinventing the wheel. Head on over to DevScripts instead, and find exactly what you’re looking for.
Jackie Rosenberger is an editor with murdok
