Intro
Lightmode is a user interface for websites. The idea is to display information on a page like normal, but to add a quasimode that shows parts of the page that can be manipulated. Choosing one of these parts pops up an arbitrary web application in a modal window (a la Lightbox), and when you're done changing the info, you close the app.
Usage
Lightmode is enabled on this page, as the big green "Ready" in the corner indicates. Here's how to test-drive it:
- Press and hold "Escape" to enter the Lightmode quasimode.
- While in this quasimode, click a pane to launch an app to manage the info in that pane.
- After you're done with the app, click "Close" or hit "Escape" again.
Wiring
Here's how to add Lightmode to a web page:
- Include jquery.js, jquery.dimensions.js, lightmode.js, and lightmode.css
- Add the class "lightmode-pane" to any element that should get its own overlay.
- Also add a "run" attribute to each such element, set to the URL of the app to load.
View source on this page to see an example.
History & Status
I first encountered quasimodes in Archy. Then I met Humanized, who are commercializing Archy under the name Enso. I wrote Lightmode after meeting them. I had been using Plone heavily (yes, it's a drug), and Lightmode was basically an experiment in applying quasimodes to a CMS.
Now, the first version of Lightmode was actually called Overlight, and I wrote it using MochiKit in August 2006. I decided to publish it in February 2007 after talking to these guys. I rewrote it in January 2008 for Aza Raskin of Humanized/Mozilla, using jQuery.
Thanks to all these folks, but especially to Aza for motivating me to clean this up.
I'm not actually using Lightmode anywhere yet, but it's kind of neat, isn't it?