Scott Nellé.com

This is a basic tutorial that offers an introduction to the Ajax component of the mootools javascript library. At the end of this tutorial you’ll be able to use an HTML form to send requests to a PHP script and return a response without refreshing the page. This basic process is the foundation for most of the ajax that you see littered around the internet today. Mootools offers a simple way to get your feet wet with this technology, and plenty of room to grow once you know what you’re doing.

This tutorial is something of a followup to one that I wrote some time ago, describing the same basic process using the moo.ajax class, a precursor to mootools. That article still gets a fair number of visits on my site, but since moo.ajax has been deprecated it isn’t very useful. This tutorial expands on that one a little, but is essentially an update. By now everyone has heard of ajax, so there’s no need to repeat the introduction. Let’s get started.

What You’ll Need

• Some way to run PHP scripts. Many web hosts offer this. You can also set up a web server on your personal computer, which will make the development process much more simple.
• A copy of the mootools library. I’ll show you how to get a customized version that meets all of our requirements.

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Update: Moo.Ajax has become deprecated since I originally wrote this article, as its functionality has been incorporated into the new mootools library. I’ve written a follow-up piece that explains this same basic principal using the more current library. I’d suggest checking that out if you’re interested in a dead-simple introduction to ajax.

This is a very basic tutorial which offers a glance at the moo.ajax class from Mad 4 Milk. It doesn’t expand too much on the tutorial that they provide, but I feel that it will help clarify a few things. Don’t let the length of this article frighten you, what you are about to learn is pretty simple. I just use a lot of words to explain it. By the time you’ve worked through this tutorial, you will be able to build a form that interacts with a PHP script and returns data, without refreshing the page. It’s a pretty simple process that can serve as the basis for some very cool applications.

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