During my redesign of Jason’s Toolbox, I was looking for a different photo gallery script to use. I finally decided on writing my own. To display the photos, though, I decided to go with Lightbox. After awhile, I decided that the required Prototype and Scriptalicious JavaScript libraries were just too large. I liked Thickbox by Cody Lindley because it relied on JQuery — a javascript library that packs a lot of power into a tiny download.

Unfortunately, Thickbox didn’t allow users to move between images. Instead, the user was forced to close the overlay and reopen it with another image. So I decided to modify the script for my own use. I call the result is Slightly Thickerbox. The changes include:

• Case insensitvity when checking the file extension
• Caption and Close link appear on the top of the window instead of at the bottom
• Previous Image and Next Image links (if appropriate)

You can check it out (and download it) at http://www.jasons-toolbox.com/SlightlyThickerBox/.

After way too long without an update, you might notice a few changes here and there. Ok, some pretty radical changes.

You see, Jason’s Toolbox started in 2001 after Winmag.com was shut down. I had some programs that I had written in my spare time and decided that I needed a place to post them. Over the years, my interests shifted from coding standalone applications to coding web services. This was also partially motivated by my son’s birth since I found that coding and supporting standalone applications was taking a lot of spare time that I no longer had.

In addition, I became hooked on photography. Specifically, macro photography. With macro photography, a whole new world opened up to me. I opened a gallery to show off some of my macro photos.

I also opened a blog to help me catalog interesting web coding-related items. However, the “curse of little to no spare time” struck again. I had no time to update three different sites using three different tools. So I decided to combine them all into one site.

The “new and improved” Jason’s Toolbox will still list my old programs. All of the old programs are still available for download, but I’ve moved some of them to an “Archives” section. This means that the reason for their original purpose has passed and/or I don’t plan on making updates to them anytime soon. (Of course, I reserve the right to revive any program at any point.) In addition to the programs, I plan on making an releasing some web-based scripts for web developers to use on their websites. I also plan on posting some interesting macro and nature photographs that I take along the way. Finally, I might post some freeware reviews. (I started making a CD of freeware that I like for friends and family and it’s grown quite large.)

You might notice some of your favorite features are no longer listed. This may be because I decided to do away with them or just because I forgot to add them back in. Use the comments feature below to ask about their status. I hope you like the new direction that Jason’s Toolbox is taking. (I know I sure do.)