Custom AJAX tools

Hello, I'm looking for a coder to work with on some Ajax tools for a website I'm upgrading this summer. The site is [login to view URL], and is undergoing a number of upgrades over the summer. One primary change we'd like to do is replace some outdated Post/Refresh tools with Ajax equivalents. As example, we'd like to replace our outdated rating tool with one written in Ajax. We would also like to add a few other Ajax tools like "I'm Attending" lists for our event calendar, and flagging tools for our picture gallery and forums. We require an Ajax programmer who can develop a number of these small tools that will interact with our back-end infrastructure. We will provide fully defined descriptions of the tools. You may choose an Ajax framework of choice as long as the license allows it to be added to our website code without tainting it. All tools must be written with the same framework and must support a Post/Refresh mechanism if JavaScript is disabled. This job is to build the AJAX Rating tool as described in “Deliverables??. If you can deliver a quality tool on time, you will be re-hired to develop the rest of the AJAX tools. Requirements will be provided for those when appropriate. You will not be required to build the back-end pages that will interface with your AJAX tools. However you must define what variables will be submit, and how results must be returned to the client. Deliverables will only be accepted once they can are proven to work with our back-end interface. ## Deliverables 1) Complete and fully-functional working program(s) in executable form as well as complete source code of all work done. 2) Deliverables must be in ready-to-run condition, as follows (depending on the nature of the deliverables): a) For web sites or other server-side deliverables intended to only ever exist in one place in the Buyer's environment--Deliverables must be installed by the Seller in ready-to-run condition in the Buyer's environment. b) For all others including desktop software or software the buyer intends to distribute: A software installation package that will install the software in ready-to-run condition on the platform(s) specified in this bid request. 3) All deliverables will be considered "work made for hire" under U.S. Copyright law. Buyer will receive exclusive and complete copyrights to all work purchased. (No GPL, GNU, 3rd party components, etc. unless all copyright ramifications are explained AND AGREED TO by the buyer on the site per the coder's Seller Legal Agreement). **Requirements for Ajax Rating Tool** 1) Must support ratings from 1 to 20, all our ratings are currently out of 10 but we'd like the ability to rate different things on a different scale. 2) The rating tool must work have a pretty and intuitive rating interface that can collapse to basic Post/Refresh if Javascript is disabled in the browser. 3) Upon the initial page load, the current average rating must be reflected by the rating tool. Fractional values must be reflected by a partial star (or whatever icon will be used to display the ratings). 4) Beneath the rating tool, a text string must display the current number of ratings, the average rating, and whether or not the current user has rated the item. The format of the string must be as follows: “Average rating of %f, rated %i times?? 5) Ratings submit Asynchronously or by a Post/Refresh must submit a SectionID and LinkID to identify the object being rated. 6) All members can only rate an item once. The rating tool should not allow members to rate an item a second time. Once a rating is submit, the rating tool should lock itself. 7) The rating tool must be split into two pieces. All Javascript must be placed in a seperate Javascrpit file that can be included in pages that require ratings. The HTML template must be seperate so it could be used as part of our site's template system. HTML templates are rendered with PHP. The rating template will be given the following variables: $POST = The URl to post to $SECTION_ID = A numeric value to identify the section (eg: 1=Pictures, 2=Videos, 3=Forum, etc...) $LINK_ID = The primary key of the item being rated in the given section $USER_ID = Is provided, but likely isn't needed for this template $UNITS = The number of units for rating (Eg, of 10) $NUM_RATINGS = The number of current ratings $TOTAL_RATING = The total value of all combined ratings $AVERAGE_RATING = The average rating (TOTAL_RATING/NUM_RATINGS) $MY_RATING = The user's own rating if already rated $LOCKED = true/false to indicate the user has rated the item. If true, the rating tool will display the rating only. 7) The tool must be built using a standard AJAX framework like Protocol or jQuery. You may choose the framework of your choice for the first tool, and all future tools must use the framework. 8) After a rating is submit with Ajax, the rating tool must read the new values for NUM_RATINGS, TOTAL_RATING and AVERAGE_RATING to update the values currently on the page. The tool must then disable itself so the user can't rate again. The PHP back-end records the user_id of the rater and will lock the user form rating that item again on future page loads. If the tool has collapsed to POST/REFRESH mode, it must submit the same variables. The page that handles the post will record the submission and redirect the user back to the referring page. When the page re-loads, the Rating template’s $LOCKED variable will be set to disallow the user from rating the item again. **Example** [login to view URL] We really like the interface. The animated stars are excellent. The bar shows partial stars for fractions of average ratings. The text below the rating tool is nice. However this tool has it's own included framework and is tough to modify to our framework. All back-end work will be done by me. The submission page that handles submited ratings and updates the SQL tables already exists. Currently the page simply receives the rating, and redirect the user back to the refering page. It can be modified so ajax submissions instead receive the new rating values so they can be refleced in real time on the page. ## Platform LAMP, Apache 1.3 + JavaScript + AJAX + PHP