^{Welcome to HTML Week here on the Layar blog where we’ll be taking a look at some of the great ways you can bring print alive with HTML widgets in the Layar Creator. We’ll provide a closer look at how each example was built, and provide you with some resources to add similar techniques to your own projects. Each example we feature can be found in the completely refreshed and updated LAYARED Magazine! Get yours today and see how interactive print is creating more engaging reader experiences!}

Next up for HTML Week we share a really great way to get readers interacting with your print products: maps! Whether you’re providing travel information about far off locales or just trying to help people find your local business, a map does the trick best, and a little interactivity can go a long way!

The interactive map that we added to the “Lonely Planet’s Travel Guides Just Got Better” article on page 12 of LAYARED Magazine is a perfect example of using interactive print to provide extra detailed information to readers.

Just scan the page and up pops a map with different locations throughout the world highlighted. The cities are from Lonely Planet’s annual list of top destinations. Tap one of the icons and photos and links for more information slide out of the bottom of the map. Each city features a YouTube video, links to airline and hotel services, additional country information and a link to download the Lonely Planet app.

Like the Superhero Puzzle from yesterday’s post, this example uses jQuery to produce the animation, namely the “.animate” function. Here’s how we did it.

The points on the map were placed “by hand” with CSS on their corresponding positions on the map. It’s a little time consuming to get right, but easy in the end. The smooth drop effect for the info pane was made using only simple jQuery code. After the map fades in, the info pane fades in behind it, remaining out of view.

When a user taps on one of the map points, three things happen. First the map point becomes white, which is accomplished simply by switching the image with an alternate white version. Second, the pane is dropped by using the jQuery “.animate” code function to increase the top margin. And lastly, all of the elements in the info pane, corresponding to the country map point that was clicked on, are loaded into the pane. When a user taps “View More,” the preliminary content fades out and the new slideshow content fades in.

The slideshow is also very easy to build using a trick with the “overflow:hidden” option for HTML “<div>” tags. Essentially, we created a smaller window ”<div>” through which a larger ”<div>” with the content passes through. That’s just how we did it, but there are lots of ways to create slideshows with basic HTML. Check out this resource for tips.

^{Welcome to HTML Week here on the Layar blog where we’ll be taking a look at some of the great ways you can bring print alive with HTML widgets in the Layar Creator. We’ll provide a closer look at how each example was built, and provide you with some resources to add similar techniques to your own projects. Each example we feature can be found in the completely refreshed and updated LAYARED Magazine! Get yours today and see how interactive print is creating more engaging reader experiences!}

To kick off our series of HTML Week examples, we’ve got some fun that everyone can enjoy – puzzles and games! Adding some entertaining interactivity to otherwise static print makes for a more enjoyable reader experience, increasing the value of your publication.

Newspapers, magazines and other publications have long included simple crosswords, word jumbles or sudoku puzzles, but now things can get really interesting with interactive print! Check out the two examples below which can be found in the new LAYARED Magazine.

Drag-n-Drop Puzzle

The Drag-n-Drop Puzzle (found on page 8 of LAYARED Magazine) is a quick and easy way to add some fun to any kind of content. By simply cutting up an image into as many parts as you like, you can create a puzzle for readers to solve by dragging the pieces into place on their smartphone or tablet.

This example shows off the “draggable” capability of jQuery. It’s straightforward and easy for readers to understand – first you see one piece float up and snap into place, and then you have to do the same with the remaining pieces. Here’s more about this HTML example and how to make your own.

• Puzzle Pieces are created by splitting any image of choice into desired sections.
• Pieces are made “draggable” by using the “touch-punch” plugin explained and found here.
• Draggable and Snap UI can be found here.
• You could alternatively allow all puzzle pieces to be shown immediately from the beginning.
• To create a smoother look on the Layar App, the “light beam” effect (when the puzzle is loaded) was made using only jQuery and two images of light beams.
• The widget also offers a “Play Again?” button that refreshes the widget.

The Drag-n-Drop code may sound complex but the idea behind it is simple. First we placed a black-and-white version to serve as the area where all the puzzle pieces would end up. This doesn’t have to be done but we thought this would make it easier for users to see where they would be dropping puzzle pieces. If you want to have the puzzle snap into place above the physical image in your print content, simply remove the background image.

The way the snap feature works is one HTML “<div>” snaps onto another. For this puzzle to work, all you have to do is make one image snap onto an invisible copy of that image.

You need a piece to drag and a piece to snap onto and they need to be the same, so you just duplicate your puzzle pieces. You should have two of each piece, those for the user to drag and the others for them to snap onto. You then place the snap pieces where you want the pieces to fit together, but make them invisible, otherwise it will look as if the puzzle is already put together!

Now, when you drag the other visible pieces over the invisible ones, the drag designated pieces will snap into the correct place. Since the invisible images can’t be seen, it will look like the visible pieces are snapping into place on top of the black and white background, and presto! You’ve got a really fun and interactive puzzle game with very little effort.

Scratch-Away Game

People love scratch-away games of all kinds. The Scratch-Away Puzzle (found on page 27 of LAYARED Magazine) implements this brand of fun in AR. After scanning the page with Layar, readers simply scratch away at the puzzle to reveal the hidden message. Here’s more about this widget:

• Uses Canvas and Javascript, which you can find here.
• Users essentially scratch away normal image to reveal solved image below.
• Alternatively, a drawing feature could be added so that user can “paint” onto a canvas.

The Scratch-Away Puzzle may seem like complicated code, but it isn’t. The way we use the Canvas in our demo is by first layering two images on top of one another. One is the picture you see at the beginning, and right below it is the image with the appropriate letters blurred.

When you drag your finger across the screen and “scratch” it, you are actually erasing the front image and revealing the image behind it. It’s really as simple as that. This code can, of course, be reversed or a paint element could be added to create a canvas where a user can draw anything that they want.

That’s all for Puzzles and Games found in LAYARED Magazine. These examples were built with very basic HTML tools and techniques, but can add a lot of great interactivity to your print products!

Stay tuned here on the Layar blog throughout HTML Week for more great examples!

This week is a special one here at Layar – it’s HTML Week! Over the next few days you’ll be introduced to the world of possibilities created by our recently released HTML widget for the Layar Creator.

The HTML widget lets you embed a frame of HTML on top of print content which anyone can then view by scanning the page with Layar. It opens up nearly endless possibilities for interactive print, and we’re going to show you just what you can do and even how to do it.

Each day for the rest of the week, we’ll be posting some great examples of how the HTML widget can help bring print to life in a whole new way. We’ll even share the plugins and tools we used to make it possible.

To kick things off, we’re introducing an entirely revamped LAYARED Magazine, which has been loaded with great HTML widget examples. It’s the same print magazine as before (with some updated stats) so if you have your own copy, just scan it again today to see all the new content. Don’t have your own copy? You can order one, download a PDF or view it online here!

Here’s a look at some of the examples from the new LAYARED that we’ll be going into more detail on this week.

• Full Mobile E-Commerce Experience
  Now you can provide a complete mobile shopping experience directly from the pages of a magazine! You can switch through various product options, add items to your cart and proceed to checkout.
• Fun Puzzles & Games
  Adding a bit of entertainment to your print is easier than ever, and it’s way better than a simple crossword or sudoku. We show a few quick examples of interactive games that can be easily built in the Creator.
• Interactive Lonely Planet Map
  This clickable interactive map shows you hotel and flight information for some of Lonely Planet’s hottest locations around the world. It’s an excellent example of how you can provide more info to readers in an engaging way.
• Layar Creator Step-by-Step Guide
  Our infographic spread showing the steps to using the Creator to launch a campaign comes alive with interactivity, taking you on a guided, click-by-click tour through each step.

Order your copy of LAYARED Magazine here, and stay tuned here on the blog this week to learn all about the power of HTML in interactive print!

Last week we introduced some brand new, powerful additions to the Layar Creator - the Twitter Feed, Image Carousel and HTML widgets. Twitter and image slideshows are pretty straightforward, but the HTML widget is full of possibilities.

In order to give you some inspiration for how to make the most of this powerful new tool, we’ve compiled some examples of how you might use dynamic HTML content with interactive print. 

Flip through the photos below to see some of most promising use cases for the HTML widget.

Of course these aren’t the only examples of how HTML can be used in the Creator - the possibilities are nearly endless. Including:

• Get info with forms - Let readers subscribe to your magazine right from its pages, or let them send feedback about specific content, like mailing the author of an article, with a simple contact form.
• Cultivate event info - Instead of just telling attendees at your event what’s happening and when, provide live information, like live Tweets or breaking news stories at a big conference!

There are lots of other great examples for how to use HTML, but we want to see you come up with them and place them on your print. It’s really easy to do - just build it in HTML, host the file somewhere, add the link in the Layar Creator and define the frame size.

Check out the end of this video to see how to use the HTML widget in the Creator.