Top AJAX Projects to Sharpen Your Skills and Build Your AJAX Portfolio

AJAX is a combination of techniques used to develop asynchronous web applications. Besides helping you create a winning portfolio, AJAX projects are the best way to get hands-on experience and improve your skillset for the technology field. This article will introduce you to the best AJAX projects available for beginner, intermediate, and advanced users.

5 Skills That AJAX Projects Can Help You Practice

AJAX projects, including application development, demand a specific set of skills to create an excellent user experience. Whether you are a beginner or advanced developer, you’ll need to practice the following skills to become an expert AJAX developer.

• PHP. Hypertext Preprocessor (PHP) is a programming language developers use to create dynamic web applications and interactive websites. PHP helps you manage databases, dynamic content, and session tracking. It also helps you develop interactive projects since it’s integrated with multiple databases, including MySQL, Oracle, and Informix.
• JavaScript. JavaScript is a programming language that allows you to add dynamic features to websites. It also allows students to perform complex actions, enabling interaction between your site and the visitor. You can also use JavaScript AJAX to calculate, validate, or manipulate data.
• jQuery. jQuery is open-source software written in JavaScript that simplifies HTML DOM manipulation, event handling, AJAX, and CSS animation. This HTML-5 based user-interface helps developers create responsive websites and applications accessible on smartphones, desktops, and tablets.
• HTML. HTML is the most basic building block of any website. It’s used as a standard markup language for all documents displayed on the web. It also gives meaning and structure to a site, so it’s a key element of dynamic web applications. HTML can be assisted by other technologies, such as CSS and language scripts.
• MySQL. MySQL allows you to efficiently work with databases. This open-source database management system also offers you a client-server architecture that you can utilize in a networked environment. With MySQL database, you can automate data retrieval and have support in your web application development.

Best AJAX Project Ideas for Beginners 

Finding AJAX project ideas that are beginner-friendly can be an uphill battle, especially if you want to create an amazing portfolio. If you are just getting started, below are the best AJAX project ideas to help you gain the skills you need to create captivating real-world applications. 

AJAX File Upload

• AJAX Skills Practiced: PHP and HTML

Often, websites and apps require you to reload the current page when uploading files to a server. With this project, you will use AJAX to create a simple file uploader that doesn’t require the page to reload. You will employ cloud media management like Cloudinary and JavaScript source backend code. You will also need to create an HTML form and use PHP to work on the server code.

Form Autocomplete

• AJAX Skills Practiced: HTML and jQuery

In this project, you will be creating an auto-complete application. This suggests appropriate information to users as they complete a form online. You can build this using AJAX autocomplete for jQuery to give users access to a dynamic list available on the server-side. They select a specific item in the drop down list and receive a message showing them what they chose.

Voting and Rating Content

• AJAX Skills Practiced: jQuery

Have you ever noticed how efficient sites like Reddit and Quora are at letting users rate content? AJAX helps you create an interactive web application that allows users to vote or rate content without reloading the page. To help you with this user interactive project, you can employ this voting script.

Chat Rooms and Instant Messages

• AJAX Skills Practiced: JavaScript AJAX and PHP

Chat rooms may not be as popular as they were in the past, but they’re still helpful to users who want to discuss a topic of common interest, such as an online game or any other niche topic. You can easily develop a chat room using PHP and JavaScript or jQuery. You can create an application that ensures messages are sent and received without constant reloading.

Popup Forms

• AJAX Skills Practiced: jQuery 

Popup forms might sometimes irritate users, but they’re among the most effective strategies to add subscribers to a marketing list. Through this project, you’ll develop a popup that overlays the content the user is reading, meaning it won’t be overlooked. To create this form, you will need jQuery skills combined with AJAX techniques. 

Best Intermediate AJAX Project Ideas 

If you’re ready for a more advanced project to challenge your skills, take a look at this list. It includes the best intermediate AJAX project ideas to help you hone your ajax-style programming abilities and continue your journey as a developer. 

Password Strength Checker

• AJAX Skills Practiced: jQuery

Password strength checkers are a common feature in many websites and help keep users’ data secure. To create your own version, you will need jQuery skills and AJAX validation. You will also add an alert that notifies users when they create a weak password. 

Once you’ve developed the password checker and ensured it is functional, you can customize and enhance it with extra features to create a memorable user experience to make this coding project more difficult.

Lightboxes

• AJAX Skills Practiced: JavaScript AJAX, HTML, and PHP

Unlike popup boxes, lightboxes are designed to inform users about promotions and offers. When properly timed and designed, they can be a powerful advertising tool. To create this project, you will need HTML, PHP, and JavaScript skills. You will also need to utilize AJAX techniques to display smooth images in the Lightbox, providing a great user experience.

External Widget

• AJAX Skills Practiced: JavaScript

Widgets are independent pages or applications you can embed into your own website. Some of the popular applications that utilize external widgets include Google Adsense and WordPress. To create an external widget framework, you will need JavaScript skills to customize the page on the site. This ensures the page is not restricted to its server.

Form Submission and Validation

• AJAX Skills Practiced: jQuery, HTML and CSS

With this project, you will be creating your own form submission and validation process by combining several jQuery functions. This project is a great way to practice combining various components to create a complete function. In order to successfully complete this project, you’ll also need to be able to work with HTML and CSS.

Build an AJAX Web App

• AJAX Skills Practiced: JavaScript

This project offers a great overview of AJAX and requires you to create a working application that can handle multiple requests to a server without requiring the user to leave the page that is currently loaded. One of the benefits of this project is that it helps you practice finding practical solutions to common issues that you might encounter when developing AJAX apps.

Advanced AJAX Project Ideas

If you’re ready to create captivating, real-world applications to help you secure senior developer positions, then check out these advanced AJAX projects to help you get started. Any of these will be a great addition to your portfolio.

AJAX Rating Widget

• AJAX Skills Practiced: JavaScript and jQuery 

This idea requires you to build a 5-star rating widget. These are a critical component in ecommerce sites, as they allow the admin to keep track of what users think of the product or service being offered.

In this AJAX project, you can utilize any of the four JavaScript frameworks including jQuery, Prototype JS, and MooTools. You can also leverage your advanced skills to enhance the system’s performance by adding extra features.  

Building Mailing List with AJAX

• AJAX Skills Practiced: PHP, MySQL, HTML, and JavaScript

In this project, you will create a mailing list that can accept submissions asynchronously by using AJAX and PHP. The data you collect will be stored in a MySQL database. This project is easily customizable and can be adapted to any website that includes a signup function.

Screen Readers

• AJAX Skills Practiced: JavaScript

Screen readers help blind and visually impaired people read texts on the computer screen. These assistive technologies accomplish this through braille displays and speech synthesizers. Through this project, you will learn to structure content for an AJAX app so that it works with screen readers.

Message Box with AJAX

• AJAX Skills Practiced: HTML

In this project, you will create a message box program that disappears after a specific period of time and that is highly customizable. The message box will be displayed any time the user clicks the save button, which will prompt an AJAX request and make the clickable content visible. 

AJAX Back Button Solution

• AJAX Skills Practiced: JavaScript and HTML

AJAX applications help update the content on a page without having to reload it, which means that navigating a site using the back button of a web browser is no longer possible. This project is designed to bring back the back button functionality when running an AJAX app, which is preferred by some users. 

This solution also works with dynamic page elements to restore the ability to bookmark content. If you want to build next-generation web applications, spending the hours of development time focusing on user experience at different implementation stages will be worth your while. 

AJAX Starter Project Templates

Project templates can act as a practical guide to help you get started with an application framework or code examples to save you countless hours of coding. You can leverage the following templates to create awesome AJAX-based applications and start expanding your skills or practice mini projects. 

• Admiria – AJAX Admin & Dashboard.This bootstrap 5 beta-2 based template has reusable and beautiful UI elements and other major features which allow you to create a web application, for instance, SaaS, CRM, artificial intelligence software, or solutions with automation technologies. It also has a dark and light setup with RTL options. 
• Atlas Admin template. This admin responsive template is built with HTML 5, CSS3, jQuery, and Bootstrap. It has modern web technologies to help you create and customize more comfortably. It also has a development server with browserSync and live-reload.
• Core UI Admin. This admin template offers you a transparent code and file structure. It also comes with numerous features and over 1000 top-quality icons. It’s based on Bootstrap 4 and provides you with six versions, including HTML 5 AJAX, NET Core 2, and HTML 5.
• Freda Personal Resume. This HTML template is ideal for resumes and portfolios. It includes major features such as valid HTML5, AJAX contact form, clean design, and is easily customizable. You can perform various projects with this template. 
• Yellow Hats – Construction HTML5 Template. This multipurpose HTML 5 template suits construction and handyman businesses perfectly. It contains numerous features that can facilitate the user’s business. These include AJAX campaign monitor integration, smooth transition effects, and full responsiveness and experience ready.

Next Steps: Start Organizing Your AJAX Portfolio

If you’re ready to go after your dream job as a web developer, you’ll need a strong portfolio to back you up and showcase your talent and real-world experience. Below are some tips to guide you to create a winning portfolio and open up career opportunities.

Display Your Best Work and Skills

When organizing your portfolio, don’t make the mistake of adding every single project you’ve ever worked on. Instead, be selective and choose only the projects that you’re most proud of and reflect your best skills. 

Personalize Your Portfolio According to The Job

If you’re going for a particular role or want to work in a specific field, then curate your portfolio accordingly. While you might be proud of your other projects, this will only distract potential employers. Instead, take the time to understand what the role entails and complete example projects that show your ability to fulfill those specific functions.

Make it Easy for Recruiters to Contact You

Once you’ve showcased your projects and skills, you need to encourage communication. You can accomplish this through the contact section, which is the final part of your portfolio. Make sure recruiters and potential clients have a clear way to reach out to you in case they are interested in your work.

AJAX Projects FAQ