The CSS Style

There are two elements you’ll have to implement into your design in order to create a lightbox — CSS and Javascript. We’ll take care of the CSS style first, as it’s the most simple to implement. On your page or in an attached style sheet, add the following CSS styles:

#lightbox {
	position: absolute;
	top: 0;
	left: 50%;
	width: 500px;
	margin-left: -250px;
	background: #fff;
	z-index: 1001;
	display: none;
}
#lightbox-shadow {
	position: absolute;
	top: 0;
	left: 0;
	width: 100%;
	height: 100%;
	background: #000;
	filter: alpha(opacity=75);
	-moz-opacity: 0.75;
	-khtml-opacity: 0.75;
	opacity: 0.75;
	z-index: 1000;
	display: none;
}

What we just did: we established two styles. One style is for the lightbox that actually appears on the page (#lightbox). The second style is for lightbox background (#lightbox-shadow). We have made this background dark and semi-transparent in order to dim the site’s content as it appears behind the lightbox.

The jQuery Script

The real work is done via our simple jQuery script. We have two JavaScript functions that will handle displaying and hiding our lightbox. First, make sure you have attached the jQuery library to your page:

<script type="text/javascript" src="http://ajax.googleapis.com/ajax/libs/jquery/1.4.2/jquery.min.js"></script>

Now, in an attached .js file, add the following script code.

/****************************************
	Barebones Lightbox Template
	by Kyle Schaeffer
	kyleschaeffer.com
	* requires jQuery
****************************************/

// display the lightbox
function lightbox(insertContent, ajaxContentUrl){

	// add lightbox/shadow <div/>'s if not previously added
	if($('#lightbox').size() == 0){
		var theLightbox = $('<div id="lightbox"/>');
		var theShadow = $('<div id="lightbox-shadow"/>');
		$(theShadow).click(function(e){
			closeLightbox();
		});
		$('body').append(theShadow);
		$('body').append(theLightbox);
	}

	// remove any previously added content
	$('#lightbox').empty();

	// insert HTML content
	if(insertContent != null){
		$('#lightbox').append(insertContent);
	}

	// insert AJAX content
	if(ajaxContentUrl != null){
		// temporarily add a "Loading..." message in the lightbox
		$('#lightbox').append('<p class="loading">Loading...</p>');

		// request AJAX content
		$.ajax({
			type: 'GET',
			url: ajaxContentUrl,
			success:function(data){
				// remove "Loading..." message and append AJAX content
				$('#lightbox').empty();
				$('#lightbox').append(data);
			},
			error:function(){
				alert('AJAX Failure!');
			}
		});
	}

	// move the lightbox to the current window top + 100px
	$('#lightbox').css('top', $(window).scrollTop() + 100 + 'px');

	// display the lightbox
	$('#lightbox').show();
	$('#lightbox-shadow').show();

}

// close the lightbox
function closeLightbox(){

	// hide lightbox and shadow <div/>'s
	$('#lightbox').hide();
	$('#lightbox-shadow').hide();

	// remove contents of lightbox in case a video or other content is actively playing
	$('#lightbox').empty();
}

Ready for Lightboxing

Once you have the CSS and script into place, you can call your new lightbox(); function from anywhere within your design. It’s as easy as calling the lightbox from an anchor tag:

<a href="javascript:lightbox('Hello!');">Show me the lightbox</a>

Remember, clicking anywhere on the “shadow” <div/> will hide the lightbox — you could easily add a “close” button to your lightbox by connecting it to the closeLightbox(); JavaScript function.

Similarly, you can insert HTML (or even a jQuery DOM object) into the lightbox. Like so:

<a href="javascript:lightbox('<p><strong>Rich</strong> content works too!</p>');">Show me the lightbox</a>

Finally, you can even use this simple lightbox function to insert AJAX content. Please keep in mind that my JavaScript function simply inserts the entire result into the #lightbox element — if you’re trying to request a website or HTML page, you’ll probably have to remove the <html/> and <body/> tags before inserting content into your lightbox window, else the lightbox would simply disappear. An AJAX lightbox request looks a little like this:

<a href="javascript:lightbox(null, 'http://foo.com/readme.txt');">Show me the lightbox</a>

The Demo

• Try it out: Show me the lightbox
• Let’s load some AJAX content: Load the CSS file for this tutorial into a lightbox

If you’re on a fast connection, you may not notice, but the AJAX link actually reads “Loading…” in the lightbox a split-second before the content actually appears. This can be useful to give users feedback while the AJAX request is processing. Please note that I’ve added a bit of styling to my demo (namely padding on the lightbox to make it appear less cluttered).

Make it Shine

You’ll probably want to modify the CSS and other elements of this lightbox in order to suit your site’s design and style. If you’re working with a lot of AJAX content, you may want to even replace the temporary loading element with an animated spinner image, or something of the like.

To help you get started, you can download the CSS and JavaScript referenced in this tutorial here:

• lightbox.css
• lightbox.js

Good luck, and happy styling!

Adding jQuery is Easy

You’ll need to include a few JavaScript libraries in order to use jQuery tabs at all. These libraries can be somewhat cumbersome for users on slower connections to download, and it’s definitely the major disadvantage of using a library like jQuery to add this sort of functionality to your site. The best things we can do in this case is try to minimize the effect of serving this JS library to our clients. First of all, I would recommend always using the “minified” version of the jQuery script. It’s much smaller in size than the standard version, which obviously will reduce the amount of time needed to load your site when users first visit it. The only difference between the minified and the standard library is that the good folks at jQuery have removed all sorts of characters in the document, which makes it less readable, but makes the file size much smaller. If you want to delve into the depths of the jQuery library, you can download the standard version and take a gander offline, but don’t force your users to download the full version if you don’t have to.

Additionally, Google (here) and Microsoft (here) have both set up distribution networks to serve these libraries to your users. Don’t waste bandwidth and your clients’ time by forcing users to download these libraries from your servers! Chances are, Google/Microsoft have the resources to serve these files to you users faster and more reliably than you can, so please utilize these free services. Additionally, users have a much greater chance of already having a cached version of these files when you used the shared location. Sweet!

Add the library references to your <head/> to get started.

<script type="text/javascript" src="http://ajax.googleapis.com/ajax/libs/jquery/1.3.2/jquery.min.js"></script>
<script type="text/javascript" src="http://ajax.googleapis.com/ajax/libs/jqueryui/1.7.2/jquery-ui.min.js"></script>
<script type="text/javascript" src="http://jqueryui.com/latest/ui/ui.tabs.js"></script>

The Tabs Markup

What’s so wonderfully beautiful about jQuery tabs is the simplicity of the HTML. Even more, users who aren’t using JavaScript will visit your site and see a perfectly formatted and functioning page. Use this as a template for your tabs HTML:

<div class="ui-tabs">
	<ul class="ui-tabs-nav">
		<li><a href="#tabs-1">Tab One</a></li>
		<li><a href="#tabs-2">Tab Two</a></li>
		<li><a href="#tabs-3">Tab Three</a></li>
	</ul>
	<div id="tabs-1" class="ui-tabs-panel">
		<p>Content one.</p>
	</div>
	<div id="tabs-2" class="ui-tabs-panel">
		<p>Content two.</p>
	</div>
	<div id="tabs-3" class="ui-tabs-panel">
		<p>Content three.</p>
	</div>
</div>

Add Some Style

This is where my template really starts to differ from jQuery’s version. The CSS jQuery would have you use is not simple enough for me, so I created my own version of the CSS that will give you a very basic frame onto which you can apply your own design. Here’s what I like to start with:

.ui-tabs {
	zoom: 1;
}
.ui-tabs .ui-tabs-nav {
	list-style: none;
	position: relative;
	padding: 0;
	margin: 0;
}
.ui-tabs .ui-tabs-nav li {
	position: relative;
	float: left;
	margin: 0 3px -2px 0;
	padding: 0;
}
.ui-tabs .ui-tabs-nav li a {
	display: block;
	padding: 10px 20px;
	background: #f0f0f0;
	border: 2px #ccc solid;
	border-bottom-color: #ccc;
	outline: none;
}
.ui-tabs .ui-tabs-nav li.ui-tabs-selected a {
	padding: 10px 20px 12px 20px;
	background: #fff;
	border-bottom-style: none;
}
.ui-tabs .ui-tabs-nav li.ui-tabs-selected a,
.ui-tabs .ui-tabs-nav li.ui-state-disabled a,
.ui-tabs .ui-tabs-nav li.ui-state-processing a {
	cursor: default;
}
.ui-tabs .ui-tabs-nav li a,
.ui-tabs.ui-tabs-collapsible .ui-tabs-nav li.ui-tabs-selected a {
	cursor: pointer;
}
.ui-tabs .ui-tabs-panel {
	display: block;
	clear: both;
	border: 2px #ccc solid;
	padding: 10px;
}
.ui-tabs .ui-tabs-hide {
	display: none;
}

Now Make it Do Something

Now that you have your tabs there, you’ll have to initialize them with a simple jQuery statement in order for them to work. Just add this line of JavaScript anywhere on your page.

<script type="text/javascript">
	$(document).ready(function(){
		$(".ui-tabs").tabs();
	});
</script>

The Result

Once you’ve added each of these elements to your page, you should get a very simple tab structure that awaits your styling genius. Just modify the CSS to apply your own design!

Now you’ve got it. Good luck, and happy styling.

The Image

The biggest difference between a traditional JavaScript image hover and a pure CSS image hover is the image, itself. When using CSS to achieve this effect, the static image and the hover image are actually contained within the same image file. Basically, we’re displaying the image and cropping it so that only one image state is displayed at one time. In order to do this, we’ll omit the <img> tag and display the image as a the background-image of an <a/> (anchor) tag instead.

Let’s look at an image that could be used as a CSS hover image.

Simplistic Markup

As you can see, both static and hover images are contained within the same file. In order to display only half of the image at one time, we’ll apply it as a background color to an HTML block element. Here is the HTML for this example:

<a class="myButtonLink" href="#LinkURL">Leaf</a>

The CSS

As you can see, the HTML is extremely simple. We’re doing everything in CSS, so this is where the real magic happens:

.myButtonLink {
	display: block;
	width: 100px;
	height: 100px;
	background: url('/path/to/myImage.png') bottom;
	text-indent: -99999px;
}
.myButtonLink:hover {
	background-position: 0 0;
}

We’re using the CSS psuedo-element hover to apply the mouseover image effect. When your mouse pointer moves over the “myButtonLink” element, our CSS slides the background image (using the background-position property) appropriately, giving us our mouseover image. This is simple, fast, and efficient! You’ll use less files and space on your server, clients will have to download less data, and older computers will render your content much faster.

The Result

Move your mouse over the image to see the hover in action.

Leaf

And there you have it, a pure CSS approach to image hovers. You can apply this method to links, <div/> tags, and just about anything else you can imagine in your site’s design. Happy styling!

When I use the term “DHTML,” I am referring to “Dynamic HTML.” This is an endearing term that many web designers use to describe the fusion of HTML with other web technologies, such as JavaScript and CSS. By using various technologies in tandem, we can create dynamic controls that allow website visitors to interact with content directly on the page without the need to refresh the site with every subsequent click.

The HTML

As you will soon see, the tab strip is a prime example of a DHTML control. Before we delve into every aspect of the tab strip, let’s first start with the HTML:

<div class="tabStrip">
	<ul>
		<li><a href="javascript:openTab(1);" class="tabLinkActive" id="tabLink1">TabOne</a></li>
		<li><a href="javascript:openTab(2);" class="tabLink" id="tabLink2">TabTwo</a></li>
		<li><a href="javascript:openTab(3);" class="tabLink" id="tabLink3">TabThree</a></li>
	</ul>
</div>
<div class="tabContentActive" id="tabContent1">
	This is sample tab content (1).
</div>
<div class="tabContent" id="tabContent2">
	This is sample tab content (2).
</div>
<div class="tabContent" id="tabContent3">
	This is sample tab content (3).
</div>

The HTML is relatively simple. We are using an unordered list (<ul/>) for our tabs, and we are using <div/> tags for our tab content. As you can see, I am giving a unique id attribute to each tab link and to each tab content <div/>. This is important, as we’ll need unique id‘s in order to access these elements with JavaScript.

The JavaScript

We are using only one small JavaScript function for the tab control. Here is the code:

<script type="text/javascript" language="javascript">
	var activeTab = 1;
	function openTab(tabId) {
		// reset old tab and content
		document.getElementById("tabLink"+activeTab).className = "tabLink";
		document.getElementById("tabContent"+activeTab).className = "tabContent";
		// set new tab and content
		document.getElementById("tabLink"+tabId).className = "tabLinkActive";
		document.getElementById("tabContent"+tabId).className = "tabContentActive";
		activeTab = tabId;
	}
</script>

The CSS:

This CSS is a very basic example of what you can do to style your tabs. You can add colors, gradients, and background images to give the control even more design flare.

.tabStrip ul {
	margin: 0;
	padding: 0;
	list-style-type: none;
}
.tabStrip li {
	margin: 0 2px 0 0;
	list-style-type: none;
	float: left;
}
.tabLink {
	display: block;
	text-decoration: none;
	padding: 5px;
	background: #e8e8e8;
	border: #dadada solid;
	border-width: 1px 1px 0 1px;
	color: #8a8a8a;
}
.tabLinkActive {
	display: block;
	text-decoration: none;
	padding: 5px;
	background: #e0e0e0;
	border: #c0c0c0 solid;
	border-width: 1px 1px 0 1px;
	color: #0066ff;
}
.tabContent {
	display: none;
}
.tabContentActive {
	display: block;
	clear: both;
	background: #f0f0f0;
	border: 1px #dedede solid;
	padding: 10px;
}

The Result:

In true DHTML fashion, we have combined HTML, JavaScript, and CSS to create a fully dynamic user control that can appear anywhere on the web. I have taken the fundamentals learned in this tutorial and have created a more visually appealing example of this code. Click on the image below to see the demo.

Note that the demo also utilizes Karate Corners to create rounded edges on the tabs. Learn more about Karate corners here.