jQuery Link Nudge Plugin

By  on  

A while back I debuted a tasteful mouseover/mouseout technique called link nudging. It started with a MooTools version and shortly thereafter a jQuery version. Just recently Drew Douglass premiered a jQuery plugin that aimed at producing the same type of effect. I've taken some time to put together my own version of the jQuery nudging plugin.

The jQuery JavaScript

//Define the plugin
$.fn.nudge = function(params) {
	//set default parameters
	params = $.extend({
		amount: 20,				//amount of pixels to pad / marginize
		duration: 300,			//amount of milliseconds to take
		property: 'padding', 	//the property to animate (could also use margin)
		direction: 'left',		//direction to animate (could also use right)
		toCallback: function() {},	//function to execute when MO animation completes
		fromCallback: function() {}	//function to execute when MOut animation completes
	}, params);
	//For every element meant to nudge...
	this.each(function() {
		//variables
		var $t = $(this);
		var $p = params;
		var dir = $p.direction;
		var prop = $p.property + dir.substring(0,1).toUpperCase() + dir.substring(1,dir.length);
		var initialValue = $t.css(prop);
		/* fx */
		var go = {}; go[prop] = parseInt($p.amount) + parseInt(initialValue);
		var bk = {}; bk[prop] = initialValue;
		
		//Proceed to nudge on hover
		$t.hover(function() {
					$t.stop().animate(go, $p.duration, '', $p.toCallback);
				}, function() {
					$t.stop().animate(bk, $p.duration, '', $p.fromCallback);
				});
	});
	return this;
};

/* usages */
$(document).ready(function() {
	/* usage 1 */
	$('#nudgeUs li a').nudge();
	/* usage 2 */
	$('#nudgeUs2 li a').nudge({
		property: 'margin',
		direction: 'left',
		amount: 30,
		duration: 400,
		toCallback: function() { $(this).css('color','#f00'); },
		fromCallback: function() { $(this).css('color','#000'); }
	});
});

I've made Drew's script a bit more flexible by allowing the developer to set the property and direction to animate the element to and from. This plugin also detects the animated property's original settings so the developer doesn't need to set it. For kicks I also allow the developer to set the animate callback in case the developer wants to do some really creative stuff. My plugin is a bit larger in size but the extra file size enhances the plugin's worth.

Have more ideas for the plugin? Share them!

Recent Features

  • By
    Page Visibility API

    One event that's always been lacking within the document is a signal for when the user is looking at a given tab, or another tab. When does the user switch off our site to look at something else? When do they come back?

  • By
    5 HTML5 APIs You Didn’t Know Existed

    When you say or read "HTML5", you half expect exotic dancers and unicorns to walk into the room to the tune of "I'm Sexy and I Know It."  Can you blame us though?  We watched the fundamental APIs stagnate for so long that a basic feature...

Incredible Demos

  • By
    Full Width Textareas

    Working with textarea widths can be painful if you want the textarea to span 100% width.  Why painful?  Because if the textarea's containing element has padding, your "width:100%" textarea will likely stretch outside of the parent container -- a frustrating prospect to say the least.  Luckily...

  • By
    Create a Dojo-Powered WordPress Website View

    Yesterday I showed you WordPress' awesome JSON plugin named JSON API.  Now that I can get my blog posts in JSON format, it's time to create an awesome AJAX'ed web app with that data.  I've chosen to use the power of Dojo and Dijit to...

Discussion

  1. Hey cool post, always keep for new jQuery plugins, consider this added to my list :-D

    Rob

  2. Cool :) Seems to lag a bit though. Probably just me.

  3. No lag for me. The most taxing part of the code is the animation so that would need to a be a jQuery issue. It likely is just you though.

  4. No lag for me either, just the thing I’ve been looking for
    Thanks!!

  5. Great stuff David, I’ll update my original post and be sure to make a note and link of this post. You’ve certainly improved a lot of the flexibility!

    Also, thanks again for giving me the idea for the plugin in the first place with your original link nudge post.

  6. Zoran

    When i first applied for job i got a task to do as a test and your Drag, Drop and Save thing helped me get the job, since then i am following your blog and you keep surprising me. Thank you for sharing stuff like this, i think nudge links are cool and it’s a good jquery plugin tutorial as well.
    Zoran from Macedonia

  7. loic

    Great! I have seen some pretty effects outside too but using other plugins: http://bit.ly/3Y9Cj4

  8. Thank You David & Drew for continuing to develop this plugin/effect!

  9. Rakesh Juyal [RJ]

    awesome :)

  10. It would be even better if it were to apply padding rather than a margin… that way it would not stutter. I realise this would change the effect slightly, but the stuttering is kind of annoying.

  11. @SeanJA – It applies the effect to the padding by default.

  12. alble

    Can i include this jquery link nudge in my template for commercial used?

  13. Does the nudging work with images?

  14. matt

    For some reason I can’t get it working… I’ve confirmed the script is loading.

Wrap your code in <pre class="{language}"></pre> tags, link to a GitHub gist, JSFiddle fiddle, or CodePen pen to embed!