Create Twitter-Style Buttons with the Dojo Toolkit

By  on  

I love that JavaScript toolkits make enhancing web pages incredibly easy. Today I'll cover an effect that I've already coded with MooTools: creating a Twitter-style animated "Sign In" button. Check out this five minute tutorial so you can take your static buttons to the next level!

The HTML

<!-- left version -->
<div class="button_wrap">
    <a class="button_aLeft" id="button_aLeft"><span>Use your Twitter ID</span></a>
    <a class="button_bLeft slidebttn" id="button_bLeft">Sign <span>in</span></a>
</div>
<!-- right version -->
<div class="button_wrap">

    <a class="button_aRight" id="button_aRight"><span>Use your Twitter ID</span></a>
    <a class="button_bRight slidebttn" id="button_bRight">Sign <span>in</span></a>
</div>

The "button" consists of one DIV with two sets SPANs wrapped by A elements.

The CSS

.button_wrap{ position:relative; width:225px; height:36px; overflow:hidden; font-weight:bold; font-size:11px; margin:10px; }
.button_aLeft{ width:70px; height:36px; -moz-border-radius:20px; -webkit-border-radius:20px; background-color:#093d6f; color:#fff; top:0px; right:0px; position:absolute; line-height:36px; text-align:left; }
.button_aLeft span{ z-index:200; padding-left:20px; color:#fff; }
.button_aRight{ width:70px; height:36px; -moz-border-radius:20px; -webkit-border-radius:20px; background-color:#093d6f; color:#fff; top:0px; left:0px; position:absolute; line-height:36px; text-align:right; }
.button_aRight span{ z-index:200; padding-right:20px; color:#fff; }

.button_bLeft{ width:64px; height:30px; background-color:#fff; -moz-border-radius:20px; -webkit-border-radius:20px; color:#000; position:absolute; top:3px; right:3px; text-transform:uppercase; line-height:30px; text-align:center; cursor:pointer; }
.button_bLeft span{ color:#008ddd; }
.button_bRight{ width:64px; height:30px; background-color:#fff; -moz-border-radius:20px; -webkit-border-radius:20px; color:#000; position:absolute; top:3px; left:3px; text-transform:uppercase; line-height:30px; text-align:center; cursor:pointer; }
.button_bRight span{ color:#008ddd; }

.button_c{ background-color:#008ddd; color:#fff; text-transform:uppercase; }
.button_c span{ color:#093d6f; }

The CSS code is a mess -- lot of CSS goes into styling the button. As always, style however you'd like. Be careful with this set though -- I recommend sticking to just changing colors.

The Dojo JavaScript

dojo.addOnLoad(function() {
	dojo.forEach(dojo.query('.button_wrap'),function(wrap) {
		var a = dojo.query('a',wrap)[0];
		var span = dojo.query('span',a)[0];
		var button = dojo.query('a',wrap)[1];
		
		dojo.anim(span,{ opacity:0 },1);
		
		dojo.connect(button,'onmouseenter',function() {
			dojo.addClass(button,'button_c');
			dojo.anim(a,{ width:200 });
			dojo.anim(span,{ opacity: 1 });
		});
		dojo.connect(button,'onmouseleave',function() {
			dojo.removeClass(button,'button_c');
			dojo.anim(a,{ width:70 });
			dojo.anim(span,{ opacity: 0 });
		});
	});
});

The first step is to collect each "button" DIV and sift through the its child elements to get links and SPAN elements. When the user's mouse enters the "Sign In" link, the first link within the wrapping DIV grows in width and shows the supporting text.

It's little enhancements like these that take a website from a 6 to an 8, transforming the website from static to dynamic. Can you think of any other small enhancements like this? Share!

Recent Features

  • By
    Designing for Simplicity

    Before we get started, it's worth me spending a brief moment introducing myself to you. My name is Mark (or @integralist if Twitter happens to be your communication tool of choice) and I currently work for BBC News in London England as a principal engineer/tech...

  • By
    Responsive and Infinitely Scalable JS Animations

    Back in late 2012 it was not easy to find open source projects using requestAnimationFrame() - this is the hook that allows Javascript code to synchronize with a web browser's native paint loop. Animations using this method can run at 60 fps and deliver fantastic...

Incredible Demos

  • By
    iPad Detection Using JavaScript or PHP

    The hottest device out there right now seems to be the iPad. iPad this, iPad that, iPod your mom. I'm underwhelmed with the device but that doesn't mean I shouldn't try to account for such devices on the websites I create. In Apple's...

  • By
    HTML5&#8217;s placeholder Attribute

    HTML5 has introduced many features to the browser;  some HTML-based, some in the form of JavaScript APIs, but all of them useful.  One of my favorites if the introduction of the placeholder attribute to INPUT elements.  The placeholder attribute shows text in a field until the...

Discussion

  1. Great Job! Didnt I see these on the Adobe website though?

  2. Good! Maybe you could make a Dojo tutorial (and a Moo one as well)!

  3. @ctult: There are MooTools and jQuery tutorials that mirror this functionality. Check the “Related Posts” section above.

  4. @David Walsh: Oh. Yeah. Erm…I..uh knew that.

  5. Cool effect. I was looking for a different type of a twitter login. This definitely goes into the list.

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