NYOKIGLITTER - Tutorials

Creating Accordions with Mootools

I'll be using Mootools.1.11 for these examples. You can download your own version here. These examples assume that you have a good understanding of xhtml, css and javascript.

Helpful Resources

Note: I'm getting many questions about the accordion and they all have answers that can be found here: http://docs.mootools.net/Plugins/Accordion. If I see that your question is something that I know is on this page you're just going to get a link back to this page. Also keep in mind that I am not the creator of mootools. Compatibility issues need to be taken to the Mad4Milk guys.

Basic Usage


<script type="text/javascript" src="file path/mootools.1.11.js"></script>

<script type="text/javascript">

window.addEvent('domready', function() { 

  var accordion = new Accordion('h3.atStart', 'div.atStart');

});

</script>

Download Basic Accordion

This script looks for all h3 elements with class name "atStart" and all div elements with class name "atStart" to create the accordion effect. The class name doesn't have to be "atStart", it can be whatever you want it to be. It doesn't even have to be an h3. You could use an anchor tag or a list item.

CSS

JavaScript does not affect the look of the accordion, CSS does. I'm going to say it one more time because it's the most asked question that I get so, JavaScript does not affect the look of the accordion, CSS does.

You accordion is made up of at least 2 elements. It does not matter where those elements are on the page. They don't have to come directly after the other. So, if you want to create a tab like accordion the place all the accordion togglers together and float them left, then after that put all the elements that contain the accordion content.

A Little Fancier

The accordion documentation page has lots of good information and examples of options you can use with your accordion. This can help you create lots of fun and interesting variations of the accordion.


<script type="text/javascript" src="file path/mootools.1.11.js"></script>
<script type="text/javascript">
window.addEvent('domready', function() { 
var accordion = new Accordion('h3.tab', 'div.tab', {

		 onActive: function(toggler) {

		  toggler.setStyles({

		   background: '#d53043',

		   color: '#fff'

		  });

		 },

		 onBackground: function(toggler) {

		 toggler.setStyles({

		  background: '#eee',

		  color: '#222'

				
		  });

		 }
 
	});

});

</script>

Download Tab Accordion

posted Jul 13, 10:58 PM |

Opening Links in a New Window with a Strict Doctype

Before I even had a design ready for this site, I knew that I'd be using a strict doctype. I also knew I'd run into small validation errors on links that need to open in a new window because target="_blank" or target="new" doesn't validate with a strict doctype. To fix this problem, I've written a tiny bit of code so that I can have my cake and eat it too.

There are two versions of this script, one for mootools and one for jQuery. If you don't use either one of these libraries then I think this short explanation is enough for you to rewrite one using the library of your choice or from scratch.

Both scripts do the same thing, they search and find all anchor tags on the page that has the class name newWindow and when clicked adds the target attribute and sets it to blank.

Mootools


window.addEvent('domready', function() {
	$$('a.newWindow').addEvent('click', function(){
		$$('a.newWindow').setProperties({
    			target: '_blank'
		});
	});
});

jQuery


$(document).ready(function() {
	$('.newWindow').click(function(){
		$('.newWindow').attr({
			target: '_blank'
		});
	});
});

I've tested this in Firefox (mac/windows), IE6, IE7 and Safari (mac/windows) and it works perfectly. Unfortunately, I do not have time to debug problems for everyone. If you're trying to customize this script even more then I would strongly suggest looking at the documentation for both mootools and jquery.

posted Mar 23, 05:47 PM | add comment [2]

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