Link Brackets

Steve Padonak Jun 27, 2007

General

Want to spruce up your links without adding background images? This script will enclose your designated links in brackets. You can keep the other links separate, if you like.

Notes

Created by: Padonak, Steve Aurigema
Web Site: http://www.webdeveloper.com/forum/showthread.php?p=767324#post767324
Posted: June 27, 2007

Source Code

Paste this source code into the designated areas.

External file

Paste this code into an external JavaScript file named: linkBrackets.js

/* This script and many more are available free online at
The JavaScript Source!! http://www.javascriptsource.com
Created by: Padonak, Steve Aurigema | http://www.webdeveloper.com/forum/showthread.php?p=767324#post767324 */
function init(){
  var dlinks = document.getElementById('mainDiv').getElementsByTagName('a');
  var timer;

 	for(var n = 0; n < dlinks.length; n++) {
  		dlinks[n].onmouseover = function() {
   			var txt = null;
   			for( var i in this.childNodes ) {
    				try {
     					if(this.childNodes[i].className == 'bracket' || this.childNodes[i].getAttribute('class') == 'bracket') return; 
  				  } catch(e){ if(this.childNodes[i].className == 'bracket') return; }
  				if(this.childNodes[i].nodeType=='3') txt = this.childNodes[i].cloneNode(false);
  			}
  			while(this.childNodes.length != 0){ this.removeChild(this.childNodes[0]); }
  			var left = document.createElement('span');
  			var right = document.createElement('span');
  			left.setAttribute('id','lbrak'); left.setAttribute('class','bracket'); left.appendChild(document.createTextNode('['));
  			right.setAttribute('id','rbrak'); right.setAttribute('class','bracket'); right.appendChild(document.createTextNode(']'));
  			left.className = 'bracket'; right.className="bracket";
  			this.appendChild(left); this.appendChild(txt); this.appendChild(right);
  			doTarget(15);  // change this number to change the animation of the links
 		}

 		dlinks[n].onmouseout = function(){
  			try {
   				if(timer != ""){clearTimeout(timer);}
   				this.removeChild(document.getElementById("lbrak"));
   				this.removeChild(document.getElementById("rbrak"));
  			} catch(e){ }
 		}

 		dlinks[n].onfocus = function(){this.blur();}
 	}
}

function doTarget(n){
 	var lb = document.getElementById("lbrak");
 	var rb = document.getElementById("rbrak");
 	if(n > 3) {
 		 lb.style.marginRight = n + "px";
 		 rb.style.marginLeft = n + "px";
 		 n--;
 	}
 	else{timer = ""; return;}
 	timer = setTimeout("doTarget(" + n + ")",50);
}

// Multiple onload function created by: Simon Willison
// http://simon.incutio.com/archive/2004/05/26/addLoadEvent
function addLoadEvent(func) {
  var oldonload = window.onload;
  if (typeof window.onload != 'function') {
    window.onload = func;
  } else {
    window.onload = function() {
      if (oldonload) {
        oldonload();
      }
      func();
    }
  }
}

addLoadEvent(function() {
  init();
});

CSS

Paste this code into your external CSS file or in the <style> section within the HEAD section of your HTML document.

#mainDiv a:link, #mainDiv a:active, #mainDiv a:visited {
  color: #000;
  background-color: transparent;
  font-weight: bold;
  font-size: 14px;
  text-decoration: none;
}

#mainDiv a:hover {
  color: #338a1b;
  background-color: transparent;
  font-weight: bold;
  font-size: 14px;
  text-decoration: none;
}

.bracket {
  color: #a63944;
  background-color: transparent;
  font-weight: bold;
  font-size: 14px;
  margin-left: 3px;
  margin-right: 3px;
}

Head

Paste this code into the HEAD section of your HTML document.


<script type="text/javascript" src="linkBrackets.js"></script>

Body

Paste this code into the BODY section of your HTML document


<div id="mainDiv">
<ul>
  <li><a href="http://www.webdeveloper.com/">Web Developer</a></li>
  <li><a href="http://www.javascriptsource.com/">JavaScript Source</a></li>
  <li><a href="http://www.webreference.com/">WebReference.com</a></li>
</ul>
</div>

Leave a Response

(1 comment)

onMouseOver in Safari 3.0 beta makes the links completely disappear. The only way to see the text again is to reload the page.

Benjamin Jun 29, 2007

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