HN Explorer

JQuery Super Labels Plugin (github.com)

31 points by remybach ↗ HN
This plugin positions your labels on top of your form fields (similiar visually to placeholder) and makes the label slide across the field when gaining focus and fade out when a value is entered.

17 comments

[ 4.9 ms ] story [ 62.0 ms ] thread
egze
Should probably use stop() before animating or else there's a funny effect if I click the fields back and forth really fast.
remybach
Hmmm... not quite a real-world scenario though. I like to consider it a quirky easter-egg :)
david_a_r_kemp
how do you get the labels back again? sometimes my browser or password manager fills in the wrong fields, and, once there's something in the fields, there's no labels.
remybach
Yeah, I've got an issue open on github for this. I'll fix it when I get the chance. Thanks :)
phzbOx
It's cute but too much distracting IMO. I prefer to have it fade a little bit on focus and disappear on writing.
remybach
There's an option to do that:

$('form').superLabels({ slide:false });

5h
Seems OTT to me,

I generally use normal boring labels, then modernizer to detect if the browser supports placeholders, if so hide the labels and add placeholders to the attributes

remybach
Oh, also... once you're in the field, the placeholder disappears and you have no idea what you were meant to type (which is why the plugin slides to the side by default).
flixic
No. Placeholders stay visible until user starts typing. That is, empty focused field still has visible placeholder.
Skalman
Only in Chrome. Not in Firefox, at least.
remybach
True! It wasn't like this when I wrote the plugin though, plus I needed the effect to work cross-browser.
jonknee
FWIW, Safari and Chrome both keep placeholder text there like this plug-in does (without the animation). It'd be nice to get FireFox on board.
Keithamus
Yes, in -webkit- browsers you can achieve the same effect with this CSS:

        &::-webkit-input-placeholder {
            -webkit-transition: text-indent 200ms ease-in-out;
            visibility: visible !important;
        }

        &:focus::-webkit-input-placeholder {
            text-indent: 115px; /* Change to width of input */
        }
If only you could do the same for Firefox...
remybach
I had looked into doing this with pure CSS, but I hit a roadblock. I can't remember what it was, but it may have been the Firefox thing mentioned. Would be cool to add a css file that does the same to the project when the support is there though.
[dead] lenkite
Just use HTML5 placeholder. All that 'sexiness' reduces usability.