Increasing Header Links with BigTarget.js

jQuery is continuously increasing in popularity not only because of the recent integration of Microsoft’s products to the framework. The framework became popular because of the additional plug-ins developed with the help of jQuery.

Plug-ins from this framework has been developed by known developers. Because of the different plug-ins published by different authors, interest in this framework is growing exponentially.

Developers are not only looking into jQuery to build an efficient Ajax based application but they are looking for a way to develop their website with a simple addition of different plug-ins from different developers.

One of the plug-ins recently published is bigTarget.js. Published by Leevi Graham, this plug-in aims to increase interaction of the user to the Ajax based application. This plug-in is particularly geared towards headers of websites.

The usual scenario that you will see in most webpages is the introduction of an article or a feature with a link that says, “read more”. The body of the blogs usually has this feature. There are also times wherein the header would have information with a “read more” link which means there are more things to come. This could be considered as an efficient scenario but it could still be improved.

Instead of providing a link, why not change the whole box to become a link? Aiming for a small link is easy for most users but that shouldn’t mean that you can just leave those who have difficulty in accessing websites and links because they are too small. This is just a small improvement but it will certainly help.

The aim of bigTarget.js is to change the link box in headers. The entire box could become a link to a website or a part of the webpage, depending on the preference of the developer.

Some developers have already tried another jQuery plug-in with the simple capacity called fitted.js. This is almost the same with fitted with a few differences notably the clickZone and the hoverClass function. ClickZone will enable the developers determine the effect of the user command.

Although this plug-in is recommended to be integrated in headers with boxes, developers could still determine the clickable range through this function. The HoverClass on the other hand will let the developers determine the interactivity of the clickable zone by adding colors, commands or even a picture as soon as the mouse hovers over the zone.

BigTarget.js is quickly becoming the choice plug-in for developers who wanted to increase interaction in their application. Since this is a simple jQuery is just a plug-in, integration is very easy since its lightweight and could be integrated to the application even if the application has been released.

A simple change in the heading will enable the plug-in to function without any problem. Its relative counterpart fitted.js can also be an alternative as it uses almost the same functions but with difference in customization.

Because of the popularity and support for jQuery from different developers, more plug-ins is expected to improve different Ajax based websites.