Simple “Zen” Reading Mode with MooTools

Gigantic, image-based headers are an up-to-date web-feature. It looks amazing but they are squandering space, especially on sites with large tutorials containing long text.

This site is using a simply method which transforms the header-size depending on the current page-scroll: the users scrolls down and the header is automatically transformed to a smart toolbar – i’m calling this mode (following WordPress’ fullscreen editor) “Zen” reader mode. Need a demo ? Just open an article on this site and scroll down.

To integrate this feature into you website, you need the followindd things:

• “Standard” Header Design
• “Smart/Compact” Header Design
• Javascript Page-Scroll Observer
• Optional: Amazing css3 transition

Different Header-Styles (using LESS):#

/* Basic (default) Styling */
.navbar-beyond{
  height: 70px;
  .transition(500ms);
}

/* Smart Styling */
.navbar-beyond-light{		
  height: 45px;
  border-bottom: solid 1px #e7e7e7;	
  background-color: @color_bluegrey1 !important;
}

/* Large Navbar */
.navbar-beyond-dark{
  background-color: rgba(0,0,0,0.85);
  border-bottom: none;
}

Scroll-Observer Script (MooTools) :#

Description: user scrolls 200px down and the header is transformed by changing the css classes

var head = document.getElement('header .navbar-beyond');
... 
window.addEvent('scroll', function(){
  // get current scroll
  var s = this.getScroll().y;
        
  // dark/light topnav
  if (s > 200){
    head.addClass('navbar-beyond-light');
    head.removeClass('navbar-beyond-dark');
  }else{
    head.addClass('navbar-beyond-dark');
    head.removeClass('navbar-beyond-light');
  }
});

Header Structure (Bootstrap based example from this website)#

<!-- Fixed navbar -->
<div class="navbar navbar-default navbar-fixed-top navbar-beyond navbar-beyond-dark" role="navigation">
  <div class="container container-lg">
    <!-- Website Title + Mobile Nav Button !-->
    <div class="navbar-header">
      <button type="button" class="navbar-toggle">
        <span class="sr-only">Toggle navigation</span> <span class="icon-bar"></span> <span class="icon-bar"></span> <span class="icon-bar"></span>
      </button>
      <a class="navbar-brand" href="http://andidittrich.com">Beyond Technology<br /><span>beyond the visible world</span></a>
    </div>
    
    <!-- Navi !-->
    <div class="navbar-collapse hidden-xs">
      <ul id="menu-topnavi" class="nav navbar-nav navbar-right">
      ....
      </ul>
    </div>
  </div>
</div>

<!-- Image -->
<div id="HeaderImage">
</div>