Animated Page Name Display

Project Overview

The Animated Page Name Display is a polished UI component that creates an engaging slot-machine style animation when users navigate between pages. It provides immediate visual feedback about the current location within the website while adding a touch of playful interactivity to the navigation experience.

Key Features

• Slot Machine Animation: Smooth transition effect between page names
• Responsive Design: Works flawlessly across all device sizes
• Accessibility Support: Screen reader compatible with proper ARIA attributes
• Minimal Dependencies: Vanilla JavaScript implementation with no external libraries
• Seamless Integration: Easy to incorporate into existing navigation systems

Development Process

The component was built using JavaScript and CSS animations to ensure maximum performance and compatibility. I prioritized creating a smooth animation sequence that feels satisfying without being distracting or causing layout shifts.

The implementation detects the current page, builds a sequence of other page names to cycle through, and then animates to the current page name using CSS transitions with carefully timed delays.

Technical Highlights

• Dynamic Element Generation: Creates DOM elements on-the-fly based on site structure
• Customizable Timing: Easily adjustable animation speed and sequence length
• Memory Efficient: Cleans up after animation completes to prevent memory leaks
• Zero Dependencies: No reliance on animation libraries or frameworks
• Smooth Page Transitions: Works in conjunction with page transition systems

Implementation

// Key animation sequence
document.addEventListener('DOMContentLoaded', () => {
  // Get current page
  const pageName = getCurrentPage();
  
  // Build animation sequence with other pages
  const displaySequence = buildAnimationSequence(pageName);
  
  // Create and animate elements
  const container = document.getElementById('slotContainer');
  populateContainer(container, displaySequence);
  
  // Start animation with slight delay
  setTimeout(() => {
    container.classList.add('animate-slot-machine');
    
    // Reset to final state after animation completes
    setTimeout(() => finalizeAnimation(container, pageName), 1400);
  }, 50);
});

Results

This component has been implemented across multiple client projects with excellent feedback:

• Design Appreciation: Consistently mentioned in user feedback as a “delightful detail”
• Performance Impact: Zero measurable impact on page load or performance metrics