When it comes to software application development and design, JavaScript is the popular programming language for making interactive pages, thus boosting usability as well as adding several features to a website. Out of the many available JavaScript frameworks, jQuery stands out from the rest.
jQuery, used by more than 70 per cent of the top websites in the world is probably the most popular JavaScript library for front-end software development. Moreover, it’s lightweight, fast, and streamlines how we navigate an HTML document, as well as manipulate page elements. Since it’s highly extensible as well, there are numerous jQuery plugins created on top of it to add website functionality.
The library is highly preferred because it’s easier to manage and to write. Moreover, it also requires fewer code lines than those of the JS code. There is a jQuery plugin for virtually any kind of functionality your website requires, from UI elements and components to grids and layouts. For just about any custom software development requirement, there are just so many jQuery plugins to choose from.
1. Cropper
Cropper could very well be the most comprehensive image cropping and resizing tool, with over 70 various ways of cropping, understanding, manipulating, and modifying image data. The predefined options let you scale pictures to various aspect ratios with one click, view modes could be handed to play with the dimensions and scale of a photo, and different ways of getting a range of data about a picture, like an image, container, crop box data, and canvas, all with just one button click.
The friendly interface helps you put it within one of your image uploading platforms with no difficulties at all. Cropper could also be combined easily with any jQuery file upload scripts and make a genuine experience for your image sharing website.
2. Isotope
A magical dynamic layout plugin that features layout modes, (dynamic, smart layouts that could not be achieved with CSS alone), sorting and filtering. This gem of a plugin is available through WordPress theme and is a favourite of any custom software development company for front-end development. With Isotope, you could build different sizes of grid items, and have them nicely arranged in a masonry layout.
Furthermore, you could also sort and filter grid items. The biggest attraction to Isotope is its ability to specify custom functions for filtering by and the flexibility of sorting with various data attributes. The plugin comes with an array of options to choose from changing the kind of animation engine that it uses to make adjustments whether items are organized into ascending or descending order.
3. Twenty Twenty
Nowadays, companies and startups are launching left and right, and most of them are focused on some kind of web manipulation via their software, in some instances, this means managing and editing pictures online, and sometimes it’s a product that could revamp a website into a one-of-a-kind experience. This plugin, once integrated into the main stack could be used in showcasing the difference between a couple of unique pictures by comparing them, with an attached slider for a seamless experience.
The plugin works by stacking two images on top of the other. As the slider moves across the picture, it uses a CSS clip property for trimming the image on the left. This makes the image on the right become visible via the container. This approach is interactive, and much appreciated by those who already are used to these modern web technologies’ methods.
4. Owl Carousel 2
Tops of the jQuery carousel plugins list for building responsive and functional sliders. Owl Carousel boasts of comprehensive customization options, which include merge options for slides with various widths, responsive modes, and CSS-based transitions between slides. It’s a touch-enabled plugin for beautiful carousel sliders.
A carousel is a combination of a slideshow, rotating banners, which describes the homepage of a store. It lets you showcase up to five slides, which could consist of a text or image that could be linked to certain pages or products. It has more than 60 options, which makes it easy even for novice users and even more powerful for advanced and expert developers.
Specially designed to boost the mobile browsing experience, the mouse drag works terrific on desktops as well. Almost all the options are responsive and include extremely intuitive breakpoints settings. It furthermore uses the hardware acceleration CSS3 Translate 3D transitions that is rapid and works like a charm.
5. iCheck
This plugin helps in customizing checkboxes and radio buttons with stylish skins, which come in two colours and flavours—square, flat, minimal, Polaris, and futurico. If no design previously mentioned appeals to you, you could opt to use a custom skin. It works with checkboxes and the radio buttons the same as a constructor.
Every input is wrapped with a div that could be customized by you using one of the skins available. Moreover, within the div, you could also pout some HTML code or text with the insert option. This jQuery plugin is used to prevent routine wheel reinvention when working with radio buttons and checkboxes.
It gives an expected identical result for a great number of devices, browsers, and their versions. Methods and callbacks could be handled easily and changes could be made at customized inputs. iCheck is verified to work in Firefox 2+, Opera 9+, Google Chrome, Safari, and Explorer 6+ browsers.
Conclusion
Amidst the great surge of various libraries and frameworks of JavaScript, one may think that ignoring the power of jQuery plugins is simple. However, doing so would not be a smart move at all. Even in this React JS age, jQuery is the sole most used JavaScript library at present, with millions of active websites.
The great thing is that there are so many jQuery plugins out there to add various software and website functionalities, such as the five mentioned above.
