Sometimes your knowledge of programming can limit your design perspective. You may have this idea of interaction that you want to do for your next project but you decided to let it go because you think it is impossible. Later on, you discovered that someone already wrote a plugin for it and you wish you’d found the plugin before you started the project.
This always happens to me, so I decided to create this list of kick ass jQuery plugins that you can use for your next project.
10 Kick Ass jQuery Plugins for your Next Project
1. Particle Animation
If you are an apple user, you may have heard about the MobileMe website, the predecessor of iCloud, and its beautifully crafted log in page with particle effects. Well this tutorial will do just that for your website. I have also used it on my personal website, and it’s awesome.
2. Rotating Image Slider
If you are looking for a slider that will make your landing page stand out from the crowd, look no further. This plugin will arrange your images in a unique way with interesting transitions that no other websites have done it before.
3. Adaptive Thumbnail Pile Effect with Automatic Grouping
If your next project has a lot of images and you would like to group them, this jQuery plugin is for you. It allows you to group all your images and displays them in a stunning animation when you click on it.
4. Simple Effects for Dropdown Lists
Dropdown has always been a major part of web design but there’s only so much you can do with it. This plugin pushes the limit even further. Instead of displaying a boring list with ordinary animation, it adds beautiful effects and arranges in a way that most plugins can’t.
5. Baraja: Spreading Items in a Card-like Fashion
This is a plugin for unique use cases such as when you want to show your list in a card-like fashion etc. There are plenty of effects and ways to arrange cards that you can play around with in the demo linked below.
6. jQuery Scroll Path
If you want to design a story-driven website taking your users on a journey through each part, this plugin is your savior. It allows you to guide your users in any direction through your website via scrolling. This will be useful if you want to create an interesting and interactive website.
7. 3D Thumbnail Hover Effect
This plugin allows you to hide unnecessary information from the viewers and let them view by hovering over the images with a beautiful transition. This is extremely useful when you want to keep information on a page to a minimum.
8. Lettering.js
Take control of your typography using Lettering.js. Currently, CSS doesn’t offer complete control of your typography, but this jQuery plugin will offer you just that. You can control your typography down to each letter. You can have one letter tilted left, and the other tilted right as you see fit for your design. If you are a typography freak like me, you’ll love it.
9. Roundabout jQuery Plugin
This is a roundabout slider that cycles through your images in a circle. I have been searching for this type of slider for days. I was unable to come up with a word that explains the plugin’s behavior but luckily I stumbled upon it accidentally while I was looking for other plugins. I’ve put it here just in case there are people who are unable to find it.
10. BookBlock – A Content Flip Plugin
Let your viewers flip through your website like a book using this plugin. Any content can be used such as images or text depending on what you need.
In Conclusion
There you have it. 10 jQuery plugins that will help you design your next project.
Let me know in the comments below which other great jQuery plugins you think are missing from this list and make sure to leave a link so everyone can go check them out.
