The Best Javascript Image Sliders

JavaScript image sliders create a dynamic and rich experience for users.

To add interactivity and intuitiveness to a website, especially those that are photo- or image-driven, JavaScript image sliders provide a pleasant user experience. JavaScript image sliders also add flexibility for users, making it easy for them to navigate within a website by locating content using the visual effects available in the slider. The wide variety of image sliders and the ease of implementation also make image sliders a favorite for most developers.

Nivo Slider

This is one of the most common sliders employed on most sites. It has about 16 unique transition effects, and clean and valid markup that is easy to understand. The slider supports the linking of images thus not requiring that the images be saved on the hosting server. It includes HTML captions and works on the common browsers, which include Chrome 4+, Firefox 3+, Internet Explorer v7+ and Opera v10+. The slider is free to use and does not come with licensing restrictions.

SlideItMoo

This is a JavaScript plug-in that pulls images from a photo gallery and displays thumbnails of the photos as a banner rotator. Developers have the option of customizing the plug-in to obtain the desired effects. You can set the number of images to be displayed, the autoslide intervals, the transition effect and other options. To install it, simply download the module and then add a few lines of code on the header section of the page it will run on.

Supersized

This is a full screen slideshow plug-in that is able to resize images to fit in a browser page. It employs various transition effects while cycling images, effectively producing an overall dynamic and interesting user experience. It offers support for online photo resources like Flickr, allowing it to pull photos by user, group or set. Developers have the option of customizing the slideshow by defining the starting photos, slider counter, captions, slide interval and dimensions, among other details.

Galleria

This JavaScript image framework simplifies the implementation of image galleries for mobile devices and the web. It is free to use and comes with a free theme. The slider includes CSS3 transitions for the many animations that can be used with this framework. Developers can customize the transition effects and the interaction details to their needs. In addition, an Application Programming Interface (API) is available for advanced customizations and extending the capabilities of Galleria.

References

• Dev7Studios: Nivo Slider
• PHP.help: SlideItMoo Image Slider
• Galleria
• Build Internet: Supersized JQuery Plugin

Resources

• Viva Logo: Top 30 JavaScript Slideshows, Sliders and Carousels