There you can specify the max number of blinks as well as have access to a couple of callbacks: onBlink and onMaxBlinks that are pretty self explanatory.
Works in IE 7 & 8, Chrome, Firefox, Safari and probably in IE 6 and Opera (although haven't tested on them).
(In full disclosure: I'm am the creator of this previous one. We had the legitimate need to use it at work [I know we all like to say this :-)] for an alarm within a system and I thought of sharing only for use on a legitimate need ;-)).
var counter = 5; // Blinking the link 5 times
var $help = $('div.help');
var blinkHelp = function() {
($help.is(':visible') ? $help.fadeOut(250) : $help.fadeIn(250));
counter--;
if (counter >= 0) setTimeout(blinkHelp, 500);
};
blinkHelp();
I like alex's answer, so this is a bit of an extension of that without an interval (since you would need to clear that interval eventually and know when you want a button to stop blinking. This is a solution where you pass in the jquery element, the ms you want for the blinking offset and the number of times you want the element to blink:
function blink ($element, ms, times) {
for (var i = 0; i < times; i++) {
window.setTimeout(function () {
if ($element.is(':visible')) {
$element.hide();
} else {
$element.show();
}
}, ms * (times + 1));
}
}
I feel the following is of greater clarity and customization than other answers.
var element_to_blink=$('#id_of_element_to_blink');
var min_opacity=0.2;
var max_opacity=1.0;
var blink_duration=2000;
var blink_quantity=10;
var current_blink_number=0;
while(current_blink_number<blink_quantity){
element_to_blink.animate({opacity:min_opacity},(blink_duration/2),"linear");
element_to_blink.animate({opacity:max_opacity},(blink_duration/2),"linear");
current_blink_number+=1;
}
This stand-alone solution will blink the text a specified number of times and then stop.
The blinking uses opacity, rather than show/hide, fade or toggle so that the DIV remains clickable, in case that's ever an issue (allows you to make buttons with blinking text).
Seeing the number of views on this question, and the lack of answers that cover both blinking and stopping it, here goes: try jQuery.blinker out (demo).
HTML:
<p>Hello there!</p>
JavaScript:
var p = $("p");
p.blinker();
p.bind({
// pause blinking on mouseenter
mouseenter: function(){
$(this).data("blinker").pause();
},
// resume blinking on mouseleave
mouseleave: function(){
$(this).data("blinker").blinkagain();
}
});
Indeed a plugin for a simple blink effect is overkill. So after experimenting with various solutions, I have choosen between one line of javascript and a CSS class that controls exactly how I want to blink the elements (in my case for the blink to work I only need to change the background to transparent, so that the text is still visible):
This is what ended up working best for me. I used jQuery fadeTo because this is on WordPress, which already links jQuery in. Otherwise, I probably would have opted for something with pure JavaScript before adding another http request for a plugin.
$(document).ready(function() {
// One "blink" takes 1.5s
setInterval(function(){
// Immediately fade to opacity: 0 in 0ms
$(".cursor").fadeTo( 0, 0);
// Wait .75sec then fade to opacity: 1 in 0ms
setTimeout(function(){
$(".cursor").fadeTo( 0, 1);
}, 750);
}, 1500);
});
I have written a simple jquery extension for text blink whilst specifying number of times it should blink the text, Hope it helps others.
//add Blink function to jquery
jQuery.fn.extend({
Blink: function (i) {
var c = i; if (i===-1 || c-- > 0) $(this).fadeTo("slow", 0.1, function () { $(this).fadeTo("slow", 1, function () { $(this).Blink(c); }); });
}
});
//Use it like this
$(".mytext").Blink(2); //Where 2 denotes number of time it should blink.
//For continuous blink use -1
$(".mytext").Blink(-1);
You can repeat this as much as you want or you can use it inside a loop. the first parameter of the fadeTo() is the duration for the fade to take effect, and the second parameter is the opacity.
This code will effectively make the element(s) blink without touching the layout (like fadeIn().fadeOut() will do) by just acting on the opacity ; There you go, blinking text ; usable for both good and evil :)