javascript - Change style header/nav with Intersection Observer (IO)

Question

Fiddle latest

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I started this question with the scroll event approach, but due to the suggestion of using IntersectionObserver which seems much better approach i'm trying to get it to work in that way.

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What is the goal:

I would like to change the style (color+background-color) of the header depending on what current div/section is observed by looking for (i'm thinking of?) its class or data that will override the default header style (black on white).

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Header styling:

font-color:

Depending on the content (div/section) the default header should be able to change the font-color into only two possible colors:

• black
• white

background-color:

Depending on the content the background-color could have unlimited colors or be transparent, so would be better to address that separate, these are the probably the most used background-colors:

• white (default)
• black
• no color (transparent)

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CSS:

header {
  position: fixed;
  width: 100%;
  top: 0;
  line-height: 32px;
  padding: 0 15px;
  z-index: 5;
  color: black; /* default */
  background-color: white; /* default */
}

Div/section example with default header no change on content:

<div class="grid-30-span g-100vh">
    <img 
    src="data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns='http://www.w3.org/2000/svg' viewBox='0 0 1.414 1'%3E%3C/svg%3E"
    data-src="/images/example_default_header.jpg" 
    class="lazyload"
    alt="">
</div>

Div/section example change header on content:

<div class="grid-30-span g-100vh" data-color="white" data-background="darkblue">
    <img 
    src="data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns='http://www.w3.org/2000/svg' viewBox='0 0 1.414 1'%3E%3C/svg%3E"
    data-src="/images/example_darkblue.jpg" 
    class="lazyload"
    alt="">
</div>

<div class="grid-30-span g-100vh" data-color="white" data-background="black">
    <img 
    src="data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns='http://www.w3.org/2000/svg' viewBox='0 0 1.414 1'%3E%3C/svg%3E"
    data-src="/images/example_black.jpg" 
    class="lazyload"
    alt="">
</div>

Intersection Observer approach:

var mq = window.matchMedia( "(min-width: 568px)" );
if (mq.matches) {
  // Add for mobile reset

document.addEventListener("DOMContentLoaded", function(event) { 
  // Add document load callback for leaving script in head
  const header = document.querySelector('header');
  const sections = document.querySelectorAll('div');
  const config = {
    rootMargin: '0px',
    threshold: [0.00, 0.95]
  };

  const observer = new IntersectionObserver(function (entries, self) {
    entries.forEach(entry => {
      if (entry.isIntersecting) {
        if (entry.intersectionRatio > 0.95) {
          header.style.color = entry.target.dataset.color !== undefined ? entry.target.dataset.color : "black";
          header.style.background = entry.target.dataset.background !== undefined ? entry.target.dataset.background : "white";   
        } else {
        if (entry.target.getBoundingClientRect().top < 0 ) {
          header.style.color = entry.target.dataset.color !== undefined ? entry.target.dataset.color : "black";
          header.style.background = entry.target.dataset.background !== undefined ? entry.target.dataset.background : "white";
          }
        } 
      }
    });
  }, config);

  sections.forEach(section => {
    observer.observe(section);
  });

});

}

Answer 1

Instead of listening to scroll event you should have a look at Intersection Observer (IO). This was designed to solve problems like yours. And it is much more performant than listening to scroll events and then calculating the position yourself.

First, here is a codepen which shows a solution for your problem. I am not the author of this codepen and I would maybe do some things a bit different but it definitely shows you the basic approach on how to solve your problem.

Things I would change: You can see in the example that if you scoll 99% to a new section, the heading changes even tough the new section is not fully visible.

Now with that out of the way, some explaining on how this works (note, I will not blindly copy-paste from codepen, I will also change const to let, but use whatever is more appropriate for your project.

First, you have to specify the options for IO:

let options = {
  rootMargin: '-50px 0px -55%'
}

let observer = new IntersectionObserver(callback, options);

In the example the IO is executing the callback once an element is 50px away from getting into view. I can't recommend some better values from the top of my head but if I would have the time I would try to tweak these parameters to see if I could get better results.

In the codepen they define the callback function inline, I just wrote it that way to make it clearer on what's happening where.

Next step for IO is to define some elements to watch. In your case you should add some class to your divs, like <div class="section">

let entries = document.querySelectorAll('div.section');
entries.forEach(entry => {observer.observe(entry);})

Finally you have to define the callback function:

entries.forEach(entry => {
    if (entry.isIntersecting) {
     //specify what should happen if an element is coming into view, like defined in the options. 
    }
  });

Edit: As I said this is just an example on how to get you started, it's NOT a finished solution for you to copy paste. In the example based on the ID of the section that get's visible the current element is getting highlighted. You have to change this part so that instead of setting the active class to, for example, third element you set the color and background-color depending on some attribute you set on the Element. I would recommend using data attributes for that.

Edit 2: Of course you can continue using just scroll events, the official Polyfill from W3C uses scroll events to emulate IO for older browsers.it's just that listening for scroll event and calculating position is not performant, especially if there are multiple elements. So if you care about user experience I really recommend using IO. Just wanted to add this answer to show what the modern solution for such a problem would be.

Edit 3: I took my time to create an example based on IO, this should get you started.

Basically I defined two thresholds: One for 20 and one for 90%. If the element is 90% in the viewport then it's save to assume it will cover the header. So I set the class for the header to the element that is 90% in view.

Second threshold is for 20%, here we have to check if the element comes from the top or from the bottom into view. If it's visible 20% from the top then it will overlap with the header.

Adjust these values and adapt the logic as you see.

const sections = document.querySelectorAll('div');
const config = {
  rootMargin: '0px',
  threshold: [.2, .9]
};

const observer = new IntersectionObserver(function (entries, self) {
  entries.forEach(entry => {
    if (entry.isIntersecting) {
      var headerEl = document.querySelector('header');
      if (entry.intersectionRatio > 0.9) {
        //intersection ratio bigger than 90%
        //-> set header according to target
        headerEl.className=entry.target.dataset.header;      
      } else {
        //-> check if element is coming from top or from bottom into view
        if (entry.target.getBoundingClientRect().top < 0 ) {
          headerEl.className=entry.target.dataset.header;
        }
      } 
    }
  });
}, config);

sections.forEach(section => {
  observer.observe(section);
});

* {
margin: 0;
padding: 0;
box-sizing: border-box;
}

.g-100vh {
height: 100vh
}

header {
  min-height: 50px;
  position: fixed;
  background-color: green;
  width: 100%;
}
  
header.white-menu {
  color: white;
  background-color: black;
}

header.black-menu {
  color: black;
  background-color: white;
}

<script src="https://cdnjs.cloudflare.com/ajax/libs/jquery/3.3.1/jquery.min.js"></script>


<header>
 <p>Header Content </p>
</header>
<div class="grid-30-span g-100vh white-menu" style="background-color:darkblue;" data-header="white-menu">
    <img 
    src="data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns='http://www.w3.org/2000/svg' viewBox='0 0 1.414 1'%3E%3C/svg%3E"
    data-src="/images/example_darkblue.jpg" 
    class="lazyload"
    alt="<?php echo $title; ?>">
</div>

<div class="grid-30-span g-100vh black-menu" style="background-color:lightgrey;" data-header="black-menu">
    <img 
    src="data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns='http://www.w3.org/2000/svg' viewBox='0 0 1.414 1'%3E%3C/svg%3E"
    data-src="/images/example_lightgrey.jpg" 
    class="lazyload"
    alt="<?php echo $title; ?>">
</div>