TourGuide

About

TourGuide is a JavaScript module that helps generate step-by-step instructions and demos in an easy way. It spotlights elements adding small commentary on them. See a demo working on CodePen.

It uses borders and box-shadows to create a spotlight area that will highlight a specific element, displaying commentary text, and animating from one step to another using CSS transitions. It is highly customizable, works on desktop and mobile, and users can opt to use the default controls or create their own using the plugin API.

Initially, it was a CSS-only animation for a Snake & Ladders game. Then it was ported into JavaScript and this module was created.

How to use it

This is a simple 4-step way to start TourGuide:

1. Download an import the JS library and CSS file into your project. You can do this by:

   1. Downloading/importing the files directly into your project:

      <link rel="stylesheet" href="/css/tourguide.css" />
      <script src="/js/tourguide.js"></script>
      

   2. Installing the package from npm

      npm i tourguide
      

   3. Adding the package from yarn

      yarn add tourguide
      

2. Add data-sp-next data-attribute to the elements that you want to highlight as part of your instructions.

   There are more data-attributes that can be added, but only the data-sp-next is essential to create the list of steps for the instructions.

3. Initialize TourGuide with the selector of the initial element of the instructions:

     <script>
     let tour = new TourGuide({
       init: "#step1"
     });
     </script>
   

4. With JavaScript, trigger the beginning of the instructions/demo using the start method:

   tour.start();

For more examples on how to start, check the repository demos.

Parameters

Parameter	Type	Description
color	Color	String with the color of the shadow. Default: "rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.5)".
init	String	Selector of the first element that will be highlighted, and from which the list of steps will be created. This field has no default value. Either this parameter of steps must be specified when starting TourGuide.
initTrigger	Boolean	Indicates if the first element will also be the trigger of the animation. Default: false.
next	Boolean	Indicates if the link to the next step will be displayed. Default: true
nextText	String	Specifies the text of the next step link. Admits HTML. Default: "Next"
previous	Boolean	Indicates if the link to the previous step will be displayed. Default: true
previousText	String	Specifies the text of the previous step link. Admits HTML. Default: "Previous"
shape	square|round	String that indicates the shape of the spotlight: squared or round/elliptical. Default value: "round".
skip	Boolean	Indicates if the link to skip the instructions will be displayed. Default: true
skipText	String	Specifies the text of the link to skip instructions. Default: "Skip presentation"
steps	Array	List with objects that will contain ID, text, and shape of the element to be highlighted (see more below). This field has no default value. Either this parameter of init must be specified when starting TourGuide.

The structure of the steps list will be as follows:

[
  {
    selector: "selector-of-the-element-to-be-highglighted-(mandatory)",
    text: "text-to-be-displayed-(optional)",
    shape: "shape-of-the-element-(optional)"
  },
  ...
]

So, for example, the following ways of initializing SpolightJS would be equivalent:

Method 1:

<div id="step-1" data-sp-next="#step-2" data-sp-text="This is the first step.">Hello!</div>
<div id="step-2" data-sp-next="#step-3" data-sp-text="This is the last steop." data-sp-shape="round">Good Bye!</div>

<script>
let tourguide = new TourGuide({ init: "#step-1" });
</script>

Method 2:

<div id="step-1">Hello!</div>
<div id="step-2">Good Bye!</div>

<script>
let tourguide = new TourGuide({
                      steps:[
                              { selector: "#step-1", text: "This is the first step." },
                              { selector: "#step-2", text: "This is the last step.", shape: "round" }
                            ]
                    });
</script>

API methods

In order to customize the instructions, you could hide all the controls (next, previous, skip) and use your own using the methods from the provided API, or you could also hide the text associated to each step (via CSS) and design your own instruction text. For some examples of the possibilities, see the demos page.

Method	Returns	Description
getCurrentElement()	Object	Returns the element that is currently highlighted.
getCurrentElementSelector()	String	Returns the selector provided for the element that is currently highlighted.
getStep()	Integer	Returns the integer value of the current step (from 1 to no).
getText()	String	Returns the text associated to the currently highlighted step.
getTotalSteps()	Integer	Returns the total number of steps in the presentation.
goToFirstStep()	-	Animates to the first step.
goToNextStep()	-	Animates to the following step in the presentation.
goToPreviousStep()	-	Animates to the previous step in the presentation.
goToStep(n)	-	Animates directly to step n.
start()	-	Starts the animation from the first step.
stop()	-	Stops the current animation.

Browser Support

IE/Edge	Firefox	Chrome	Safari	Opera
9+	12+	4+	4+	11.5+