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How To Add Smooth Scrolling Effect Using Javascript

If you're looking to enhance the user experience on your website, adding a smooth scrolling effect using JavaScript can be a great way to achieve that. This feature not only makes navigation more visually appealing but also adds a touch of elegance to your site. In this article, we'll walk you through the steps to implement smooth scrolling using JavaScript.

First things first, you'll need a basic understanding of HTML, CSS, and JavaScript to implement this feature effectively. Smooth scrolling can be achieved by modifying the behavior of anchor links on your webpage.

To start off, you'll want to create anchor links in your HTML code that will be linked to specific sections of your webpage. You can do this by adding the anchor tag `` with the `href` attribute pointing to the respective section's ID. For example:

Html

<a href="#section1">Section 1</a>

Next, you'll need to ensure that the target sections have corresponding IDs. This can be done by adding the `id` attribute to the HTML elements representing these sections. For instance:

Html

<div id="section1">
  <!-- Content of Section 1 goes here -->
</div>

Now comes the exciting part - implementing the smooth scrolling effect using JavaScript. Here's a simple script you can add to your webpage:

Javascript

document.querySelectorAll('a[href^="#"]').forEach(anchor =&gt; {
    anchor.addEventListener('click', function(e) {
        e.preventDefault();
        
        document.querySelector(this.getAttribute('href')).scrollIntoView({
            behavior: 'smooth'
        });
    });
});

Let's unpack this code a bit. The `querySelectorAll` method selects all anchor elements with the `href` attribute starting with a `#`. We then iterate over each anchor element and add a click event listener.

Inside the event listener function, we prevent the default behavior of the anchor link using `e.preventDefault()` to stop the immediate jump to the target section. Instead, we smoothly scroll to the target section using the `scrollIntoView` method with the `behavior` option set to `smooth`.

By adding this JavaScript code to your webpage, you enable smooth scrolling for anchor links, providing users with a more pleasant browsing experience. Remember to place this script at the end of your HTML body to ensure it runs after the DOM has loaded.

In conclusion, adding a smooth scrolling effect using JavaScript can elevate the overall feel of your website and create a more engaging user experience. So why not give it a try and see the positive impact it can have on your site?