Jquery Scroll Element To The Middle Of The Screen Instead Of To The Top With An Anchor Link

Scrolling to the middle of the screen instead of the top when using anchor links can create a more seamless user experience on your website. If you are looking for a way to achieve this effect easily using jQuery, you're in the right place. In this guide, we'll walk you through the steps to implement a smooth scroll to the middle of the screen using jQuery with anchor links.

First things first, make sure you have jQuery included in your project. You can either download jQuery and host it on your server or use a CDN link to include it in your HTML file. Here's an example of how you can include jQuery using a CDN:

Now that you have jQuery set up, let's move on to the code to achieve the scroll effect. Below is a sample jQuery code snippet that you can use to scroll to the middle of the screen when an anchor link is clicked:

$(document).ready(function(){
  $('a[href^="#"]').on('click', function(event) {
      var target = $($(this).attr('href'));
      if( target.length ) {
          event.preventDefault();
          $('html, body').animate({
              scrollTop: target.offset().top - ($(window).height() - target.outerHeight(true)) / 2
          }, 1000);
      }
  });
});

Let's break down this code snippet for better understanding:

1. `$('a[href^="#"]')`: This selector targets anchor links that start with `#`. This ensures that the smooth scroll effect is only applied to internal links within the same page.

2. `target.offset().top`: This gets the offset position of the target element from the top of the document.

3. `$(window).height() - target.outerHeight(true)`: This calculates the difference between the window height and the target element's height to determine the midpoint of the screen vertically.

4. `scrollTop`: Finally, this is where the magic happens. The `scrollTop` property is animated to scroll the page to the middle of the target element instead of the top.

By using this jQuery code snippet, you can enhance the user experience on your website by smoothly scrolling to the middle of the screen when users click on anchor links.

Remember to customize the animation duration (`1000` in the code above) and adjust it to your preference for a smoother or quicker scroll effect.

In conclusion, implementing a smooth scroll to the middle of the screen with anchor links using jQuery is a simple yet effective way to improve navigation on your website. Give it a try and see how it enhances the user experience!