Simple Tooltips

The Tooltip Markup

We just need a div for the tooltip, and some elements that want to have tooltips.

<div id="tooltip"></div>

<ul class="list">
    <li class="wrench"><img src="../assets/overlay/img/wrench.png"/></li>
    <li class="calipers"><img src="../assets/overlay/img/calipers.png"/></li>
    <li class="drill"><img src="../assets/overlay/img/drill.png"/></li>
    <li class="ohm"><img src="../assets/overlay/img/ohm.png"/></li>
    <li class="level"><img src="../assets/overlay/img/level.png"/></li>
</ul>

Setting Up the YUI Instance

We'll use the Overlay module to provide shimming for correctly covering <select> elements in IE. We'll use Event for its onmouseleave event, and widget-anim as a plugin to provide the fade-in for the tooltip.

YUI().use('overlay', 'event', 'widget-anim', function (Y) {
    // code will go here.
});

Declare some variables

These variables include an array of strings for various tooltips. If a DOM element has a class matching one of the name values in the tipText array, it will display the corresponding text value in its tooltip when the cursor moves over it.

var waitingToShow = false,
    
    // array for text to be displayed in tooltips
    tipText = [
        {'name': 'wrench', 'text': "Avoid dropping on toe."},
        {'name': 'calipers', 'text': 'Dial calipers: +- .001,<br>human hair .004'},
        {'name': 'drill', 'text': 'Variable-speed and cordless too.'},
        {'name': 'ohm', 'text': 'Never test microwaves with a volt-ohm meter.'},
        {'name': 'level', 'text': 'Unreliable in zero gravity conditions.'}
        // the array continues...
    ];

Instantiating The Tooltip

To create an overlay instance for the tooltip, we use the overlay constructor Y.Overlay, specifying the source node as the selector of the tooltip element.

var tooltip = new Y.Overlay({
    srcNode: "#tooltip",
    visible: false
}).plug(Y.Plugin.WidgetAnim);
tooltip.anim.get('animHide').set('duration', 0.01);
tooltip.anim.get('animShow').set('duration', 0.3);
tooltip.render();

Event Handlers

Create event handlers for the mouse events and place them above the listeners code.

// handler that positions and shows the tooltip 
var onMousemove = function (e) {
    var i;
    if (tooltip.get('visible') === false) {
        // while it's still hidden, move the tooltip adjacent to the cursor
        Y.one('#tooltip').setStyle('opacity', '0');
        tooltip.move([(e.pageX + 10), (e.pageY + 20)]);
    }
    if (waitingToShow === false) {
        // wait half a second, then show tooltip
        setTimeout(function(){
            Y.one('#tooltip').setStyle('opacity', '1');
            tooltip.show();
        }, 500);
        
        // while waiting to show tooltip, don't let other
        // mousemoves try to show tooltip too.
        waitingToShow = true;
        
        // loop through the tipText array looking for a match between
        // the class name and the array literal `name`
        for (i = 0; i < tipText.length; i += 1) {
            if (e.currentTarget.hasClass(tipText[i].name)) {

                // found a match, so set the content in the tooltip's body
                tooltip.setStdModContent('body', tipText[i].text);
                break;
            }
        }
    }
}

// handler that hides the tooltip
var onMouseleave = function (e) {

    // this check prevents hiding the tooltip 
    // when the cursor moves over the tooltip itself
    if ((e.relatedTarget) && (e.relatedTarget.hasClass('yui3-widget-bd') === false)) {
        tooltip.hide();
        waitingToShow = false;            
    }
}

Event Listeners

Add listeners for mousemove and mouseout events to whatever elements you want to have tooltips. Using mousemove instead of mouseover, and using a delay in the transition makes the tooltip fade in adjacent to the cursor. See event delegation for efficient event subscribing to multiple elements.

Y.delegate('mousemove', onMousemove, '.lists', 'li');
Y.delegate('mouseleave', onMouseleave, '.lists', 'li');
Y.one('#tooltip').on('mouseleave', onMouseleave);

This example demonstrates how you can use the existing Overlay component to create a one-off Tooltip for your page. If you plan to re-use the Tooltip on multiple pages, or in a variety of use cases, it's a good idea to encapsulate all the code which makes a tooltip work into a reusable Widget class. The example, Creating a Simple Tooltip Widget with Extensions, shows how you can create a reusable, flexible Tooltip class.

Complete Example Source

<style>
    .example .lists {
        margin: 10px auto;  /*center in viewport*/
    }

    .example .list {
        -moz-padding-start: 0;
        -webkit-padding-start: 0;
        width: 300px;
        margin: 0;
    }

    .example #tooltip .yui3-widget-bd{
        text-align: left;
        max-width: 15em;
        *width: 10em;
        background-color: #FFF6D5;
        border: solid 1px #aa8;
        padding: 0.2em 0.5em 0.3em;
        -moz-border-radius: 2px;
        -webkit-border-radius: 2px;
        -moz-box-shadow: 3px 3px 5px rgba(0,0,0,0.2);
        -webkit-box-shadow: 3px 3px 5px rgba(0,0,0,0.2);
    }

    .example .list li{
        list-style: none;
        margin: 0 0 20px;
        border: 1px solid #C9C9C9;
        width: 300px;
    }

    .example .list img{
        vertical-align: bottom;
    }

    .example .list .select{
        padding: 1.5em 0 0.5em;
        text-indent: 0.5em;
        background-color: #F7DBB2;
    }

</style>

<body class="yui3-skin-sam">
    <div id="tooltip"></div>
    
    <div class="yui3-g lists">
        <div class="yui3-u-1-2"> <!-- see CSS Grids -->
            <ul class="list">
                <li class="wrench"><img src="../assets/overlay/img/wrench.png"></li>
                <li class="calipers"><img src="../assets/overlay/img/calipers.png"/></li>
                <li class="drill"><img src="../assets/overlay/img/drill.png"/></li>
                <li class="ohm"><img src="../assets/overlay/img/ohm.png"/></li>
                <li class="level"><img src="../assets/overlay/img/level.png"/></li>
            </ul>
        </div>
        <div class="yui3-u">
            <ul class="list">
                <li class="endwrench"><img src="../assets/overlay/img/endwrench.png"/></li>
                <li class="knife"><img src="../assets/overlay/img/knife.png"/></li>
                <li class="scissors"><img src="../assets/overlay/img/scissors.png"/></li>
                <li class="screwdriver"><img src="../assets/overlay/img/screwdriver.png"/></li>
                <li class="tape"><img src="../assets/overlay/img/tape.png"/></li>
                <li class="select">Tooltips cover <select><option>select</option></select> elements in IE.</li>
            </ul>
        </div>
    </div>

<script>
YUI().use('overlay', 'event', 'widget-anim', function (Y) {

    var waitingToShow = false,
        
        // array for text to be displayed in tooltips
        tipText = [
            {'name': 'wrench', 'text': "Avoid dropping on toe."},
            {'name': 'calipers', 'text': 'Dial calipers: +- .001,<br>human hair .004'},
            {'name': 'drill', 'text': 'Variable-speed and cordless too.'},
            {'name': 'ohm', 'text': 'Never test microwaves with a volt-ohm meter.'},
            {'name': 'level', 'text': 'Unreliable in zero gravity conditions.'},
            {'name': 'endwrench', 'text': '11/16 box-end wrench A.K.A spanner - (British)'},
            {'name': 'knife', 'text': 'Wants to roll off table and stick in foot.'},
            {'name': 'scissors', 'text': "Don't run with these."},
            {'name': 'screwdriver', 'text': 'Not intended for garden weeding.'},
            {'name': 'tape', 'text': 'Remove before cutting.'},
            {'name': 'select', 'text': 'Covering select'}
        ];

    var tooltip = new Y.Overlay({
        srcNode: "#tooltip",
        visible: false
    }).plug(Y.Plugin.WidgetAnim);
    tooltip.anim.get('animHide').set('duration', 0.01);
    tooltip.anim.get('animShow').set('duration', 0.3);
    tooltip.render();

    // handler that positions and shows the tooltip 
    var onMousemove = function (e) {
        var i;
        if (tooltip.get('visible') === false) {
            // while it's still hidden, move the tooltip adjacent to the cursor
            Y.one('#tooltip').setStyle('opacity', '0');
            tooltip.move([(e.pageX + 10), (e.pageY + 20)]);
        }
        if (waitingToShow === false) {
            // wait half a second, then show tooltip
            setTimeout(function(){
                Y.one('#tooltip').setStyle('opacity', '1');
                tooltip.show();
            }, 500);
            
            // while waiting to show tooltip, don't let other
            // mousemoves try to show tooltip too.
            waitingToShow = true;
            
            // loop through the tipText array looking for a match between
            // the class name and the array literal `name`
            for (i = 0; i < tipText.length; i += 1) {
                if (e.currentTarget.hasClass(tipText[i].name)) {

                    // found a match, so set the content in the tooltip's body
                    tooltip.setStdModContent('body', tipText[i].text);
                    break;
                }
            }
        }
    }

    // handler that hides the tooltip
    var onMouseleave = function (e) {

        // this check prevents hiding the tooltip 
        // when the cursor moves over the tooltip itself
        if ((e.relatedTarget) && (e.relatedTarget.hasClass('yui3-widget-bd') === false)) {
            tooltip.hide();
            waitingToShow = false;            
        }
    }

    Y.delegate('mousemove', onMousemove, '.lists', 'li');
    Y.delegate('mouseleave', onMouseleave, '.lists', 'li');
    Y.one('#tooltip').on('mouseleave', onMouseleave);

});
</script>
</body>