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Crafting a Custom Newsletter Popup: A Beginner's Guide to Web Development Magic

Learn how to create a stunning subscribe popup with HTML, CSS, and JavaScript – save time and money while enhancing your web development skills!

Author

Embedded Nature
January 28, 2024

< README.md />

👋 Hey, there! I am absolutely loving putting this newsletter together. I’m hoping that you enjoy seeing WealthMinds.Tech in your inbox each week.

If you do, I encourage you to reply to this newsletter with any feedback or ideas. This feedback helps me tremendously! ⚡️ 

This article differs slightly from usual; I hope you still find it valuable.

Forwarded this email? Sign up here for Free.

Want a newsletter popup for your website? Don't pay for it! I'll show you how to create one, saving you time and money.

Prerequisites:
> Your favorite IDE, I choose VSCode

Optional Add-ons:
> Live-Server, Launch a development local Server with live reload
> If you want to run this in a browser, you can use an online IDE such as playcode.io, stackblitz.com, etc

Let's dive into web development magic!

< HTML Subscribe Popup />

Creating your own newsletter popup is easy!

Basic HTML Setup

Every excellent web structure begins with HTML—the scaffolding of the web. For our popup, we need a modest setup:

<!-- Newsletter Popup Modal -->
<div id="newsletterModal">
    <div id="newsletterContent">
        <button id="closeModal" onclick="closeModal()">X</button>
        <h2>SUBSCRIBE</h2>
        <p>Subscribe to get our newsletter & stay updated</p>
        <form id="newsletterForm">
            <input type="email" id="newsletterEmail" placeholder="ENTER YOUR EMAIL" required>
            <button type="submit" onclick="submitEmail()">SUBSCRIBE</button>
        </form>
    </div>
</div>

Above, I’m defining a modal with a subscription form. The id Attributes are crucial; they're like unique names for each element that our scripts and styles can refer to. If you are new to HTML tags, check the list of tags at w3schools.com


Scripts

Scripts are essential in bringing life to our static HTML structures on the web. We must add a script tag at the bottom of our body tag to ensure that all HTML elements are loaded before the script runs.

<script>
    // JavaScript functions will go here
</script>

CSS

Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) is a web styling language that adds personality and visual appeal to HTML. We can easily apply styles to our HTML by enclosing them in a <style> tag within the <head> section of our document. 

#newsletterModal {
    display: none;
    position: fixed;
    /* Other styles */
}

#newsletterContent {
    /* Styling for the modal content */
}

Here, #newsletterModal is initially hidden with display: none; — we'll show this modal with JavaScript when the user intends to leave.

Visit CSS-Tricks for more styling knowledge!

JS Functions

Functions are the building blocks of our script. They perform actions such as displaying the modal, closing it, and handling form submissions. The functions below encapsulate our logic, making our code clean and maintainable.

function showNewsletterModal() {
    // Code to show the modal
}

function closeModal() {
    // Code to hide the modal
}

function submitEmail() {
    // Code to handle the email submission
}

New to JavaScript? Check out javascript.info

Mousemove

The magic happens with the mousemove event. We will detect if the user's mouse moves toward the browser toolbar, which may indicate an intention to leave the page.

document.addEventListener('mousemove', function(event) {
    if (event.clientY < 50 && event.movementY < 0) {
        showNewsletterModal();
    }
});

This code waits for the user's cursor to cross a certain threshold before triggering a popup. The key to a good user experience is subtlety. I wanted the popup to be a gentle invitation, not a forceful intrusion. By tracking the mouse movement, we determine when to show the popup.


Wrapping Up 🎉 

It takes some time to combine our HTML structure, style it with CSS, and give it functionality with JavaScript. However, I hope this short guide provides you with the necessary knowledge to build something similar. You can expand the functionality of this popup in countless ways, such as animation, timing delays, cookie-based display logic, and much more.

I have created a gist to make it easy for you to view my entire code and embed it on your website. I encourage you to read my notes within the code; it should help you understand the large array of functionality HTML, CSS, and JavaScript provides. Use your IDE to style this to your liking; see if you can take snippets of my code but adjust them to fit your needs.

Following this brief guide can save money on subscription fees and hone your web development skills, enabling you to create even more engaging websites. Keep pushing yourself to code and create, and I can't wait to see the fantastic results of your hard work. Remember, if you ever need help or have any questions, don't hesitate to reach out. I'm always here to support you and discuss any ideas you have.

< CLOSING />
About WealthMinds.Tech Newsletter

My newsletter offers valuable insights and perspectives on the intersection of software engineering and wealth building. From programming insights to wealth-building strategies, as we continue to pioneer technology, build wealth, and ignite minds, I invite you to stay connected with me through my newsletter. Stay tuned for our upcoming edition.

🌐 Pioneering Technology | 💰 Building Wealth | 🔥 Ignite Minds

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