So, this started off as a “Top 10 jQuery plugins…” then I realized I don’t have 10 that I commonly use. I then decided to write, “Top 5 jQuery plugins I commonly use…”, but honestly – there are really only about 5 I frequently use!
1. ClearField
ClearField allows you to have default text in an input box and clear it on focus.
2. Fancybox
The well known Fancybox – lightbox alternative. Definitely my preferred lightbox of choice. You’re not limited to just images and it really offers you with a lot of flexibility.
3. jQuery Cycle
Another one I use regularly is the jQuery Cycle plugin. It provides you with a lot of options in terms of giving whatever element your working on a unique feel. You can create slideshows, slideshows with numbered controls or next/prev buttons, news tickers, banner rotations, manage areas of content and more. They also have a ton of demos for you to really get an idea of the variety of application.
Let’s not forget Validation. Custom form validation offers great feedback to your users and can help prevent them from getting frustrated and quitting the form submission process. jQuery Validation offers a lot of standard validations that actually validates against a set of rules – so it really takes most of the work out of treating each input with custom validation.
5. jquery Tabs
You can get jQuery Tabs on its own or as part of the jQuery Tools ui framework. It’s probably the simplest tab generator I’ve ever used. Another great feature is that the tabs are very easy to style with css. Some other tab creators are blotted with class names and you have to have a very specific structure – but jQuery Tabs is very straight forward.