Some jQuery use cases call for letting the user know (usually through some animation) that something on the page has changed. For example, the user enters a format string in a text box (with codes for different tokens that can be replaced), then 1 second after the user is done typing, a different area of the page updates a live preview of what the text will look like with all the tokens replaced.
The jQuery UI "Highlight" effect is one example of this - the affected region briefly flashes yellow before fading back to the original background color.
What are some other pre-built jQuery effects that could be used for this task? Please post each link as a separate answer and then upvote your favorites. Then we'll all be ready with alternatives when a manager says "I like the concept but I don't like how it looks."
The yellow-fade effect is one of the most used effects in this kind of situation -- and people have probably started getting used to it.
Maybe it's not "cute" or anything, but if it's well accepted, you should probably go with it; it would make your application easier to understand, and that is definitely what should matter.
Here are a couple of links:
And it seems this is what jQuery's highlight is doing -- there is probably a good reason for that choice ;-)