Search code examples
jquerywindowconditional-statementsmedia-queries

Triggering jquery with css media queries


I am using css media queries on my project to create a site that will work with any sized screen. I am looking to trigger difference jquery functions just like I would with css.

For example, If the browser size is between 1000px and 1300px, I would like to call the following function:

$('#mycarousel').jcarousel({
    vertical: true,
    scroll: 1,
    auto: 2,
    wrap: 'circular'
});

BUT when the browser size is below 1000px, the js would stop its processing. So on and so forth.

I'm not sure if this is possible, but perhaps there is an existing solution or plugin that creates different js environments based on browser window sizes. I suppose I could create conditional statements in some format. Any thoughts?


Solution

  • The Modernizr library supports making direct JavaScript calls that evaluate media queries.

    If you don't want to do that, you could have your different CSS rules drive some property of a hidden element, and you could then use ".css()" to check the value from jQuery. In other words, the rule for "bigger than 1000px wide" could set a hidden <div> to "width: 1000px", and you could then check

    if ( $("#widthIndicator").css("width") === "1000px") {
      // whatever
    

    Here is a dumb jsfiddle demonstrating. Drag the middle separator bar left and right to see that the JavaScript code (in the interval timer) detects the change to effective "width" of the hidden element.

    If you refer to a responsive design then you could also trigger an existing element's property without adding markup to your html,for example

    if ( $("#navigation li").css("float") === "none") {