In this chapter, we have looked into page elements that change over time, either on their own or in response to user intervention. These shufflers and rotators can really set a modern web presence apart from traditionally designed sites. We have covered presenting an XML feed of information on a page, as well as rotating items in and out of view on a time delay. Along with displaying a set of images in a navigable carousel-style gallery, we have also discussed enlarging an image for a closer view with a smooth animation and presenting user-interface controls in an unobtrusive way.
These techniques can be combined in many ways to breathe life into otherwise stodgy pages, while simultaneously enhancing the usability of our web-based applications. Animations and effects that would be otherwise tedious to achieve can be effortlessly realized thanks to the power of jQuery.