How to create a typewriter effect text animation with Tailwind CSS and JavaScript

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Hello everyone, today we are going to create a super simple typewriter effect text animation with Tailwind CSS and JavaScript.

What is a typewriter effect?

A typewriter effect is a text animation where characters appear one by one, simulating the look of text being typed out on a typewriter. It’s a visually engaging way to introduce text content in a dynamic fashion, often used in hero sections, introductions, or storytelling elements.

Use cases

Landing pages: Highlight key messages or product features.
Presentations: Create a dramatic introduction or reveal key points.
Storytelling: Enhance narrative content with a touch of nostalgia.
Portfolio sites: Show your creative flair by animating project descriptions or titles.
Loading screens: Keep users engaged while waiting for content to load.

Let’s get started

Firt, we need to create a paragraph element with the id of “typewriter”. ID’s

id="typewriter": This is the id of the paragraph element that will contain the text. This will be the element that will be animated.

 <p id="typewriter">
   <!-- The text will be inserted here by JavaScript -->
 </p>

The Script

Creating the variables

const text = "Have a great Monday everyone!";: This line of code will define the text that will be animated. In this case, it’s a simple string that says “Have a great Monday everyone!”.
const typewriter = document.getElementById("typewriter");: This line of code will get the element with the id of “typewriter” and store it in a variable called typewriter.
let i = 0;: This line of code will define a variable called i and set it to 0.

The typewriter function

function typeWrite(): This line of code will define a function called typeWrite that will be called when the page is loaded.
if (i < text.length): This line of code will check if the value of i is less than the length of the text string.
typewriter.innerHTML += text.charAt(i);: This line of code will add the character at index i of the text string to the typewriter element.
i++;: This line of code will increment the value of i by 1.
setTimeout(typeWrite, 100);: This line of code will set a timeout of 100 milliseconds (0.1 seconds) and call the typeWrite function.
} else {: This line of code will be executed if the condition i < text.length is false.
setTimeout(resetTypewriter, 2000);: This line of code will set a timeout of 2000 milliseconds (2 seconds) and call the resetTypewriter function.

The resetTypewriter function

function resetTypewriter(): This line of code will define a function called resetTypewriter that will be called when the timeout is complete.
typewriter.innerHTML = "";: This line of code will clear the content of the typewriter element.
i = 0;: This line of code will set the value of i to 0.

Calling the functions

typeWrite();: This line of code will call the typeWrite function.

const text = "Have a great Monday everyone!";
const typewriter = document.getElementById("typewriter");
let i = 0;

function typeWrite() {
    if (i < text.length) {
        typewriter.innerHTML += text.charAt(i);
        i++;
        setTimeout(typeWrite, 100);
    } else {
        setTimeout(resetTypewriter, 2000);
    }
}

function resetTypewriter() {
    typewriter.innerHTML = "";
    i = 0;
    typeWrite();
}
typeWrite();

Conclusion

This is a simple typewriter effect text animation that you can recreate with Tailwind CSS and JavaScript. You can customize the text and style to fit your needs. Before using it in your project, make sure to test it thoroughly to ensure that it works as expected and it’s accessible to all users.

Fun fact: You can also do this wit only CSS and/or Tailwind CSS, so need need to overengineer your project.

Hope you enjoyed this tutorial and have a good day!

/Michael Andreuzza

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