This article was published on January 2, 2013

One more way to perfect your site’s usablity: Alert users when they go offline with this plugin


One more way to perfect your site’s usablity: Alert users when they go offline with this plugin

When it comes to building the perfect experience for your site, sometimes even the subtlest details can scare off users — especially when it comes to tediously entering in form data. That’s why Garic.js, a plugin which stores form values locally, was such a hit.

Now, after hunting for more solutions to help keep users on your side, we’ve discovered Heyoffline.js, a tool which warns your users when their network goes down to make sure they don’t lose anything.

The JavaScript plugin, which doesn’t even require jQuery, is just one more way you can hold your user’s hand. And yes, that is necessary to do, especially when it comes to risking an abandoned shopping cart during checkout.

To use, simply link the .js file in your HTML and add the following snippet:

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Here’s the (customizable) alert you’ll receive after going offline:

Try the plugin for yourself here, download it via the link below, and be sure to consider it for your next project. The project has already been forked 52 times on GitHub.

➤ Heyoffline.js

For more, you might like Lorem Pixel, a service which lets you dynamically generate placeholder images. We also have our eyes on Bacon and Hovercard.

Image via Emma Weber

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