Creating Rotating Tabs in Webflow

Are you looking to add a dynamic and engaging element to your website? Rotating tabs are a great way to showcase different content and images in a visually appealing manner. In this tutorial, we will explore how to create rotating tabs inside Webflow, a powerful and user-friendly web design platform. By following these step-by-step instructions, you'll be able to build your own rotating tabs and effortlessly integrate them into your website.

Setting Up the Project

To get started, open your project in Webflow and navigate to the desired page where you want to add the rotating tabs. Using the text element, create different tabs and add corresponding images. Once you have your tabs in place, it's time to add the necessary components to enable the rotation functionality.

Adding the Timer Bar

1. Click on the element panel and select "Div" to create a new div.
2. Position the div at the top of the tab section within your layout.
3. Set the height of the div to a small value (e.g., 3 pixels).
4. Set the width of the div to 100 for initial setup.
5. Name the div "tab timer bar" and choose a suitable background color, such as green, to make it visually distinct.

Now that we have the timer bar in place, we can move on to setting up the interaction that will govern the rotation of tabs.

Setting Up the Interaction

1. Go to the "Interactions" panel in Webflow.
2. Ensure that the tab element is selected.
3. Add a new interaction and name it "tab timer active".
4. Within the interaction, select the timer bar and define its initial state as 0% width.
5. Over a specified duration (e.g., 5 seconds), set the width of the timer bar to 100% to indicate the active state.
6. Apply an ease-in and ease-out animation for a smooth transition.
7. Duplicate the active interaction and name it "reset" or "deactivate".
8. In the reset interaction, set the width of the timer bar back to 0% and the duration to 0. This ensures that the timer bar is not visible when the tab is inactive.

By assigning this interaction to the tab class, all the individual tabs will inherit this behavior. Additionally, ensure that each tab has its respective timer bar associated with it.

Adding Custom Code

To facilitate the automatic rotation of tabs, we need to incorporate custom code into the Webflow project.

1. Obtain the custom code required for tab rotation (link provided in the description).
2. In Webflow, access the page settings and navigate to the "Custom Code" section, which can be accessed via the fin suite plugin.
3. In the footer code area, paste the custom code obtained earlier.

Within the custom code, validate that the classes for the list of tabs and the individual tabs align with the classes used in your Webflow project. Ensure that the duration specified in the custom code matches the timing of the interaction set for the timer bar.

Upon verifying the alignment and speed of tab rotation, save the changes and publish the updated project to see the rotating tabs in action.

Testing and Finalizing

Once the project is published, refresh the website to observe the rotating tabs.
Check that the timer bar functions as intended, visually indicating the duration of each tab's visibility.
Verify that clicking on different tabs resets the animation and seamlessly transitions to the selected tab.
Ensure that the rotation seamlessly loops back to the initial tab after reaching the last one.

With these steps, you have successfully implemented auto-rotate tabs within Webflow, adding a captivating feature to your website. Feel free to customize the design and content of the rotating tabs to suit your specific needs and branding.

Conclusion

In this tutorial, we explored the process of creating rotating tabs within Webflow. By leveraging interactions and custom code, you can enhance the visual appeal and functionality of your website without the need for complex coding. Rotating tabs effectively showcase different content and images, providing an engaging user experience. As you continue to refine your web design skills, experimenting with various interactive elements like rotating tabs can set your website apart and leave a lasting impression on visitors. If you encountered any challenges or have suggestions for future tutorials, feel free to share your thoughts. Thank you for following along, and happy designing!