How to Use Cookies to Improve User Experience on Your Website

Have you ever wondered how some websites remember your preferences even after you've navigated away from the page and returned later? This is all made possible using cookies! In this tutorial, we'll explore how to use cookies to enhance the user experience on your website. We'll learn how to save the user's preferences as they navigate from page to page, and even build a simple favoriting system.

Setting Up the Initial Interface

First, let's set up the initial interface using Webflow. We'll start by creating two collection lists, one for the grid view and another for the list view. Both of these lists have a combo class of "is show" to toggle their visibility. Additionally, we'll have buttons for toggling between the grid and list views, with a class of "project button" to easily target them using JavaScript. We'll set the default view to be the grid view.

Toggling Between Grid and List Views

Now, let's implement the functionality to toggle between grid and list views using JavaScript. We can achieve this by adding event listeners to the buttons, so that when a button is clicked, we'll toggle the visibility of the respective collection list and update the button styles accordingly. This way, users can seamlessly switch between the grid and list views on the website.

Using Cookies to Remember User Preferences

To remember the user's preferred view, we'll utilize cookies. Cookies are small pieces of data stored on the user's device, and we can use them to store and retrieve user preferences. We'll use a cookie library to create and manage cookies in our web application.

We'll set a cookie to remember the user's preferred view, whether it's the grid or list view. Whenever the user switches between views, we'll update the cookie value accordingly. This way, even if the user navigates away from the page and returns later, their preferred view will be remembered, providing a more personalized experience.

Implementing a Favoriting System

In addition to saving view preferences, we'll also create a favoriting system where users can "favorite" specific items on the website. When an item is favorited, we'll add a special class to it for visual distinction, and we'll also use cookies to remember the user's favorites.

Whenever a user clicks on an item to favorite it, we'll add a unique cookie for that item to indicate that it has been favorited. This information will persist even if the user navigates to other pages or refreshes the website.

Ensuring Consistency Across Pages

To ensure that user preferences and favorites are consistent across different pages on the website, we'll use cookies to store and retrieve this information. This way, when the user navigates between pages, their preferences and favorites will remain intact, providing a seamless experience throughout the website.

Conclusion

By implementing cookies in your website, you can significantly enhance the user experience by remembering their preferences and favorited items. With the power of Webflow and cookies, you can create a more personalized and engaging experience for your website visitors.

That's it! You've now learned how to use cookies to improve the user experience on your website. By remembering user preferences and implementing a favoriting system, you can provide a more personalized and seamless experience for your website visitors. With the power of Webflow and cookies, the possibilities for enhancing user experiences are endless.