How to Build a Custom Cursor Interaction in Webflow

Would you like to enhance your website's user experience by adding a custom cursor interaction in Webflow? In this tutorial, we'll guide you through creating a custom cursor that automatically displays a hover state for every link on your site without the need to add the interaction manually. This will ensure that newly added links, collection pages, or client-generated content will also feature the custom cursor interaction.

Adding Custom Code

To begin, there is a small piece of custom code you'll need. It will be provided in the project description. First, go to your project in Webflow and navigate to the "Custom Code" section. Under the footer code, add the following script:

<script>  // Custom code goes here</script>

Then, click inside the opening and closing script tags and paste the provided custom code

Creating the Custom Cursor

Now, let's head to the designer view in Webflow to start building our custom cursor. It's recommended to keep the custom cursor inside a symbol (for example, the navigation or footer symbol), ensuring that any changes made to it reflect across all pages in your site.

1. Add a div block to the navigation symbol and give it the class cursor. Set its position to fixed and ensure it covers the entire width and height of the screen by setting width to 100% and height to 100vh. Additionally, set the z-index to the highest possible value to ensure it appears above all other elements on the page.

2. Inside the cursor div, create another div called cursor_dot. Apply flexbox to the cursor container and ensure the cursor dot is centered. Customize its appearance by setting the background color, width, height, and border radius as desired.

Adding Interaction

Since the cursor div covers the entire screen, the links behind it become unclickable. To address this, we'll utilize custom CSS to make the cursor non-clickable yet still visible.

1. Copy the provided CSS code into an embed on the page where the custom cursor will be used. This code will make it so that the custom cursor remains visible but does not interfere with the interaction of other elements on the page.

2. Next, we need to set up the interaction to move the cursor dot around the page as the mouse moves. Add a page trigger interaction for "mouse move" and "viewport".

3. Create a new animation called cursor_move targeting the cursor dot, and define movements such as negative and positive viewport widths and heights to move the cursor across the entire screen. Adjust the smoothing to achieve desired cursor movement behavior.

Adding Hover Interaction

To make the cursor interact when hovering over links, we need to create a hover effect.

1. For each link, create an element trigger that responds to the "mouse click or tap" and affects the class.

2. Establish an animation called cursor_grow for the first click, where the cursor dot scales up and the opacity decreases for a subtle visual effect.

3. Create another animation called cursor_shrink that reverses the changes made in cursor_grow, restoring the cursor dot to its original state upon the next click.

Ensuring Visibility

To make the cursor visible only within the viewport, add a piece of custom code to manage its opacity based on the cursor's position relative to the screen.

1. In the existing CSS, modify the code responsible for adjusting the cursor's opacity based on the cursor's visibility within the viewport.

2. Set the default opacity of the cursor to zero, and add transitions to the opacity property to achieve a smooth fade in and out effect.

Conclusion

By following these steps, you've successfully built a custom cursor interaction in Webflow. Your custom cursor will now automatically display a hover state for every link on your site without the need to add the interaction manually, providing a unique and engaging user experience.

Implementing custom interactions like this can greatly enhance the user experience on your website, and with Webflow's intuitive design and interactions, you can create engaging and interactive elements without the need for extensive coding. Experiment with different styles and effects to create a custom cursor that complements your website's design and captivates your visitors.