Table Of Content

Perhaps the most compelling argument for using tabs is simply that they are so common in user interface design and, specifically, web design. This means even novice users will likely have come across the pattern and know how to use them. Moreover, due to their resemblance to physical, ‘old-fashioned’ file folders and address books, tabs fit the mental model of the organization of sections of content perfectly. Although address books are usually indexed alphabetically, interface tabs generally include one or two descriptive words that help the user identify the contents of a particular page. As the name suggests, these Pure CSS Tabs with indicator are based purely on HTML and CSS. It includes a material design-based card that works as the base of the tab.
Bonus Free Bootstrap Tabs
Each is also designed to execute a stunning hover and click effect, transitioning the highlight to the selected tab. Even the contents appear in and out of view using the zoom-in and-out effect. Overall quite interesting, access their full structure following the link below. This Pure CSS tab is visually pleasing and works perfectly to display multiple posts or contents in a single screen.
Pure CSS Tab Indicator Animation
The overall style and the color schemes make for a pretty plain yet attractive result. For subtle detail, the creator has added the CSS hover effect. When hovered over each of the tabs, the shade turns a shade darker, and an arrow appears. Selecting the tab also changes the color to white to match the detail section. Simple to achieve, implement, and understand, you can also view the complete code snippet through the link below. Another one on our list of CSS tabs is this clean and professional-looking design by Sitepoint.
Google Chrome readying new tab page design for smartphones - SamMobile - Samsung news
Google Chrome readying new tab page design for smartphones.
Posted: Fri, 13 Oct 2023 07:00:00 GMT [source]
Tab Interface with 3D Cube
Display mismatched content across tabs and users won’t be able to predict what they’ll find and may even mistake each tab as a new section of navigation. By keeping a consistent layout and incorporating images, nested tabs become an excellent tool for crafting an enjoyable and visually appealing experience. They effectively guide visitors through a process or help narrate a story for your audience. Our third tab follows a unique layout with three rows, adding diversity to the design. We placed the image on the left and the text and button on the right, producing an eye-catching flow that is easy to navigate.
CSS Tabs: 20+ Best HTML Tabs Examples
It also seems responsive, meaning the design easily adjusts to all the device frames. Tabbed navigation can enable quick access to content or functionality that users need frequently. By placing frequently used features or content within tabs, users can access them quickly and easily without the need to navigate through multiple screens or menus.
Pure CSS Tabs

Each tab is also represented with a creative icon and a title. The design is simple, but the animations are still quite impressive. Using simple CSS, the creator has managed to get a smooth content transition with each click. When selected, the tab title also changes the color and is underlined to highlight the selection.
Users would then face the undesirable task of scanning the massive display to try and identify specific items or elements of interest to them. As we know, that’s not going to happen—unless a user’s life depended on it, but even then, our producing material like that would contravene our code as designers. Happily, we have tabs, which not only provide a satisfying means of hopping to, from, and between different sections but also help establish order within the user interface. With a more monochrome black-and-white feel, this is a simple CSS based tab design by Ondřej Bárta.
Tabs provide a user-friendly way to present information while saving screen space. There are several best practices to keep in mind when designing tabbed navigation. Google Chrome allows users to open more than ten tabs at a time. Although this flexibility is nice to have, it restricts users from viewing the entire label of each tab.
And finally, let’s talk interaction
This tabs sample provides you with 4 main tabs with the titles ‘Home’, ‘Profile’, ‘Messages’, and ‘Settings’. There are secondary tabs under the ‘Home’ tab with the headings ‘option 1’ and ‘option 2’. Each tab has a meaningful title that instructs the user to do something. For example, the first tab’s title is ‘Please fill with your details instructing the user to enter their details. The user can also go to the next tab by clicking the next tab’s icon. Make changes according to your requirements and preferences.
The scrolling works from left to right, and the user can move back to the right to see the starting tabs. A tab bar has several elements and states that make it easier for users to interact with the control. It is important to design these elements and states carefully so that the tab bar is discoverable and usable in the design. These tabs will scale down to a mobile-style menu when the screen gets too small. It is very impressive that this has all been achieved without any JS! The tabs have a lovely hover effect and an indicator on top.
Notice how the tab design on the left is intuitive to use because the tabs are grouped together in a single vertical line? When you look at the design on the right it’s a bit harder to parse what’s going on because the tabs aren't spaced evenly and it’s not clear if they’re separate or related. Making sure the tab size, spacing, and alignment are consistent will go a long way in making your interaction easy to navigate. The beauty of a tabs interaction is that it groups related information in a way that’s intuitive to navigate. One of the ways these types of interactions are made so intuitive is through the use of labels. Tab labels should be short and sweet and reflect the type of content you’re sharing.
And the best part is that all the codes are based on CSS and HTML. This ensures an easier implementation and understanding of the structure. When hovering over each tab, it extends in a smooth animation, which changes the color scheme to highlight the selection. A tabbed interface, or simply a tab, is a graphical control element one can use to contain multiple panels or documents onto a single window for users to access. Because of this, it is perfect for single page web pages and applications. It gives users a neat and organized UI and makes the navigation process much easier.
This means a darker shade of purple is used to highlight which section is clicked on. Creator of this design has kept it simple, however, below the demo, you can also find a link to the 3D version that uses JS. Depicting a folder-like structure, this is yet another simple, minimal, pure CSS tab design we have next in line. Based on just CSS and HTML for the overall structure and the animations implemented, we can say, it is quite easy to understand and replicate. The tabs are designed to look like folder tabs and just like with any folder, it switches the contents according to the tab selected. For that extra detail, you will also find a simple hover effect over the numeric icons on the tab.
But contrary to popular belief, tab design isn’t always easy. As we’ve learned from UX guru Jakob Nielsen, tabs are often poorly designed and can build up interaction cost. Each card in the tab content has its own tags and buttons, even a hover effect to bring them up. Even though the design and colour choice is very mutual, this could easily be changed to fit your own brand/style.

So, if you own a text-heavy site or simply a content-packed website, then CSS tabs are the easiest way to appeal more to your users. Additionally, it’s important to ensure consistency with other navigation elements in your UI, so users can easily navigate between different areas of the application or website. This means ensuring that hover and active states interact similarly to other UI elements, such as buttons or menus. Tabbed navigation works best when there are only a limited number of top-level categories to navigate between.
Display tabs in a logical order that makes sense for the user. For example, a user profile requires displaying the ‘Personal’ tab before the ‘Skills’ or ‘Education’ tabs as it is less expected to see the skills as a very first step. The tab bar can use a scrollable layout that allows users to swipe or scroll horizontally to see more tabs on the page.