Open Source DOM Component

Reading Points

Percentage read, reading time & points

Motivation

When user's browse technical documentation it's not always easy to know if a page is meant for first timers or advanced users. This DOM component provides that information using an ephemeral notification-style text block.

As the user reads, a timer tracks how many seconds is spent reading. As the user scrolls down, the readers progress (as percent read) is tracked. This information is saved to the user's local storage for use with the rwt-reading-summary DOM component.

In the wild

To see an example of this component in use, visit the READ WRITE SERVE website. The component is visible immediately after loading for about five seconds before fading away. To understand what's going on under the hood, use the browser's inspector to view the HTML source code and network activity, and follow along as you read this documentation.

Installation

Prerequisites

The rwt-reading-points DOM component works in any browser that supports modern W3C standards. Templates are written using BLUEPHRASE notation, which can be compiled into HTML using the free Read Write View desktop app. It has no other prerequisites. Distribution and installation are done with either NPM or via Github.

Download

Using the DOM component

After installation, you need to add two things to your HTML page to make use of it.

• Add a script tag to load the component's rwt-reading-points.js file:

<script src='/node_modules/rwt-reading-points/rwt-reading-points.js' type=module></script>             

• Add the component tag anywhere on the page. The actual placement on the page will be determined using JavaScript.

  • For scripting purposes, apply an id attribute.

  • Provide a value for the number of experience points the visitor will gain by reading the document, using the data-points attribute.

  • Provide an assessment of the reading difficulty using the data-time attribute, using descriptions such as: Simple, Moderate, Difficult, Challenging, etc.

  • Provide an estimate of the reading time, in seconds, using the data-time attribute.

  • Provide a descriptive word to catagorize the document, using the data-category attribute.

<rwt-reading-points id=reading-points data-time='190' data-points='4' data-level='Moderate' data-category='Phrasing'></rwt-reading-points>             

Initially the component is hidden. It appears soon after the page first loads. It fades away after a few seconds.

The position of the text block is always immediately after the document element with the identifier objectives. You should style your page to provide a small amount of whitespace in that area using margin-bottom or something similar. The component itself is designed so that it does not occupy space.

The user's reading time is tracked by movement of the scroll bar placed on the document's outermost frame, which should be identified as frame.

If the page does not have either the objectives element or the frame element, the component will be disabled. This is intentional, as it allows a generic template to be used for a website.

If the data-time attribute is zero or the data-points attribute is zero, the component will also be disabled.

Dialog size and appearance

The slide-in text panel is sized using four CSS variables, which may be overridden with new values, for example:

rwt-reading-points {
    --font-size: 0.8rem;
    --panel-width: 12rem;
    --panel-height: 3rem;
    --panel-destination: 6rem;
}

Color scheme

The default color palette for the panel can be overridden as well, for example:

rwt-reading-points {
    --color: #333;
    --background: #ddd;
    --accent-color1: #00c;
}

Internals

The visitor's reading time and experience points are stored in local-storage under the key favorite-data.

Life-cycle events

The component issues life-cycle events.

Reference

License

The rwt-newton DOM component is licensed under the MIT License.