StickyThead

NOTE: This is vanila js version of https://github.com/jmosbech/StickyTableHeaders. Even docs are copy pasted :)

So what's it good for? Well, let's say you want to display a long list of fairly uniform tabluar data, like stock exchange listings or sport statistics but you don't want your users to get lost in the data as they scroll down on the page.

StickyThead to the rescue: By applying the StickyThead jQuery plugin to the table, the column headers will stick to the top of the viewport as you scroll down.

The code is based on this proof of concept.

Installation

The best way to install is using npm:

npm install stickythead

or by loading it directly from the unpkg CDN:

<script src="https://unpkg.com/stickythead"></script>

Usage

Initializing the plugin is pretty straight forward:

let elements = document.querySelectorAll('table')
stickyThead.apply(elements);

Tear down

To remove the plugin:

let elements = document.querySelectorAll('table')
stickyThead.apply(elements, 'destroy');

Options

You can initialize the plugin with an options map to tweak the behavior. The following options are supported:

fixedOffset

A number or jQuery object specifying how much the sticky header should be offset from the top of the page:

let elements = document.querySelectorAll('table')
stickyThead.apply(elements, { fixedOffset: document.querySelector('#header') });

scrollableArea

A DOM element or jQuery object. Allows you to overwrite which surrounding element is scrolling. Defaults to window.

let elements = document.querySelectorAll('table')
stickyThead.apply(elements, { scrollableArea: document.querySelector('.scrollable-area') });

cacheHeaderHeight

Performance tweak: When set to true the plugin will only recalculate the height of the header cells when the width of the table changes.

Default value: false

let elements = document.querySelectorAll('table')
stickyThead.apply(elements, { cacheHeaderHeight: true });

z-index

The plugin uses z-index to make the thead overlay the body. You can override the z-index value by passing in a zIndex option:

let elements = document.querySelectorAll('table')
stickyThead.apply(elements, { zIndex: 999 });

Reinitialize

As described in pull request #33 responsive pages might need to reinitialize the plugin when the user resizes his browser. This is can be done by calling the plugin with the new options:

let elements = document.querySelectorAll('table')
stickyThead.apply(elements, { fixedOffset: [new-offset] });

Events

The plugin triggers the following events on the targeted <table> element:

• clonedHeader.stickyTableHeaders: When the header clone is created.
• enabledStickiness.stickyTableHeaders: When the sticky header is enabled.
• disabledStickiness.stickyTableHeaders: When the sticky header is disabled.

Known Issues

• Internet Explorer: You need to set the padding of the <th>s explicitly in the css in order to make the plugin work
• Internet Explorer: Adding horizontal margin to the table causes the header to be misaligned when scrolling. (Issue #10)
• Using the plugin together with tablesorter breaks in Internet Explorer 8

Browser Support

The plugin has been verified to work in:

• Chrome 35
• Firefox 29
• Internet Explorer 8-11
• Safari 5

NOTE: It does not work in Internet Explorer 7 (but it degrades nicely)