ArtsAutosBooksBusinessEducationEntertainmentFamilyFashionFoodGamesGenderHealthHolidaysHomeHubPagesPersonal FinancePetsPoliticsReligionSportsTechnologyTravel

Infinite Scrolling on the Web: A Gesture to Get You Back on Top! (Extensions)

Updated on May 11, 2015

Downhill is easy, but what about the return trip back up?

Source

Going down the Web 2.0 infinite web page scrolling rabbit hole

One of the great things about Web 2.0 is the constant stretching of boundaries. One such boundary in the last few years that has become so prevalent is the length of a web page. I remember a time when scrolling down a long web page was almost a "no-no" or an unwritten rule of bad page design. You just didn't want visitors to a web page or site to scroll more than say -- about two -- maybe three flicks of their mouse wheel.

Flash-forward to today... that philosophy has certainly changed. Sites like Facebook, Twitter, Google+, Pinterest, Tumblr and other high profile social media and media sites have blown the doors off that unwritten rule and are now being emulated by more and more sites across the web. This trend toward "infinite scrolling" is everywhere now.

Infinite scrolling/pagination is great on the one hand (and I'm sure you've experienced this somewhere by now) as you reach the "supposed bottom" of the page you may see a quick animation and -- "poof" -- more content is added without having to go to a new page. If you keep scrolling and you reach the end of the newly loaded content -- "poof" -- more content! How convenient, right?

Well, yes and no. When this is done correctly, somewhere (usually in the left or right margin of the page and occasionally at the top) there may be a link, upward arrow, or a button of some sort that indicates it will send you all the way back to the top of the page. Like I said, when this is done correctly. What about all those sites that utilize infinite scrolling but don't add this handy little extra after you have "infinitely scrolled for five minutes" on the same web page? Perhaps there is a reason you don't want to just reload the page and lose the content you have now loaded (which, of course, would put you back at the beginning with the initial set of content).

One option that is often overlooked is pressing the "Page Up" or "Home" keys on the keyboard -- fair enough -- but let's face it, if you have one hand on the mouse or are using a touch-pad, your hands aren't poised necessarily to break stride to do that.

Curb repetitive stress injuries, every stroke counts

I also know a few people who are heavy computer users to the point where they may have health concerns with their hands and wrists that revolve around repetitive motion (which is not uncommon for long-time typists, computer-users and the like). So scrolling all that way and then having to scroll all the way back up is not ideal.

Luckily, there is a solution that you can add to your browser in the form of an extension that will overlay a button right on the screen so that you can just move your mouse to it, click it and achieve the scroll-to-top effect.

Scroll to Top Button for Google Chrome (and Safari)

By far, my favorite extension for Chrome and is also available for Safari is Scroll to Top Button.

  • Scroll To Top Button allows you to quickly jump back to the top of any page! Once you scroll far enough down on a page, the button will appear in the top right corner. Click it, and you will be taken to the very top in no time!

I like this extension, because of its simplicity. There are other extensions like this for Chrome and Safari, but this is the one I prefer.

Source

Scroll To Top for Firefox (Chrome, Safari, Opera)

For Firefox a great choice is Scroll to Top

  • Scroll To Top tries to minimize this effort by providing an intuitive icon at the bottom-right corner of each page so that with one click you will be at the top of the page with beautiful animation. No more searching for Home key on your keyboard and no more dragging of the scroll bar. It will be just fun and ergonomic to use it.

If you follow the link above you will also see additional links for this extension/add-on suitable for Chrome, Safari and Opera!

IE scroll bar contextual menu
IE scroll bar contextual menu

Contextual menu on right scrollbar for Internet Explorer

I couldn't find a suitable extension or add-on for Internet Explorer.

But then again, recent versions of Internet Explorer now have a contextual menu built-in that is displayed if you right-click on the right scrollbar. Which effectively gives you the option to choose "Top" as an option (among other choices depending on your need).

One final gesture...

I offer you these simple tools with the hope that you might add these suggestions, extensions, add-ons and knowledge to your web 2.0 infinite-scrolling browsing arsenal. Every flick, click and swipe counts!

What is your opinion on the infinite-scrolling trend?

See results
working

This website uses cookies

As a user in the EEA, your approval is needed on a few things. To provide a better website experience, hubpages.com uses cookies (and other similar technologies) and may collect, process, and share personal data. Please choose which areas of our service you consent to our doing so.

For more information on managing or withdrawing consents and how we handle data, visit our Privacy Policy at: https://corp.maven.io/privacy-policy

Show Details
Necessary
HubPages Device IDThis is used to identify particular browsers or devices when the access the service, and is used for security reasons.
LoginThis is necessary to sign in to the HubPages Service.
Google RecaptchaThis is used to prevent bots and spam. (Privacy Policy)
AkismetThis is used to detect comment spam. (Privacy Policy)
HubPages Google AnalyticsThis is used to provide data on traffic to our website, all personally identifyable data is anonymized. (Privacy Policy)
HubPages Traffic PixelThis is used to collect data on traffic to articles and other pages on our site. Unless you are signed in to a HubPages account, all personally identifiable information is anonymized.
Amazon Web ServicesThis is a cloud services platform that we used to host our service. (Privacy Policy)
CloudflareThis is a cloud CDN service that we use to efficiently deliver files required for our service to operate such as javascript, cascading style sheets, images, and videos. (Privacy Policy)
Google Hosted LibrariesJavascript software libraries such as jQuery are loaded at endpoints on the googleapis.com or gstatic.com domains, for performance and efficiency reasons. (Privacy Policy)
Features
Google Custom SearchThis is feature allows you to search the site. (Privacy Policy)
Google MapsSome articles have Google Maps embedded in them. (Privacy Policy)
Google ChartsThis is used to display charts and graphs on articles and the author center. (Privacy Policy)
Google AdSense Host APIThis service allows you to sign up for or associate a Google AdSense account with HubPages, so that you can earn money from ads on your articles. No data is shared unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy)
Google YouTubeSome articles have YouTube videos embedded in them. (Privacy Policy)
VimeoSome articles have Vimeo videos embedded in them. (Privacy Policy)
PaypalThis is used for a registered author who enrolls in the HubPages Earnings program and requests to be paid via PayPal. No data is shared with Paypal unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy)
Facebook LoginYou can use this to streamline signing up for, or signing in to your Hubpages account. No data is shared with Facebook unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy)
MavenThis supports the Maven widget and search functionality. (Privacy Policy)
Marketing
Google AdSenseThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Google DoubleClickGoogle provides ad serving technology and runs an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Index ExchangeThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
SovrnThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Facebook AdsThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Amazon Unified Ad MarketplaceThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
AppNexusThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
OpenxThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Rubicon ProjectThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
TripleLiftThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Say MediaWe partner with Say Media to deliver ad campaigns on our sites. (Privacy Policy)
Remarketing PixelsWe may use remarketing pixels from advertising networks such as Google AdWords, Bing Ads, and Facebook in order to advertise the HubPages Service to people that have visited our sites.
Conversion Tracking PixelsWe may use conversion tracking pixels from advertising networks such as Google AdWords, Bing Ads, and Facebook in order to identify when an advertisement has successfully resulted in the desired action, such as signing up for the HubPages Service or publishing an article on the HubPages Service.
Statistics
Author Google AnalyticsThis is used to provide traffic data and reports to the authors of articles on the HubPages Service. (Privacy Policy)
ComscoreComScore is a media measurement and analytics company providing marketing data and analytics to enterprises, media and advertising agencies, and publishers. Non-consent will result in ComScore only processing obfuscated personal data. (Privacy Policy)
Amazon Tracking PixelSome articles display amazon products as part of the Amazon Affiliate program, this pixel provides traffic statistics for those products (Privacy Policy)
ClickscoThis is a data management platform studying reader behavior (Privacy Policy)