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I am a paid user of the Ninja Slider responsive image slider script (CSS/Javascript) and it always has worked pretty well. Unfortunately, though, Google now is warning that it is causing an unacceptably large CLS (Cumulative Layout Shift) placed in a responsive layout. I am optimistic that someone on Stackoverflow has tweaked this code — or similar code — and can help.

This slider loads quickly enough on my connection that it is difficult for me to even see this shift, but I agree that any shift could be troublesome and I would like to fix it accordingly. Essentially, I would like to modify the code so it quickly outlines a dynamic box the size of the image that will be loaded before loading the image so the following text doesn’t shift down should the user scroll past and start reading before the first image in the slider loads.

In Google’s default Optimize Cumulative Layout Shift advice, the company recommends adding the width and height of an image — like in the pre-responsive days — and adding height: auto to the img code in CSS like so:

img {
  width: 100%; /* or max-width: 100%; */
  height: auto;
}

This works for images displayed directly in the dynamic layout, but not for images within the slider code because the images are not presented as an img tag, but instead presented as links (a href tags) within list items in an unordered list.

I nevertheless tried dutifully adding height: auto in the applicable CSS file where I thought it could be relevant, within the #ninja_slider div and slider-inner classes. This didn’t break anything, but it didn’t solve the issue, either. Default CSS code is here.

As requested, I believe this this the relevant code, but I could be wrong, and viewing the full code might be useful:

#ninja-slider {
    width:100%;
    background:#191919;
    padding: 30px 0;

    margin:0 auto;
    overflow:hidden;
    box-sizing:border-box;

}

#ninja-slider .slider-inner {
    max-width:600px;
    margin:0 auto;/*center-aligned */
    font-size:0px;
    position:relative;
    box-sizing:border-box;

}

This post on StackOverflow is the only relevant one I was able to dig up, and the answer suggests that adding display: none on “blocks” using CSS classes would resolve the issue.

Based on my understanding of how display:none works, I assumed this would just prevent the slider from appearing, but I nevertheless tried adding it to the ninja_slider div as well as the slider_inner classes and ul and li elements. It did not work. My code is similar to the default, but if a live implementation is helpful, it is here.

What am I overlooking? How can I alter the slider code to quickly display a box that will soon hold the image so that subsequently placed text will remain in place and not be pushed down when the image loads? Thank you.

travelgasm
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  • As a paying user, shouldn't you have access to their customer support? Did you try contacting them? – secan Apr 27 '21 at 08:35
  • Also, please add any relevant code to your question rather than adding a link to a page that implements your code. – secan Apr 27 '21 at 08:37
  • Potentially relevant code added as requested. Unfortunately, no customer service or paid support is offered. – travelgasm Apr 27 '21 at 08:55

1 Answers1

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Your CLS score is essentially telling you that the layout is shifting as its loading. The best advice one can give in a situation like this is

  1. Hit F12 on the page in question to open Developer Tools
  2. Navigate to the network Tab
  3. Set the Network Speed Select value to 3G Network Tools View
  4. Refresh the page with Developer Tools still open to see a slow motion load of the page which allows you to identify Which elements are "shifting" the layout and changing size as page loads.

You want to be able to define all your element sizing early on in the head of the page using a style tag in the of that page or within the stylesheet (if you must,I believe putting too much inside the stylesheet and depending on things like grid sizes to load defeat this purpose due to sheer size of the css files eventually negates any positive or it wont be seen quick enough as the User is still waiting for the CSS File to load).

Using the above method you can then try to apply CSS that will prevent the Size Shifts , and example of this is with image attribute heights.

This is a tricky topic because you have to also understand CSS casscading (the understanding of style application heirachy essentially) to prevent causing new responsive image issues because the width and height attribute will most like override the current image styling on your page.
What I would honestly suggest is a click function that initates or accesses the slider on click only because the waiting of the entire slider to load and then it shifting the container to a different size is what is causing the actual problem.

Darren Mc
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