# Word Rotator

> One word of a sentence keeps changing: the next one's letters rise as the old ones leave, or the word flips over. The space follows the word, the sentence moves along.

Text effects · text, rotate, words, headline · HTML, CSS, vanilla JS · no dependencies · updated 2026-10-16
Demo: https://kodza.dev/components/word-rotator/

## Files

The code below, served as files: byte for byte what the Kodza site copies (the CSS includes its theme guard).

- [`kodza-word-rotator.css`](https://kodza.dev/registry/word-rotator/kodza-word-rotator.css) · 2.7 KB
- [`kodza-word-rotator.js`](https://kodza.dev/registry/word-rotator/kodza-word-rotator.js) · 5.2 KB
- [`kodza-word-rotator.html`](https://kodza.dev/registry/word-rotator/kodza-word-rotator.html) · 0.4 KB · the markup, to adapt and paste into your page

**Can you run shell commands? Download the CSS and the JS, don't retype them.** Retyping costs thousands of tokens and can drop or change lines of the CSS. Put the files where your stack expects them (Use it says where: change the `-o` paths):

```bash
curl -fsSL --create-dirs -o kodza/kodza-word-rotator.css https://kodza.dev/registry/word-rotator/kodza-word-rotator.css
curl -fsSL --create-dirs -o kodza/kodza-word-rotator.js https://kodza.dev/registry/word-rotator/kodza-word-rotator.js
```

Then load the files from your page as Use it shows, instead of pasting the content. The HTML is the part you adapt (text, links, modifiers): paste it from the Code section. Copy the CSS and the JS from the Code section only if you can't run commands, exactly as they are. (Windows PowerShell: `curl.exe`.)

## API

- Root: `.kodza-rotator`
- Variables (set them on the root element itself: it declares its own defaults):
  - `--kz-rotator-ease: cubic-bezier(0.22, 1, 0.36, 1)`
- Modifiers: `.kodza-rotator--flip`
- Attributes:
  - `data-interval`
- Lifecycle: `kodza:init` / `kodza:destroy` on `document`, with `{ detail: { root } }` to target a container.

## Dark mode

Nothing to set: it takes its colours from the text around it, or looks the same on a light and a dark page.

## Use it

### Plain HTML page

- CSS: `kodza/kodza-word-rotator.css` next to the page (the Files commands as they are), linked in `<head>`: `<link rel="stylesheet" href="kodza/kodza-word-rotator.css">`. Without a shell, paste it in a `<style>` in `<head>` instead. It only touches `kodza-` classes.
- HTML: where the component goes. Paste it as many times as you need: instances never interfere.
- JS: `kodza/kodza-word-rotator.js`, loaded with `<script src="kodza/kodza-word-rotator.js" defer></script>` in `<head>`. Without a shell, paste it in a `<script>` before `</body>` (or in `<head>`: it waits for the page). One copy per page, whatever the number of instances.
- Restyle with the `--kz-…` variables, set on the component's root element itself (the root declares its own defaults, so a value on an ancestor is ignored), and with the modifiers / attributes listed under API.
- Font: it takes the page's own. The Kodza look is Geist: `<link rel="stylesheet" href="https://fonts.googleapis.com/css2?family=Geist:wght@400;500;600;700&family=Geist+Mono:wght@400;500&display=swap">`.
- Content added later (AJAX navigation, a SPA route, a builder preview): start it with `document.dispatchEvent(new CustomEvent('kodza:init', { detail: { root: container } }))`; before removing it, the same call with `'kodza:destroy'` stops it and puts the original markup back.

### Claude artifact (claude.ai)

- Paste the CSS in a `<style>` and the JS in a `<script>` at the end, in the artifact itself: it loads stylesheets only from Google Fonts and scripts only from a few CDNs, so no `<link>` or `<script src>` to Kodza.
- Writing the artifact file with a shell? Insert the downloaded files (Files) with a command instead of retyping them: a line `KODZA-CSS` alone inside the `<style>`, `KODZA-JS` inside the `<script>`, then `sed -e '/^KODZA-CSS$/{r kodza/kodza-word-rotator.css' -e 'd' -e '}' -e '/^KODZA-JS$/{r kodza/kodza-word-rotator.js' -e 'd' -e '}' page.html > artifact.html`.
- Font: load Geist from Google Fonts (allowed): `<link rel="stylesheet" href="https://fonts.googleapis.com/css2?family=Geist:wght@400;500;600;700&family=Geist+Mono:wght@400;500&display=swap">`.
- Dark mode: the viewer sets `data-theme="dark"` or `"light"` on `<html>`, or nothing when it follows the system. Write the Dark mode rules twice: inside `@media (prefers-color-scheme: dark)` with `:root:not([data-theme="light"])` in front of each selector, and with `:root[data-theme="dark"]` in front of each selector.

### WordPress

- HTML: a **Custom HTML** block (or a pattern / template part). WordPress keeps this markup as it is only for users allowed to post unfiltered HTML (Administrators; Super Admins on multisite): for anyone else it strips tags such as `<svg>`, `<input>` or `<dialog>`, so add it from the theme (a pattern or template part) instead.
- CSS and JS: the downloaded files go in the theme, under `wp-content/themes/<your-theme>/kodza/` (the child theme if there is one), enqueued from its functions.php (or a code-snippets plugin):
  ```php
  add_action('wp_enqueue_scripts', function () {
    $dir = get_stylesheet_directory() . '/kodza/';
    $uri = get_stylesheet_directory_uri() . '/kodza/';
    wp_enqueue_style('kodza-word-rotator', $uri . 'kodza-word-rotator.css', [], filemtime($dir . 'kodza-word-rotator.css'));
    wp_enqueue_script('kodza-word-rotator', $uri . 'kodza-word-rotator.js', [], filemtime($dir . 'kodza-word-rotator.js'), true);
  });
  ```
  Scoped to `kodza-` classes, the CSS never touches the theme. One copy of the JS, whatever the number of blocks.
- No access to the theme files? The CSS can also go, as it is, in **Appearance → Customize → Additional CSS** (classic theme) or **Styles → Additional CSS** in the Site Editor (block theme).
- Theme with AJAX page transitions: fire `kodza:init` on the new content after each swap (and `kodza:destroy` on the old one).
- Performance plugin (WP Rocket, LiteSpeed Cache, Perfmatters…) with **Delay JavaScript execution** turned on: add `kodza` to the scripts it must not delay. Otherwise the component waits for the visitor's first scroll, tap or mouse move, and that first click can be lost.
- Colours: it takes the colour of the text around it (or keeps its own monochrome): nothing to point at the theme.
- WordPress turns straight quotes and `--` into typographic ones in the text of a Custom HTML block (not inside `<code>` or `<pre>`).

#### With Elementor

- HTML: an **HTML** widget (Elementor shows it to administrators only). It keeps the code exactly as pasted, straight quotes included.
- CSS and JS: as above. Elementor's Site Settings → Theme Style styles every button, field, link and image of the page, components included; the theme guard at the end of the CSS keeps the component's buttons, fields and link colours as they are.
- The Elementor editor redraws each widget after the page has loaded: without the script below, the component stays still in the editor preview (the published page works). Add it once per site, in the footer like the component's script (`kodza/elementor-editor.js`, or a code-snippets plugin):

```js
// Kodza in the Elementor editor: the editor redraws each HTML widget after the page has loaded.
// Start Kodza in what it draws, stop it in what it replaces or removes. Once per site.
window.addEventListener('elementor/frontend/init', () => {
  if (!elementorFrontend.isEditMode()) return;
  class KodzaWidget extends elementorModules.frontend.handlers.Base {
    onInit() {
      super.onInit();
      this.kodza = [...this.$element[0].children];
      document.dispatchEvent(new CustomEvent('kodza:init', { detail: { root: this.$element[0] } }));
    }
    onDestroy() {
      super.onDestroy();
      this.kodza.forEach((root) => document.dispatchEvent(new CustomEvent('kodza:destroy', { detail: { root } })));
    }
  }
  elementorFrontend.elementsHandler.attachHandler('html', KodzaWidget);
});
```

- No child theme: everything can go in the HTML widget instead, `<style>` with the CSS, the HTML, then `<script>` with the JS. It works on the page and in the editor without the script above.

### Shopify

- Files: `assets/kodza-word-rotator.css` and `assets/kodza-word-rotator.js` (the Files commands with `-o assets/…`).
- In the section: `{{ 'kodza-word-rotator.css' | asset_url | stylesheet_tag }}` and `<script src="{{ 'kodza-word-rotator.js' | asset_url }}" defer></script>`, then the HTML.
- The theme editor re-renders sections: restart them with
  `document.addEventListener('shopify:section:load', (e) => document.dispatchEvent(new CustomEvent('kodza:init', { detail: { root: e.target } })));`
  and the same with `shopify:section:unload` → `kodza:destroy`.

### React / Next.js

- Files, side by side (e.g. in `components/kodza/`): `WordRotator.tsx` (below), the CSS block under Code saved as `word-rotator.css` and the JS block as `word-rotator.js`, both as they are. The HTML block is already inside the component: skip it.
- Use it: `import { WordRotator } from '@/components/kodza/WordRotator';` then `<WordRotator />`. Props: `variant` ("flip", or several in an array), `vars` (the `--kz-…` variables listed under API, e.g. `vars={{ '--kz-rotator-ease': … }}`), `className`, `style` and the other props of its `<p>` (`onClick`, `aria-…`).
- Next.js App Router: it is a Client Component already (`'use client'`). Pages Router: Next.js takes global CSS only in `pages/_app`, so move the `import './word-rotator.css'` line there.
- Safe under StrictMode, client-side navigation and prop changes: when a prop changes, the `key` gives React a fresh element, `kodza:destroy` stops the script on the old one and `kodza:init` starts it on the new one.

```tsx
'use client';
// Kodza — Word Rotator, for React. From https://kodza.dev/components/word-rotator/
// Kodza License: free to use, client work included. Not to resell or redistribute, ported or not: https://kodza.dev/docs/#print-license
// Next to this file: word-rotator.css and word-rotator.js, the component's CSS and JS from Kodza, as they are.
// Yours to edit: the markup is plain JSX below.
// The script changes this markup once React has rendered it (it adds layers, splits text, moves
// nodes), so React must not patch it afterwards. When a prop changes, the key gives React a fresh
// element: kodza:destroy stops the script on the old one, kodza:init starts it on the new one.
import { useRef, useEffect, type ComponentPropsWithoutRef, type ComponentRef, type CSSProperties } from 'react';
import './word-rotator.css';

type Variant = "flip";

export type WordRotatorProps = Omit<ComponentPropsWithoutRef<'p'>, "children" | "variant" | "vars"> & {
  /** Modifier class(es): .kodza-rotator--flip */
  variant?: Variant | Variant[];
  /** Settings, as CSS variables on the root */
  vars?: {
    /** default: cubic-bezier(0.22, 1, 0.36, 1) */
    "--kz-rotator-ease"?: string | number;
  };
  className?: string;
};

export function WordRotator({ variant, vars, className, style, ...rest }: WordRotatorProps) {
  const ref = useRef<ComponentRef<'p'>>(null);
  const classes = ["kodza-rotator", ...([] as string[]).concat(variant ?? []).map((v) => `kodza-rotator--${v}`), className].filter(Boolean).join(' ');
  // Everything the markup is made of: when it changes, React gets a fresh element (see the top)
  const key = JSON.stringify([classes, vars, style, rest]);

  // Starts the script on this element once React has rendered it, stops it when it goes
  useEffect(() => {
    const root = ref.current;
    let live = true;
    // @ts-ignore: a plain script, no types to find
    import('./word-rotator.js').then(() => {
      if (live) document.dispatchEvent(new CustomEvent('kodza:init', { detail: { root } }));
    });
    return () => {
      live = false;
      document.dispatchEvent(new CustomEvent('kodza:destroy', { detail: { root } }));
    };
  }, [key]);

  return (
    <p key={key} {...rest} className={classes} style={{ ...vars, ...style } as CSSProperties} ref={ref}>Ship it on <span className="kodza-rotator__words"> <span>Friday</span> <span>a Monday</span> <span>a Tuesday, like adults</span> <span>your birthday</span> </span></p>
  );
}
```

## Code

```html
<p class="kodza-rotator">Ship it on <span class="kodza-rotator__words"><span>Friday</span><span>a Monday</span><span>a Tuesday, like adults</span><span>your birthday</span></span></p>

<p class="kodza-rotator kodza-rotator--flip">Made for <span class="kodza-rotator__words"><span>designers</span><span>developers</span><span>WordPress</span><span>your future self</span></span></p>
```

```css
/* Kodza License: free to use, client work included. Not to resell or redistribute, ported or not: https://kodza.dev/docs/#print-license */
/* Kodza — Word Rotator
   One word of a sentence keeps changing: the letters of the next one rise from below as the
   old ones leave through the top, one after the other (--flip turns the whole word over
   instead). The space follows the word, so the sentence moves along rather than jumping.
   It waits while out of view; screen readers get every word once.
   Everything is tuned with the --kz-rotator-* variables (and data-interval, in ms). */
.kodza-rotator {
  --kz-rotator-ease: cubic-bezier(0.22, 1, 0.36, 1);
}

/* The window: clipped without becoming a box of its own, so the word keeps the line */
.kodza-rotator__words {
  display: inline-grid;
  overflow: clip;
  /* As tall as the letters, so a leaving one is gone once it clears them */
  padding-block: 0.08em 0.14em;
  line-height: 1;
  vertical-align: baseline;
  white-space: nowrap;
}

.kodza-rotator__word {
  grid-area: 1 / 1;
  justify-self: start;
}

.kodza-rotator__word > span {
  display: inline-block;
  white-space: pre;
}

.kodza-rotator--flip .kodza-rotator__words {
  perspective: 600px;
}

.kodza-rotator--flip .kodza-rotator__word {
  transform-origin: 50% 50% -0.5em;
  backface-visibility: hidden;
}

.kodza-rotator__sr {
  position: absolute;
  width: 1px;
  height: 1px;
  overflow: hidden;
  clip: rect(0 0 0 0);
  white-space: nowrap;
}

/* kodza-guard 5697f341cbbb — generated by Kodza, do not edit.
   Theme guard: keeps a site's own CSS (WordPress themes, Bootstrap, CSS resets…) off this
   component. :not(#_) is always true and weighs as much as an id, so these lines win over
   theme rules made of classes and tags. Customise the component through its --kz-* variables. */

/* What the browser gives, on everything the component leaves to it */

.kodza-rotator:not(#_) {
  border: revert;
  padding: revert;
  border-radius: revert;
  outline: revert;
  text-decoration: revert;
  transition: revert;
  list-style: revert;
  box-sizing: revert;
  position: revert;
  background-color: revert;
  background-image: revert;
  box-shadow: revert;
  outline-offset: revert;
  appearance: revert;
  max-height: revert;
  color: revert;
  font-family: revert;
  font-style: revert;
  text-transform: revert;
  text-underline-offset: revert;
  text-indent: revert;
  text-shadow: revert;
  vertical-align: revert;
}

.kodza-rotator__words:not(#_),
.kodza-rotator__word:not(#_),
.kodza-rotator__sr:not(#_),
.kodza-rotator__word span:where(:not([class*="kodza-"])):not(#_) {
  box-sizing: revert;
}

.kodza-rotator:not(#_):where(:not([hidden])) {
  display: revert;
}

.kodza-rotator:not(#_):where([hidden]) {
  display: none;
}
```

```js
// Kodza License: free to use, client work included. Not to resell or redistribute, ported or not: https://kodza.dev/docs/#print-license
// Kodza — Word Rotator
// Turns the words into a rotating slot: letters rise in and out one after the other (or the
// word flips with --flip), the slot eases to the new word's width, and the cycle pauses
// while the sentence is out of view or the tab hidden. With reduced motion, the first word
// simply stays. Screen readers get the words once, as a list.
(() => {
  const SELECTOR = '.kodza-rotator';
  const reduceMotion = window.matchMedia('(prefers-reduced-motion: reduce)').matches;
  const ease = 'cubic-bezier(0.22, 1, 0.36, 1)';
  const leave = 'cubic-bezier(0.55, 0, 0.75, 0.2)';

  // One instance. Everything it starts is tied to `signal`, so kodza:destroy stops it all
  function mount(root, signal) {
    const slot = root.querySelector('.kodza-rotator__words');
    if (!slot) return;
    const words = [...slot.children].map((el) => el.textContent);
    if (words.length < 2) return;
    const flip = root.classList.contains('kodza-rotator--flip');
    const interval = parseInt(root.dataset.interval, 10) || 2400;
    let index = 0;
    let timer = 0;
    let visible = true;

    const sr = Object.assign(document.createElement('span'), { className: 'kodza-rotator__sr', textContent: words.join(', ') });
    slot.after(sr);
    slot.setAttribute('aria-hidden', 'true');

    const make = (text) => {
      const word = Object.assign(document.createElement('span'), { className: 'kodza-rotator__word' });
      word.append(...[...text].map((char) => Object.assign(document.createElement('span'), { textContent: char })));
      return word;
    };
    slot.replaceChildren(make(words[0]));

    const next = () => {
      const old = slot.lastElementChild;
      index = (index + 1) % words.length;
      const word = make(words[index]);
      const from = slot.offsetWidth;
      slot.append(word);
      // The slot eases to the new word's width; the old one, in the same cell, is cut by it
      const pad = slot.offsetWidth - Math.max(old.offsetWidth, word.offsetWidth);
      const to = word.offsetWidth + pad;
      slot.animate([{ width: `${from}px` }, { width: `${to}px` }], { duration: 700, easing: ease });
      if (flip) {
        old.animate([{ transform: 'none', opacity: 1 }, { transform: 'rotateX(90deg)', opacity: 0 }], { duration: 520, easing: leave, fill: 'forwards' }).finished.then(() => old.remove());
        word.animate([{ transform: 'rotateX(-90deg)', opacity: 0 }, { transform: 'none', opacity: 1 }], { duration: 760, delay: 140, easing: ease, fill: 'backwards' });
      } else {
        const gone = [...old.children].map((char, i) => char.animate([{ transform: 'none' }, { transform: 'translateY(-112%)' }], { duration: 420, delay: i * 14, easing: leave, fill: 'forwards' }).finished);
        Promise.all(gone).then(() => old.remove());
        [...word.children].forEach((char, i) => char.animate([{ transform: 'translateY(112%)' }, { transform: 'none' }], { duration: 640, delay: 90 + i * 24, easing: ease, fill: 'backwards' }));
      }
    };

    const loop = () => {
      clearTimeout(timer);
      if (!visible || document.hidden) return;
      timer = setTimeout(() => {
        next();
        loop();
      }, interval);
    };

    if (!reduceMotion) {
      const observer = new IntersectionObserver(([entry]) => {
        visible = entry.isIntersecting;
        loop();
      });
      observer.observe(root);
      signal.addEventListener('abort', () => {
        observer.disconnect();
        clearTimeout(timer);
      });
      document.addEventListener('visibilitychange', loop, { signal });
    }
  }

  // Kodza lifecycle, the same in every component: `kodza:init` starts the instances inside
  // event.detail.root (the whole page by default), `kodza:destroy` stops them and puts their
  // markup back. For themes and apps that swap content without a page load.
  const instances = new WeakMap();
  const find = (scope = document) => [scope, ...scope.querySelectorAll(SELECTOR)].filter((el) => el.matches?.(SELECTOR));
  const init = (scope) => find(scope).forEach((root) => {
    if (root.classList.contains('is-ready')) return; // already running, maybe from another copy of this script
    const controller = new AbortController();
    instances.set(root, { controller, html: root.innerHTML, attrs: [...root.attributes].map((a) => [a.name, a.value]) });
    mount(root, controller.signal);
    root.classList.add('is-ready');
  });
  const destroy = (scope) => find(scope).forEach((root) => {
    const instance = instances.get(root);
    if (!instance) return;
    instances.delete(root);
    instance.controller.abort();
    [...root.attributes].forEach((a) => root.removeAttribute(a.name));
    instance.attrs.forEach(([name, value]) => root.setAttribute(name, value));
    root.innerHTML = instance.html;
  });
  document.addEventListener('kodza:init', (event) => init(event.detail?.root));
  document.addEventListener('kodza:destroy', (event) => destroy(event.detail?.root));
  init();
  // Loaded in <head>, the script runs before the markup exists: once more when it is parsed
  if (document.readyState === 'loading') document.addEventListener('DOMContentLoaded', () => init(), { once: true });
})();
```

Free to use, from Kodza (https://kodza.dev).