Skeleton

<wa-skeleton> Stable Since 2.0

Skeletons show placeholder shapes where content will appear once it finishes loading, reducing perceived wait time and preventing layout shift.

These are simple containers for scaffolding layouts that mimic what users will see when content has finished loading. This prevents large areas of empty space during asynchronous operations.

Skeletons try not to be opinionated, as there are endless possibilities for designing layouts. Therefore, you'll likely use more than one skeleton to create the effect you want. If you find yourself using them frequently, consider creating a template that renders them with the desired arrangement and styles.

<div class="skeleton-overview">
  <header>
    <wa-skeleton effect="sheen"></wa-skeleton>
    <wa-skeleton effect="sheen"></wa-skeleton>
  </header>

  <wa-skeleton effect="sheen"></wa-skeleton>
  <wa-skeleton effect="sheen"></wa-skeleton>
  <wa-skeleton effect="sheen"></wa-skeleton>
</div>

<style>
  .skeleton-overview header {
    display: flex;
    align-items: center;
    margin-bottom: 1rem;
  }

  .skeleton-overview header wa-skeleton:last-child {
    flex: 0 0 auto;
    width: 30%;
  }

  .skeleton-overview wa-skeleton {
    margin-bottom: 1rem;
  }

  .skeleton-overview wa-skeleton:nth-child(1) {
    float: left;
    width: 3rem;
    height: 3rem;
    margin-right: 1rem;
    vertical-align: middle;
  }

  .skeleton-overview wa-skeleton:nth-child(3) {
    width: 95%;
  }

  .skeleton-overview wa-skeleton:nth-child(4) {
    width: 80%;
  }
</style>

Examples

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Effects

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There are two built-in effects, sheen and pulse. Effects are intentionally subtle, as they can be distracting when used extensively. The default is none, which displays a static, non-animated skeleton.

None Sheen Pulse 
<div class="skeleton-effects">
  <wa-skeleton effect="none"></wa-skeleton>
  None

  <wa-skeleton effect="sheen"></wa-skeleton>
  Sheen

  <wa-skeleton effect="pulse"></wa-skeleton>
  Pulse
</div>

<style>
  .skeleton-effects {
    font-size: var(--wa-font-size-s);
  }

  .skeleton-effects wa-skeleton:not(:first-child) {
    margin-top: 1rem;
  }
</style>

Paragraphs

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Use multiple skeletons and some clever styles to simulate paragraphs.

<div class="skeleton-paragraphs">
  <wa-skeleton></wa-skeleton>
  <wa-skeleton></wa-skeleton>
  <wa-skeleton></wa-skeleton>
  <wa-skeleton></wa-skeleton>
  <wa-skeleton></wa-skeleton>
</div>

<style>
  .skeleton-paragraphs wa-skeleton {
    margin-bottom: 1rem;
  }

  .skeleton-paragraphs wa-skeleton:nth-child(2) {
    width: 95%;
  }

  .skeleton-paragraphs wa-skeleton:nth-child(4) {
    width: 90%;
  }

  .skeleton-paragraphs wa-skeleton:last-child {
    width: 50%;
  }
</style>

Avatars

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Set a matching width and height to make a circle, square, or rounded avatar skeleton.

<div class="skeleton-avatars">
  <wa-skeleton></wa-skeleton>
  <wa-skeleton></wa-skeleton>
  <wa-skeleton></wa-skeleton>
</div>

<style>
  .skeleton-avatars wa-skeleton {
    display: inline-flex;
    width: 3rem;
    height: 3rem;
    margin-right: 0.5rem;
  }

  .skeleton-avatars wa-skeleton:nth-child(1)::part(indicator) {
    border-radius: 0;
  }

  .skeleton-avatars wa-skeleton:nth-child(2)::part(indicator) {
    border-radius: var(--wa-border-radius-m);
  }
</style>

Custom Shapes

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Set a border-radius on the indicator part to make circles, squares, and rectangles. For more complex shapes, you can apply clip-path to the indicator part. Try Clippy if you need help generating custom shapes.

<div class="skeleton-shapes">
  <wa-skeleton class="square"></wa-skeleton>
  <wa-skeleton class="circle"></wa-skeleton>
  <wa-skeleton class="triangle"></wa-skeleton>
  <wa-skeleton class="cross"></wa-skeleton>
  <wa-skeleton class="comment"></wa-skeleton>
</div>

<style>
  .skeleton-shapes wa-skeleton {
    display: inline-flex;
    width: 50px;
    height: 50px;
  }

  .skeleton-shapes .square::part(indicator) {
    border-radius: var(--wa-border-radius-m);
  }

  .skeleton-shapes .circle::part(indicator) {
    border-radius: var(--wa-border-radius-circle);
  }

  .skeleton-shapes .triangle::part(indicator) {
    border-radius: 0;
    clip-path: polygon(50% 0, 0 100%, 100% 100%);
  }

  .skeleton-shapes .cross::part(indicator) {
    border-radius: 0;
    clip-path: polygon(
      20% 0%,
      0% 20%,
      30% 50%,
      0% 80%,
      20% 100%,
      50% 70%,
      80% 100%,
      100% 80%,
      70% 50%,
      100% 20%,
      80% 0%,
      50% 30%
    );
  }

  .skeleton-shapes .comment::part(indicator) {
    border-radius: 0;
    clip-path: polygon(0% 0%, 100% 0%, 100% 75%, 75% 75%, 75% 100%, 50% 75%, 0% 75%);
  }

  .skeleton-shapes wa-skeleton:not(:last-child) {
    margin-right: 0.5rem;
  }
</style>

Custom Colors

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Set the --color and --sheen-color custom properties to adjust the skeleton's color.

<wa-skeleton effect="sheen" style="--color: tomato; --sheen-color: #ffb094;"></wa-skeleton>

Importing

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If you're using the autoloader or a hosted project, components load on demand — no manual import needed. To cherry-pick a component manually, use one of the following snippets.

CDN npm Self-Hosted React

Import this component directly from the CDN:

import 'https://ka-f.webawesome.com/[email protected]/components/skeleton/skeleton.js';

After installing Web Awesome via npm, import this component:

import '@awesome.me/webawesome/dist/components/skeleton/skeleton.js';

If you're self-hosting Web Awesome, import this component from your server:

import './webawesome/dist/components/skeleton/skeleton.js';

To import this component for React 18 or below, use the following code:

import WaSkeleton from '@awesome.me/webawesome/dist/react/skeleton/index.js';

Attributes & Properties

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Learn more about attributes and properties.

CSS custom properties

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Learn more about CSS custom properties.

CSS parts

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Learn more about CSS parts.

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