Creating a dynamic mouse trail effect using CSS and JavaScript without compromising element clickability

I'm looking to create a mouse trail that follows the cursor as it moves, made up of small icons or images that gradually fade out over time. I attempted to achieve this by overlaying a grid on top of all other elements on the page. The grid consists of small divs with background images, each set to an initial opacity of 0. While visually the solution worked, it rendered the elements on the page unclickable. How can I maintain the visual effect while ensuring all elements remain clickable?

I experimented with adjusting the z-index of clickable elements to be higher than that of the grid elements, which allowed for clicking but obscured the trail effect. This is not the desired outcome.

After researching for a solution, I reviewed the following pages and tutorials, but none provided a resolution to my specific issue:

Cursor Trails - Simple CSS Tricks

YouTube Tutorial - Creating Mouse Trails

Stack Overflow - Cursor Inconsistencies

const body = document.getElementsByTagName("body")[0];
const mouseMovementContainer = document.createElement("div");

mouseMovementContainer.setAttribute("id", "mouseMovementContainer");
mouseMovementContainer.classList.add("mouseMovement");

body.insertBefore(mouseMovementContainer, body.firstChild);

createNewGrid();

function createNewGrid () {
    for(let i = 0; i <= 1000; i++){
        const square = createOneSquare();
        mouseMovementContainer.appendChild(square);
    }
}

function createOneSquare () {
    const div = document.createElement("div");
    div.classList.add("square");
    return div;
}
a{
  font-size: 40px;
}

.mouseMovement {
  background-color: transparent;
  position: fixed;
  z-index: 100;
  display:flex;
  flex-wrap: wrap;
}

.square {
  width: 40px;
  height: 40px;
  background-image: url("https://icon-library.com/images/fire-icon-free/fire-icon-free-1.jpg");
  background-size: cover;
  opacity: 0;
}

.square:hover {
  opacity: 1;
}
<a href="https://www.google.com/">Go to Google!!!!</a>

Answer №1

Implementing z-index is effective

Pointer events setting does not function as expected due to mousemove being disabled

.mouseMovement {
  background-color: transparent;
  position: fixed;
  z-index: 100;
  display:flex;
  flex-wrap: wrap;
  z-index: -1;  
}

const body = document.getElementsByTagName("body")[0];
const mouseMovementContainer = document.createElement("div");

mouseMovementContainer.setAttribute("id", "mouseMovementContainer");
mouseMovementContainer.classList.add("mouseMovement");

body.insertBefore(mouseMovementContainer, body.firstChild);

createNewGrid();

function createNewGrid () {
    for(let i = 0; i <= 1000; i++){
        const square = createOneSquare();
        mouseMovementContainer.appendChild(square);
    }
}

function createOneSquare () {
    const div = document.createElement("div");
    div.classList.add("square");
    return div;
}
a {
  font-size: 40px;
}

.mouseMovement {
  background-color: transparent;
  position: fixed;
  z-index: 100;
  display:flex;
  flex-wrap: wrap;
  z-index: -1;  
}

.square {
  width: 40px;
  height: 40px;
  background-image: url("https://icon-library.com/images/fire-icon-free/fire-icon-free-1.jpg");
  background-size: cover;
  opacity: 0;

}

.square:hover {
  opacity: 1;
}
<a href="https://www.google.com/">Visit Google Now!</a>

Answer №2

By setting the CSS property pointer-events:none;, you can enable clicking "through" the div to access the content underneath.

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