Using a plugin

Using a jQuery plugin is very straightforward. We need to simply obtain the plugin code, reference the plugin from our HTML, and invoke the new capabilities from our own scripts.

We can easily demonstrate these tasks using the jQuery Cycle plugin. This plugin, by Mike Alsup, allows us to quickly transform a static set of page elements into an interactive slideshow. Like many popular plugins, it can handle complex, advanced needs well, but can also hide this complexity when our requirements are more straightforward.

Downloading and referencing the Cycle plugin

We can find the Cycle plugin using the jQuery Plugin Registry, or on the plugin's home page at http://www.malsup.com/jquery/cycle/. This page directs us to the download instructions, which yield an archive containing both the full Cycle plugin and the smaller Cycle Lite. For our purposes here, we'll use the full version in the file called jquery.cycle.all.js.

Once we have the plugin in our site's directory, we can reference...