Pagination using html, javascript, php and Ajax

Pagination: What It Is and Why It Matters

Pagination is the practice of dividing content into multiple pages, usually for the purpose of making it easier to navigate and consume. It is commonly used on websites that have a lot of content, such as news sites, e-commerce sites, and blogs. In this article, we will discuss the different types of pagination, the benefits of using pagination, and some best practices for implementing pagination on your website.

Types of Pagination

There are two main types of pagination: numbered pagination and infinite scrolling.

Numbered pagination is the more traditional type of pagination, where the content is divided into discrete pages that are numbered. Users can click on the page numbers or use the previous/next buttons to navigate between pages. This type of pagination is common on search result pages, product listings, and long articles.

Infinite scrolling is a newer type of pagination that is becoming increasingly popular. With infinite scrolling, new content is loaded automatically as the user scrolls down the page. This type of pagination is common on social media sites, where users can endlessly scroll through their feed.

Benefits of Using Pagination

Using pagination can offer several benefits for both users and website owners:

Easier navigation: When content is divided into multiple pages, it is easier for users to navigate through it. Users can quickly jump to the page they want or use the previous/next buttons to move through the content.

Faster page load times: When a website has a lot of content on a single page, it can take longer to load. By using pagination, the website can load each page separately, which can improve page load times.

Improved user engagement: Users are more likely to engage with content that is easy to navigate and consume. By using pagination, you can make your content more user-friendly and increase engagement.

Better SEO: By using numbered pagination, you can create a series of pages that are optimized for different keywords. This can improve your website's SEO by making it easier for search engines to crawl and index your content.

Best Practices for Implementing Pagination

When implementing pagination on your website, there are several best practices to keep in mind:

Make it easy to use: Your pagination should be easy to use and understand. Use clear labels for your page numbers and make sure your previous/next buttons are prominently displayed.

Limit the number of pages: Don't divide your content into too many pages, as this can be overwhelming for users. A good rule of thumb is to limit your pagination to no more than 10 pages.

Provide context: Make sure your pagination provides context for the user. For example, you can include the total number of pages or the total number of results.

Use rel="next" and rel="prev": If you are using numbered pagination, make sure to use the rel="next" and rel="prev" tags in your HTML. This will help search engines understand the relationship between your pages.

HTML Implementation

Code

In this example, we have a container element with the class "pagination". Inside the container, we have links for the previous and next pages, as well as links for each numbered page. The current page is highlighted with the class "active".

You can use CSS to style the pagination links however you like, for example: 

Code

This CSS styles the pagination links with a border, padding, and margin, and centers them within the container using flexbox. The active link is styled with a blue background and white text.

Of course, this is just one example of how you can implement pagination in HTML and CSS. There are many ways to customize the look and behavior of your pagination, depending on your specific needs and preferences.

Make it dynamic using Javascript.

To create dynamic pagination, we need to refactor the code into this one

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In this example, we have a container element with the id "pagination". We will use JavaScript to populate this container with the pagination links.

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Implementation pagination on php

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In this example, we use the isset() function to check if a page number has been specified in the URL. If it has, we use that as the current page number. If not, we default to the first page.

We then calculate the total number of pages based on the number of items, using the count() function to get the number of items in the array and the ceil() function to round up to the nearest whole number.

Pagination javascript, html, php using Ajax

Let's make it a bit advance to generate pagination via JavaScript and consume data from PHP using AJAX. Here's an example of how you can do that:

Create a PHP file that returns the data in JSON format:

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In this example, we define the number of items per page and the current page number as before. We also define an array of items to paginate. We then calculate the total number of pages based on the number of items, as well as the start index and end index for the current page. We get the items for the current page using array_slice(). Finally, we return the items in JSON format using json_encode().

Create an HTML file that includes the JavaScript code to generate the pagination links and fetch the data from the PHP file using AJAX:

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