Fixed header while scroll

Question

I have the header of a table in the middle of a page, but since the page is huge, I want to fix the header to the top of browser while I scroll down for the page...

So

Answer 1

Let me explain as to how this could be done.

Steps

1. Find your table header, and save its position
2. Add a listener to the window's scroll event.
3. Check the window scroll against your table header position
   1. If the position < window scroll - add a class to fix the table header
   2. Else, reset the css to behave like a normal header.

I've posted a fiddle that you can find here.

Code sample

HTML

<div class='lots_of_stuff_in_here'> ... </div>
<table>
    <thead id='my_fixable_table_header'>
        <tr>
            <th>My awsesome header number 1</th>
            <th>My awsesome header number 2</th>
        </tr>
    </thead>
    <tbody>
        <tr>
            <td>Content</td>
            <td>Content</td>
        </tr>
        // much more content
    </tbody>
</table>

Javascript

// Just so you get the idea behind the code

var myHeader = $('#my_fixable_table_header');
myHeader.data( 'position', myHeader.position() );
$(window).scroll(function(){
    var hPos = myHeader.data('position'), scroll = getScroll();
    if ( hPos.top < scroll.top ){
        myHeader.addClass('fixed');
    }
    else {
        myHeader.removeClass('fixed');
    }
});

function getScroll () {
    var b = document.body;
    var e = document.documentElement;
    return {
        left: parseFloat( window.pageXOffset || b.scrollLeft || e.scrollLeft ),
        top: parseFloat( window.pageYOffset || b.scrollTop || e.scrollTop )
    };
}

​

Answer 2

You're looking for a horizontally oriented "sticky box" that follows you down the page as you scroll.

Here is a walkthrough that explains how to create this effect for a sidebar: http://css-tricks.com/scrollfollow-sidebar/

I modified the code to work with a generic example that spans the width of the page:

HTML:

<div class="wrapper">
  <div class="head">HEAD</div>
  <div class="header">Table Header</div>
  <div class="content">Content</div>
  <div class="footer">Footer</div>
</div>​

CSS:

.wrapper {
  border:1px solid red;
}
.head{
  height: 100px;
  background: gray;
}
.header {
  background:red;
  height:100px;
  left:0;
  right:0;
  top:0px;
  margin-top:100px;
  position:absolute;
}

.content {
   background:green;
   height:1000px;
}

.footer {
   background:blue;
   height:100px;
}

jQuery:

$(function() {

    var $sidebar = $(".header"),
        $window = $(window),
        offset = $sidebar.offset(),
        topPadding = 0;

    $window.scroll(function() {
        if ($window.scrollTop() > offset.top) {
            $sidebar.stop().animate({
                top: $window.scrollTop() - offset.top + topPadding
            });
        } else {
            $sidebar.stop().animate({
                top: 0
            });
        }
    });

});​

​This will animate the header block into view when you scroll beyond where it originally appears.

jsFiddle here