Random Content

<wa-random-content>

Experimental

Selects one or more child elements at random and displays them, hiding the rest.

Randomly picks and displays one or more of its slotted children, hiding the rest. Use it to rotate testimonials, surface featured content, show a tip of the day, or add variety to an otherwise static page.

  
      It looks like you're writing a letter!

      Want a hand with the formatting?
    
      It looks like you're building a web app!

      I can recommend a few components.
    
      It looks like you're stuck.

      Have you tried turning it off and on again?
    
      It looks like you're shipping on a Friday.

      Bold move. I respect it.
    
  Shuffle

<div>
  <wa-random-content id="rc-overview">
    <wa-callout variant="brand">
      <wa-icon slot="icon" name="paperclip-vertical"></wa-icon>
      <strong>It looks like you're writing a letter!</strong><br />
      Want a hand with the formatting?
    </wa-callout>
    <wa-callout variant="brand">
      <wa-icon slot="icon" name="paperclip-vertical"></wa-icon>
      <strong>It looks like you're building a web app!</strong><br />
      I can recommend a few components.
    </wa-callout>
    <wa-callout variant="brand">
      <wa-icon slot="icon" name="paperclip-vertical"></wa-icon>
      <strong>It looks like you're stuck.</strong><br />
      Have you tried turning it off and on again?
    </wa-callout>
    <wa-callout variant="brand">
      <wa-icon slot="icon" name="paperclip-vertical"></wa-icon>
      <strong>It looks like you're shipping on a Friday.</strong><br />
      Bold move. I respect it.
    </wa-callout>
  </wa-random-content>

  <wa-divider></wa-divider>

  <wa-button appearance="filled" onclick="document.getElementById('rc-overview').randomize()">Shuffle</wa-button>
</div>

Examples

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Providing Content

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Slot virtually any HTML — text, badges, cards, images, or other components — as long as each item is a direct child. Nested elements and bare text nodes are ignored. The host renders display: contents, so it stays invisible to layout.

Plain text works fine.

So do components

Even rich cards with their own content.

Shuffle

<div>
  <div class="wa-cluster wa-align-items-center" style="min-height: 5rem">
    <wa-random-content id="rc-providing">
      <p>Plain text works fine.</p>
      <wa-badge variant="brand">So do components</wa-badge>
      <wa-card>Even rich cards with their own content.</wa-card>
    </wa-random-content>
  </div>

  <wa-divider></wa-divider>

  <wa-button appearance="filled" onclick="document.getElementById('rc-providing').randomize()">Shuffle</wa-button>
</div>

Setting the Number of Items

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Set items to show more than one child at a time. The value is clamped to the number of available children.

    New
    Sale
    Low stock
    Popular
    Last chance
  
      1
      2
      3
      4
    
    Shuffle

<div class="rc-items-demo">
  <wa-random-content id="rc-items" items="2">
    <wa-badge variant="brand">New</wa-badge>
    <wa-badge variant="success">Sale</wa-badge>
    <wa-badge variant="warning">Low stock</wa-badge>
    <wa-badge variant="neutral">Popular</wa-badge>
    <wa-badge variant="danger">Last chance</wa-badge>
  </wa-random-content>

  <wa-divider></wa-divider>

  <div class="wa-cluster" style="align-items: flex-end">
    <wa-select id="rc-items-count" label="Items" value="2" style="width: 8rem">
      <wa-option value="1">1</wa-option>
      <wa-option value="2">2</wa-option>
      <wa-option value="3">3</wa-option>
      <wa-option value="4">4</wa-option>
    </wa-select>
    <wa-button appearance="filled" onclick="document.getElementById('rc-items').randomize()">Shuffle</wa-button>
  </div>
</div>

<script>
  document.getElementById('rc-items-count').addEventListener('change', event => {
    document.getElementById('rc-items').items = Number(event.target.value);
  });
</script>

Changing the Mode

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The mode attribute controls how the next selection is chosen. Switch modes and shuffle a few times to feel the difference — the recent picks are listed underneath.

Mode	Behavior	Best for
`unique` default	Never repeats the previous selection.	Tip rotators and timed loops.
`random`	Picks at complete random, so the same item can appear twice in a row.	A one-time shuffle on load.
`sequence`	Steps through children in DOM order, wrapping at the end (advances by `items`).	Stepping through content in order.

    A
    B
    C
    D
  
      unique
      random
      sequence
    
    Shuffle
  
    Recent picks:

<div class="rc-modes-demo">
  <wa-random-content id="rc-modes" mode="unique">
    <wa-tag variant="brand">A</wa-tag>
    <wa-tag variant="success">B</wa-tag>
    <wa-tag variant="warning">C</wa-tag>
    <wa-tag variant="danger">D</wa-tag>
  </wa-random-content>

  <wa-divider></wa-divider>

  <div class="wa-cluster" style="align-items: flex-end">
    <wa-select id="rc-modes-mode" label="Mode" value="unique" style="width: 10rem">
      <wa-option value="unique">unique</wa-option>
      <wa-option value="random">random</wa-option>
      <wa-option value="sequence">sequence</wa-option>
    </wa-select>
    <wa-button appearance="filled" onclick="document.getElementById('rc-modes').randomize()">Shuffle</wa-button>
  </div>

  <small style="display: block; margin-block-start: var(--wa-space-s)">
    Recent picks: <span id="rc-modes-history"></span>
  </small>
</div>

<script>
  const rcModes = document.getElementById('rc-modes');
  const rcModesHistory = document.getElementById('rc-modes-history');

  document.getElementById('rc-modes-mode').addEventListener('change', event => {
    rcModes.mode = event.target.value;
  });

  rcModes.addEventListener('wa-content-change', event => {
    const labels = event.detail.items.map(item => item.textContent.trim()).join('');
    const picks = (rcModesHistory.textContent + ' ' + labels).trim().split(/\s+/).slice(-16);
    rcModesHistory.textContent = picks.join(' ');
  });
</script>

Animating New Content

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Use the animation attribute to play an entrance transition when new content is shown.

Good morning!

Welcome back.

What are you building today?

none

fade

fade-up

fade-down

fade-left

fade-right

<div class="rc-animation-demo">
  <wa-random-content id="rc-animation" animation="fade-up">
    <p>Good morning!</p>
    <p>Welcome back.</p>
    <p>What are you building today?</p>
  </wa-random-content>

  <wa-divider></wa-divider>

  <div class="wa-cluster" style="align-items: flex-end">
    <wa-select id="rc-animation-select" label="Animation" value="fade-up" style="width: 10rem">
      <wa-option value="none">none</wa-option>
      <wa-option value="fade">fade</wa-option>
      <wa-option value="fade-up">fade-up</wa-option>
      <wa-option value="fade-down">fade-down</wa-option>
      <wa-option value="fade-left">fade-left</wa-option>
      <wa-option value="fade-right">fade-right</wa-option>
    </wa-select>
    <wa-button appearance="filled" onclick="document.getElementById('rc-animation').randomize()">Next</wa-button>
  </div>
</div>

<script>
  document.getElementById('rc-animation-select').addEventListener('change', event => {
    document.getElementById('rc-animation').animation = event.target.value;
  });
</script>

Directional animations (fade-up, fade-down, fade-left, fade-right) rely on CSS transform, which has no effect on display: inline elements. The component promotes inline children to inline-block while a directional animation plays, so they work inline without extra markup.

Tune the duration, easing, and travel distance with the --animation-duration, --animation-easing, and --animation-translate custom properties. Animations are skipped automatically when the user prefers reduced motion.

Autoplay

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Add the autoplay attribute to rotate content on a timer, and set the cadence with autoplay-interval (milliseconds). It pauses while the pointer is over the component or focus is inside it, and resumes when the user moves away. It respects reduced motion, too: content still rotates, but the entrance animation is skipped. Each new item is announced to screen readers using its text, so give icon-only content an accessible label (for example <wa-icon label="…">).

  
    Did you know?
    
       Octopuses have three hearts.
       Honey never spoils.
       A group of flamingos is called a flamboyance.
       Bananas are botanically berries.
       Cheetahs meow rather than roar.
    
  Pause

<div class="rc-autoplay-demo">
  <dl>
    <dt>Did you know?</dt>
    <wa-random-content id="rc-autoplay" mode="unique" animation="fade-up" autoplay autoplay-interval="3000">
      <dd><wa-icon name="octopus"></wa-icon> Octopuses have three hearts.</dd>
      <dd><wa-icon name="bee"></wa-icon> Honey never spoils.</dd>
      <dd><wa-icon name="feather"></wa-icon> A group of flamingos is called a flamboyance.</dd>
      <dd><wa-icon name="banana"></wa-icon> Bananas are botanically berries.</dd>
      <dd><wa-icon name="cat"></wa-icon> Cheetahs meow rather than roar.</dd>
    </wa-random-content>
  </dl>

  <wa-divider></wa-divider>

  <wa-button id="rc-autoplay-toggle" appearance="filled">Pause</wa-button>
</div>

<style>
  .rc-autoplay-demo dl {
    margin: 0;
  }
  .rc-autoplay-demo dt {
    font-weight: var(--wa-font-weight-semibold);
    margin-block-end: var(--wa-space-2xs);
  }
  .rc-autoplay-demo dd {
    margin-inline-start: 0;
  }
  .rc-autoplay-demo dd wa-icon {
    margin-inline-end: var(--wa-space-2xs);
    color: var(--wa-color-brand-fill-loud);
  }
</style>

<script>
  const rcAutoplay = document.getElementById('rc-autoplay');
  const rcAutoplayToggle = document.getElementById('rc-autoplay-toggle');

  rcAutoplayToggle.addEventListener('click', () => {
    rcAutoplay.autoplay = !rcAutoplay.autoplay;
    rcAutoplayToggle.textContent = rcAutoplay.autoplay ? 'Pause' : 'Play';
  });
</script>

If you turn on autoplay, give people a way to pause it.
The built-in hover and focus pausing doesn't help someone using a keyboard when the rotating content isn't focusable, so add a visible pause button like the one above.

Styling the Container

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The host is display: contents by default, so it adds no box of its own. To lay several shown items out as a row or grid, give the host its own display — that overrides the transparent default. Here it shows three of six people at random in a flex row.

Shuffle

<div>
  <wa-random-content id="rc-layout" items="3" style="display: flex; gap: var(--wa-space-m); flex-wrap: wrap">
    <wa-avatar label="Jordan Hayes" initials="JH"></wa-avatar>
    <wa-avatar label="Mara Goldberg" initials="MG"></wa-avatar>
    <wa-avatar label="Beck Watts" initials="BW"></wa-avatar>
    <wa-avatar label="Avi Lin" initials="AL"></wa-avatar>
    <wa-avatar label="Rae Park" initials="RP"></wa-avatar>
    <wa-avatar label="Sam Cho" initials="SC"></wa-avatar>
  </wa-random-content>

  <wa-divider></wa-divider>

  <wa-button appearance="filled" onclick="document.getElementById('rc-layout').randomize()">Shuffle</wa-button>
</div>

Because the host is transparent, the component also works inline within a sentence.

Have a wonderful fantastic marvelous splendid day!

Shuffle

<div>
  <p>
    Have a
    <wa-random-content id="rc-inline">
      <span>wonderful</span>
      <span>fantastic</span>
      <span>marvelous</span>
      <span>splendid</span>
    </wa-random-content>
    day!
  </p>

  <wa-divider></wa-divider>

  <wa-button appearance="filled" onclick="document.getElementById('rc-inline').randomize()">Shuffle</wa-button>
</div>

Unselected children are hidden with the hidden attribute, so you can target whatever is currently shown with :not([hidden]):

wa-random-content > :not([hidden]) {
  outline: var(--wa-border-width-s) solid var(--wa-color-brand-fill-loud);
}

Reacting to Changes

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The component emits a wa-content-change event whenever the displayed selection changes — on first render, on randomize(), and on each autoplay tick. event.detail.items is the array of elements now shown.

const rc = document.querySelector('wa-random-content');

rc.addEventListener('wa-content-change', event => {
  console.log('Now showing:', event.detail.items);
});

Server-Side Rendering

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Until the component upgrades on the client, every child is visible, which can flash on first paint. Add the wa-cloak class to hide content until Web Awesome is ready. Because the first selection is random, server- and client-rendered output can also differ; for a stable first paint, use mode="sequence", which always starts at the first child.

Using a Framework

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The component selects from its slotted children by toggling the hidden attribute on them directly. Treat that content as static — if a framework owns and re-renders the children, its reconciliation can overwrite the hidden state. Render a fixed set of children, then drive the component imperatively: call randomize() through a ref and listen for wa-content-change.

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/webawesome@0.17.0/components/random-content/random-content.js';

After installing Web Awesome via npm, import this component:

import '@awesome.me/webawesome/dist/components/random-content/random-content.js';

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

import './webawesome/dist/components/random-content/random-content.js';

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

import WaRandomContent from '@awesome.me/webawesome/dist/react/random-content/index.js';

Slots

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Learn more about using slots.

Name	Description
(default)	The pool of children to choose from. Only direct element children are eligible; unselected children are hidden with the `hidden` attribute.

Attributes & Properties

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Learn more about attributes and properties.

Name	Description	Reflects
`animation` `animation`	Entrance animation for newly shown children. Type `'none' \| 'fade' \| 'fade-up' \| 'fade-down' \| 'fade-left' \| 'fade-right'` Default `'none'`
`autoplay` `autoplay`	Rotate the content automatically. Set the cadence with `autoplay-interval`. Type `boolean` Default `false`
`autoplayInterval` `autoplay-interval`	Autoplay cadence in milliseconds. Type `number` Default `3000`
`items` `items`	Number of children to show simultaneously. Clamped to [1, childCount]. Type `number` Default `1`
`mode` `mode`	Selection strategy: `unique` (default), `random`, or `sequence`. Type `'random' \| 'unique' \| 'sequence'` Default `'unique'`

Methods

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Learn more about methods.

Name	Description	Arguments
`randomize()`	Selects a new set of children using the current mode. Returns the elements now shown.

Events

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Learn more about events.

Name	Description
`wa-content-change`	Emitted whenever the displayed selection changes, including on first render, on `randomize()`, and on each autoplay tick.

CSS Custom Properties

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Learn more about CSS custom properties.

Name	Description
`--animation-duration`	Duration of the entrance animation. Default is `300ms`.
`--animation-easing`	Easing function for the entrance animation. Default is `ease`.
`--animation-translate`	Translation distance for directional animations (`fade-up`, `fade-down`, `fade-left`, `fade-right`). Default is `0.5em`.

Need a hand?

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Random Content

Examples

Providing Content

Setting the Number of Items

Changing the Mode

Animating New Content

Autoplay

Styling the Container

Reacting to Changes

Server-Side Rendering

Using a Framework

Importing

Slots

Attributes & Properties

Methods

Events

CSS Custom Properties

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