---
layout: post
title: "Animated Radio Tab Toggles"
date: 2021-01-05
---


*In this demo tutorial, we are making the assumption* that we need to create a radio slide toggle for our made-up payment options. For this we want to display 3 simple payment choices to the user:

- One-time payment
- Recurring payment
- Free tier payment

## The Final Demo

[Live CodePen](https://codepen.io/bradleytaunt/embed/vYXjpLO)

Let’s get started with the base skeleton.

## The HTML

<p>There isn't anything special happening here. We just contain all our <code>labels</code> and <code>inputs</code> into a <code>.radio-toggles</code> wrapper, make sure those <code>labels</code> are each properly connected to their corresponding <code>inputs</code>, and then add an empty <code>.slide-item</code> element (more on that later).</p>


    <div class="radio-toggles">
        <input type="radio" id="option-1" name="radio-options">
        <label for="option-1">One-Time</label>
        <input type="radio" id="option-2" name="radio-options" checked>
        <label for="option-2">Recurring</label>
        <input type="radio" id="option-3" name="radio-options">
        <label for="option-3">Free</label>
        <div class="slide-item"></div>
    </div>


## The CSS

Now for the main event – the CSS. First we want to style the wrapper that holds all of our pieces together. You can tweak this to your liking, but I prefer a simple and clean style:


    .radio-toggles {
        align-items: center;
        background: #eee;
        border: 1px solid lightgrey;
        border-radius: 9999px;
        display: flex;
        justify-content: center;
        margin: 20px auto;
        max-width: 400px;
        overflow: hidden;
        padding: 4px;
        position: relative;
    }


Next, we “hide” (only visually) the default `radio` inputs:


    input[type="radio"] {
        left: -9999px;
        position: absolute;
        z-index: -1;
    }


Then we give the corresponding `label` elements a little spacing and breathing room:


    label {
        cursor: pointer;
        padding: 10px 20px;
        text-align: center;
        width: 33.33%;
        z-index: 2;
    }


Remember that `.slide-item` I referenced earlier? That element will be the visual “slider” that animates between the individual radio options. We style that like so:


    .slide-item {
        background: white;
        border-radius: 9999px;
        box-shadow: 0 2px 4px rgba(0,0,0,0.15);
        height: calc(100% - 8px);
        left: calc(33.33% + 4px);
        position: absolute;
        width: calc(33.33% - 8px);
        transition: left .4s;
        z-index: 0;
    }


You'll notice the `left`, `height`, and `width` properties utilize the CSS `calc` attributes – this just gives some much needed padding and visual clean-up to the whole tabbed interface.

For the finishing touches, we just need to tell the `.slide-item` where to position itself based on which `radio` input is currently selected:


    input[type="radio"]:nth-of-type(1):checked ~ .slide-item {
        left: 4px;
    }
    input[type="radio"]:nth-of-type(3):checked ~ .slide-item {
        left: calc(66.66% + 4px);
    }


That's pretty much it! You now have a fully functional, animated toggle slider with just a set of simple `radio` inputs and pure CSS.