Question

How do I fade in div content on first mouse movement, like on google.com, using JavaScript? I don’t want it to fade out again.

Answer 1

Code: (See it in action)

// attach event handler
document.body.onmousemove = function(){
  fadeIn( this, 1000 );      // 1000ms -> 1s
  this.onmousemove = null; // remove to only fade in once!
};

// sets the opacity of an element (x-browser)
function setOpacity( obj, value ) {
  if ( obj ) {
    obj.style.opacity = value / 100;
    obj.style.filter  = 'alpha(opacity=' + value + ')';
    obj.style.zoom    = 1;
  }
}

// makes an element to fade in
function fadeIn( dom, interval, delay ) {

      interval  = interval || 1000;
      delay     = delay    || 10;

  var opacity   = 0,
      start     = Number(new Date()),
      op_per_ms =  100 / interval;

  if ( typeof dom === "string" ) {
    dom = document.getElementById( dom );
  }

  function step() {

    var now     = Number(new Date()),
        elapsed = now - start;
        opacity = elapsed * op_per_ms;

    setOpacity( dom, opacity );

    if ( elapsed < interval )
      setTimeout( step, delay );
    else
      setOpacity( dom, 100 );
  }

  setTimeout( step, delay );
};

Note: the fade function could’ve been smaller, but in this form you can reuse it easily for any element and duration. Have fun!