YouTube Popup Buttons

There is a certain style of button on the latest YouTube design (most easily found in the footer) where the default state of the button has a very subtle bevel to it, but on :hover and :focus states the button pops up, eager to be clicked.

I think this design works well in the context of YouTube’s footer. 1) The default state is very subdued, meaning these buttons aren’t competing for attention on a site where almost everything else is. 2) You still get the very rich/obvious experience of pushing a button 3) They imply a different functionality than the other links in the footer (press these, and something will happen, press a link, be taken away to another page). They make good on that implication as well, each of those buttons opens up a panel of settings right beneath.

Here’s a remake of them. Start with a button:

<button class="button" role="button">
   Button #1
</button>

And the base styles including all three states:

.button {
   border: 1px solid #DDD;
   border-radius: 3px;
   text-shadow: 0 1px 1px white;
   -webkit-box-shadow: 0 1px 1px #fff;
   -moz-box-shadow:    0 1px 1px #fff;
   box-shadow:         0 1px 1px #fff;
   font: bold 11px Sans-Serif;
   padding: 6px 10px;
   white-space: nowrap;
   vertical-align: middle;
   color: #666;
   background: transparent;
   cursor: pointer;
}
.button:hover, .button:focus {
   border-color: #999;
   background: -webkit-linear-gradient(top, white, #E0E0E0);
   background:    -moz-linear-gradient(top, white, #E0E0E0);
   background:     -ms-linear-gradient(top, white, #E0E0E0);
   background:      -o-linear-gradient(top, white, #E0E0E0);
   -webkit-box-shadow: 0 1px 2px rgba(0,0,0,0.25), inset 0 0 3px #fff;
   -moz-box-shadow:    0 1px 2px rgba(0,0,0,0.25), inset 0 0 3px #fff;
   box-shadow:         0 1px 2px rgba(0,0,0,0.25), inset 0 0 3px #fff;
}
.button:active {
   border: 1px solid #AAA;
   border-bottom-color: #CCC;
   border-top-color: #999;
   -webkit-box-shadow: inset 0 1px 2px #aaa;
   -moz-box-shadow:    inset 0 1px 2px #aaa;
   box-shadow:         inset 0 1px 2px #aaa;
   background: -webkit-linear-gradient(top, #E6E6E6, gainsboro);
   background:    -moz-linear-gradient(top, #E6E6E6, gainsboro);
   background:     -ms-linear-gradient(top, #E6E6E6, gainsboro);
   background:      -o-linear-gradient(top, #E6E6E6, gainsboro);
}

View Demo   Download Files

Special thanks to Dennis Sa who sent me a JSbin of some Matte Buttons he was working on which made me think of the YouTube buttons and get started on all this.

Trevor Gerzen applied transitions to them, if that’s to your liking.