CoolClock - The Javascript Analog Clock

About CoolClock

CoolClock is a customisable javascript analog clock.

What's New

(19-Aug-2010) Release version 2.1, new features include digital (text) display and two logClock modes. See logClock demo and demo2.
(26-Apr-2010) Released new version 2.0 and added source to github. Added note about new onload requirements.
(26-Apr-2010) Someone has created a CoolClock plugin for SongBird. Go check it out.

Requirements

CoolClock requires canvas suport therefore it works best in Firefox, Safari or Chrome. It can work in IE via the use of ExplorerCanvas however in IE it refreshes slowly, doesn't render as nicely and the second hand decoration is disabled due to a rendering glitch. CoolClock does not use Flash.

Examples



New York
London
Townsville

See also this really big one and this on a black background.

User Contributed Skins

By Bonstio:
By securephp:


Using CoolClock

Download coolclock.js, moreskins.js and excanvas.js and put them in the same folder as your html file.

In the head section of your html file add the following:

<!--[if IE]><script type="text/javascript" src="excanvas.js"></script><![endif]--> <script type="text/javascript" src="coolclock.js"></script> <script type="text/javascript" src="moreskins.js"></script>

Now there are two approaches to enabling your clocks, depending on whether your page uses jQuery. If your page uses jQuery and jQuery is loaded before coolclock.js is loaded, then you don't have to do anything more.

If your page doesn't use jQuery then you need to add onload="CoolClock.findAndCreateClocks()" to your body tag, (or the equivalent in your preferred javascript framework). For example, your body tag might look like this:

<body onload="CoolClock.findAndCreateClocks()">

Somewhere in the body of your html file add the following:

<canvas id="clockid" class="CoolClock:Skin:Radius:noSeconds:GMTOffset"></canvas>

The colon delimited fields after CoolClock in the class control the appearance of the clock. The fields are as follows:

CoolClockRequiredWithout that your canvas will be left alone
SkinOptional. Default is "swissRail"Specifies which skin to use. CoolClock currently includes seven skins, "swissRail", "chunkySwiss", "fancy", "machine", "classic", "modern" and "simple". (The last three were created by Bonstio for use with his Google Gadget). It's easy to create your own additional skins
RadiusOptional. Default is 85Specifies the radius in pixels of the clock
noSecondsOptionalIf you include "noSeconds" as the last field then the clock will have no second hand. Use if your CPU usage is too high
GMTOffsetOptionalIf you don't specify anything you get local time. If you specify a value here (in hours) it will be used as an offset from GMT (UTC). Eg, put -5 to indicate 5 hours behind GMT. You can specify fractions of hours, eg +2.5

You should be able to omit fields to indicate you want the default values, eg "CoolClock:::noSeconds" means default skin and default size with no second hand.

If you want to add a real css class to your clock canvases you can do so by adding a space then the class. For example:

<canvas id="clk1" class="CoolClock:fancy myClock"></canvas>

And of course you can add styles directly if you need to, eg:

<canvas id="clk2" style="display:block;" class="CoolClock:fancy"></canvas>

The id can be anything but it should be unique of course.

Creating Your Own Skin

You can design your own clock by creating a CoolClock "skin". Take a look at the CoolClock.config section the javascript file. Copy and paste an existing skin, for example copy these nine lines:

	swissRail: {
		outerBorder: { lineWidth: 1, radius:95, color: "black", alpha: 1 },
		smallIndicator: { lineWidth: 2, startAt: 89, endAt: 93, color: "black", alpha: 1 },
		largeIndicator: { lineWidth: 4, startAt: 80, endAt: 93, color: "black", alpha: 1 },
		hourHand: { lineWidth: 8, startAt: -15, endAt: 50, color: "black", alpha: 1 },
		minuteHand: { lineWidth: 7, startAt: -15, endAt: 75, color: "black", alpha: 1 },
		secondHand: { lineWidth: 1, startAt: -20, endAt: 85, color: "red", alpha: 1 },
		secondDecoration: { lineWidth: 1, startAt: 70, radius: 4, fillColor: "red", color: "red", alpha: 1 }
	},
		
Name your skin, eg change "swissRail" to "mySkin". Your skin is now available for use. Change the settings in your skin to change the look of your clock. The numbers refer to a percentage of the radius, so startAt: 0, endAt: 50 means a line from the center to 50% of the way to the edge. Alpha means the transparency of the element where alpha: 1 means solid. For example alpha: 0.5 means 50% transparent. Use the other skins for examples.

At present you can only use certain predefined elements. In a possible future version of CoolClock skins may support any number of clock elements.

If you make a nice skin and would like to share it then send it to me at simon dot baird at gmail dot com.

SongBird Add-on

You can get CoolClock as a SongBird Add-on. (Created by another Simon, not me...)

Google Gadget

There is a Google Gadget created by Bonstio that you can use on your Google home page. (Bonstio also created some lovely new skins in Google blue which I have now incorporated here). Note that currently you can't use the gadget on any page. It can only be used on GooglePages or your iGoogle Personalized Home Page.

TiddlyWiki Plugin Version

You can get CoolClock as a TiddlyWiki plugin called CoolClockPlugin.

There is also a version of the Plugin with some some documentation in Catalan created by Paco Rivière.

Author

CoolClock was created by Simon Baird. Send feedback and suggestions to simon dot baird at gmail dot com or add a comment to the blog post below.

License

CoolClock is published under a BSD OpenSourceLicense that gives you the freedom to use it pretty much however you want, including for commercial purposes, as long as you keep my copyright notice. (You can see the full license text at the top of coolclock.js).

Updates

27-Apr-2010 (version 2.0)
No new features but code cleanup and jQuery 'awareness'. Removed addLoadEvent stuff since it was flakey, so now it's up to you to add an onload if you need it. Added code to github.
02-Nov-2007 (version 1.0.6)
Added some more fantastic skins created by securephp. Moved extra skins to moreskins.js.
26-Oct-2007 (version 1.0.5)
Added two new skins created by securephp. Also updated excanvas to latest version. (It helped a little, the circles are much smoother than they were).
9-Nov-2006 (version 1.0.4)
Added three new skins created by Bonstio.
21-Aug-2006 (version 1.0.3)
Added option for specifying timezone as suggested here.
16-Aug-2006 (version 1.0.2)
Added two little workarounds for IE rendering glitches, scale the lineWidth and fill in the little gap in full circles.
16-Aug-2006 (version 1.0.1)
Hide the second hand decoration in IE since it doesn't draw it correctly. Also noticed there is a bug with my use of addLoadEvent that means your clock won't work if you have a body onload. Haven't fixed yet but added a comment about it.
6-Aug-2006
Added IE support via ExporerCanvas.
5-Aug-2006 (version 1.0.0)
First release. Adapted from my TiddlyWiki plugin.

TODO

Comments

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Note

Since I'm an Australian it probably should be an "analogue" clock but personally I prefer to omit the "ue" in analogue. (And also the extra "me" in "programme"). But I will stick with other proper spellings such as "customise favourite colour".