Case scrollspy anatomy

A case study told as a photo essay: a compact masthead, then four sections that each open on a large captioned photograph and several paragraphs of story, ending in a results ledger. Needs the companion plugin, which comes with your access; without it, or without motion, the masthead is followed by the four photo sections as a plain stack.

States no colour and no font of its own.

ThemePreview sizeMotion
As authoredColourCorners
Twenty Twenty-Five·1280pxPlays best in its own window

Manrope typefacergb(255, 255, 255) ground1280px viewport

Start here

What you change first

  1. The four photographs: select each and choose Replace; the 16:9 crop and cover setting stay. Rewrite the alt text and the caption for each.
  2. Rewrite the four named Section groups; each Heading names its rail link.
  3. Replace the ledger figures with measured results.
  4. Keep the section titles at h3 below the h2 masthead, or adjust the hierarchy for the page they sit on.

The signature moment

A photo essay where every chapter opens on a full-column photograph and the rail carries the reader to a results ledger

A photo essay: each of the four sections opens on a large captioned photograph at one 16:9 crop, then several paragraphs of story, so the pictures open each chapter and the narrow rail keeps the reader's place through the long read between them. The story ends in a results ledger rather than another chapter.

Theme handoff

What comes from where

From your theme

Every font and colour comes from the theme. Body text and captions need 4.5:1 contrast; the masthead heading and the ledger figures need 3:1.

Set by this pattern

It decides a padded full-width Group with a 1200px content ceiling, a compact masthead above the block so the first photograph shows at rest, a 176px unnumbered rail with a 40px gap, one 16:9 crop for all four photographs, and a three-column results ledger closing the last section. Section titles are on the theme's large rung and the ledger figures on x-large: hierarchy, not display.

Full pattern notes

Why it works, and how it is built

Open a topic for the complete design reasoning, editing guidance and implementation notes.

Design rationaleComposition, intent and nearest alternatives

The signature moment: A photo essay where every chapter opens on a full-column photograph and the rail carries the reader to a results ledger

A photo essay: each of the four sections opens on a large captioned photograph at one 16:9 crop, then several paragraphs of story, so the pictures open each chapter and the narrow rail keeps the reader's place through the long read between them. The story ends in a results ledger rather than another chapter.

Why this is not services-scrollspy-index or handbook-scrollspy-directory

Services scrollspy index is text-led: five long service chapters with a numbered rail, where the column of prose does the explaining. Handbook scrollspy directory is a directory, ten to twelve look-up entries where the rail is the thing you scan. This one is image-led: four sections, each a picture first, a caption and a few paragraphs, with an unnumbered rail because four chapters need names, not an index. It is the only one whose resting picture is a photograph.

Make it yoursVariations and the edits to make first

What you change first

  1. The four photographs: select each and choose Replace; the 16:9 crop and cover setting stay. Rewrite the alt text and the caption for each.
  2. Rewrite the four named Section groups; each Heading names its rail link.
  3. Replace the ledger figures with measured results.
  4. Keep the section titles at h3 below the h2 masthead, or adjust the hierarchy for the page they sit on.
Theme behaviourInheritance, fixed decisions and contrast

What it inherits from your theme

Every font and colour comes from the theme. Body text and captions need 4.5:1 contrast; the masthead heading and the ledger figures need 3:1.

What it decides for itself

It decides a padded full-width Group with a 1200px content ceiling, a compact masthead above the block so the first photograph shows at rest, a 176px unnumbered rail with a 40px gap, one 16:9 crop for all four photographs, and a three-column results ledger closing the last section. Section titles are on the theme's large rung and the ledger figures on x-large: hierarchy, not display.

Technical notesBlock mechanics, responsive behaviour and constraints

What needs the plugin

The plugin draws the rail and marks Brief, Approach, System or Result as the reader reaches it. Without it, the masthead is followed by the four photo sections as a plain stack; with reduced motion the rail stays and anchor links jump instantly.

The markup

21KB of core-block markup, 7 blocks (column, columns, group, heading, image, paragraph, patternpaste/scrollspy-rail), and nothing else: paste it into the block editor and it becomes editable blocks wearing your theme.

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