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Over the last couple of months I have begun to see a pattern, but I don't know what it's called.

The concept is that when a user scrolls to the end of the page, or a point close to the end of the main content, an animated dialog appears, usually outside the main flow in a side area. This then usually persists unless dismissed, or unless the user scrolls back up to the top.

I'm tempted to call this thing a 'just-in-time notification', because it appears just after I've finished consuming the content it relates to - but is there a better name?

Example:

You can see an implementation of this pattern here: http://mashable.com/2012/05/30/kings-social-media/

At the top of the page, there's nothing in the sidebar...

state1

But then we scroll down, and as we reach the end of the article...

state2

A social media / share widget pops up in the bottom right.

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I don't know an official name for the pattern, but unofficially I call it $%#^& annoying. Almost every time I notice one of these things it's not native to the site itself but some kind of plug-in add-on trying to drive traffic elsewhere. I suspect they're from some kind of third party network. – Bevan Sep 15 '12 at 1:21

1 Answer

up vote 2 down vote accepted

SimpleReach Slide. A post-read discovery tool. That is, a tool that helps you discover new content after you are done with reading the current page.

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Googling suggests that that's the name of the specific plugin, but I wonder if the term 'slide' is a bit nonspecific. – Jimmy Breck-McKye Sep 15 '12 at 10:24

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