Customizing your computer mouse pointer, also known as changing the 'crosshair cursor,' can add personality and visual interest to your browsing experience. One popular method for achieving this is through browser extensions like Custom Cursor.

In this article, we'll delve into creating a fullscreen crosshair cursor in SVG (Scalable Vector Graphics) format and explore how to distort its lines using an SVG filter when hovering over links. This will not only enhance the appearance of your website but also provide users with more control over their user experience through customization options.

### Step 1: Understanding SVG

Before diving into creating our custom cursor, let's quickly cover some basic concepts about SVG:

- What is SVG?

SVG stands for Scalable Vector Graphics. It's an XML (Extensible Markup Language) format used to create two-dimensional vector graphics and can be easily integrated with HTML5 pages.

### Step 2: Creating the Crosshair Cursor

To begin, open your preferred text editor or code editor like Sublime Text or Visual Studio Code and create a new file named `crosshair.svg`. Then paste in this basic SVG code:

```svg

```

This will create a white square on a black background, which we'll later use as our crosshair cursor.

### Step 3: Adding the SVG Code to Your HTML Document

Next, open your website's index.html file or any other .html document where you want to display this custom cursor. Then add the following code within the section:

```html

```

Finally, replace `'path_to_youropencss.css'` with the actual path leading from your website's root directory to where you've saved `open Sans Regular.woff2`. Save and refresh your browser window.

### Step 4: Adding CSS Styles

Now let’s add some basic styles using CSS (Cascading Style Sheets) to make our cursor appear full screen:

```css

/* Add these rules within a global or specific selector */

body {

/* Make the body element fill up most of the page height. You can adjust this value as needed */

min-height: calc(100vh - 60px);

}

```

### Step 5: Creating an SVG Filter for Distortion

To achieve our desired effect, we'll need to create a new filter in our `crosshair.svg` file:

```svg

```

This will apply a Gaussian blur with an STD (Standard Deviation) of 0.7 pixels, which should give us the desired distortion effect.

### Step 6: Applying the SVG Filter on Hover

Finally, let's add some CSS rules to make our cursor distort when we hover over links:

```css

/* Add these styles within a global or specific selector */

a:hover::before {

/* Use ::before pseudo element instead of applying filters directly

* to target only child elements. This way you can easily apply different effects elsewhere in your codebase without affecting other parts of the document*/

filter: url(#distort);

}

```

Save all changes and refresh your browser window once again.

###

With these steps, we've successfully created a fullscreen crosshair cursor using SVG that distorts when hovered over links. By following this guide and customizing the code to fit your needs, you can further enhance user interaction on your website while maintaining an elegant appearance.

Remember, web development is all about experimentation and pushing boundaries – so don't be afraid to experiment with new ideas like these!

Crosshair cursor