Css – How to create a CSS only (vertical) drop-down menu

cssdrop-down-menumenu

Good afternoon,

My current task is to create several stylesheets for a website. One of the websites styles requires me to create a drop-down menu, I however am not allowed to change the HTML code at all, so basically I'm asked to create a drop-down like menu with CSS only.

Here is the HTML code I have to display in form of a drop-down menu:

<div id="global-nav">
<ul>
<li><a href="#products">Products</a>
  <ul>
  <li><a href="#widgets">Widgets</a></li>
  <li><a href="#sites">Sites</a></li>
  <li><a href="#gadgets">Gadgets</a></li>
  </ul>
</li>
</ul>

There however are different requirements as well:
There shouldn't be any dots or circles preceding each list item.

I'm wondering whether it is possible to accomplish this task with CSS only or not.
Is there any way I can do this with CSS?

Best Answer

Vertical menu with horizontal expansion

jsBin demo

*{padding:0;margin:0;}
body{font:16px/1 sans-serif}


/*VERTICAL MENU*/
nav.vertical{
  position:relative;
  width:200px;
}

/* ALL UL */
nav.vertical ul{
  list-style: none;
}
/* ALL LI */
nav.vertical li{
  position:relative;
}
/* ALL A */
nav.vertical a{
  display:block;
  color:#eee;
  text-decoration:none;
  padding:10px 15px;
  background:#667;
  transition:0.2s;
}
/* ALL A HOVER */
nav.vertical li:hover > a{
  background:#778;
}

/* INNER UL HIDE */
nav.vertical ul ul{
  position:absolute;
  left:0%;
  top:0;
  width:100%;
  visibility:hidden;
  opacity:0;
  transition: transform 0.2s;
  transform: translateX(50px);
}
/* INNER UL SHOW */
nav.vertical li:hover > ul{
  left:100%;
  visibility:visible;
  opacity:1;
  transform: translateX(0px);
}
<nav class="vertical">
  <ul>
    <li><a href="">Home</a></li>
    <li><a href="#">Products +</a>
      <ul>
        <li><a href="#">Widgets</a></li>
        <li>
          <a href="#">Sites +</a>
          <ul>
            <li><a href="#">Site 1</a></li>
            <li><a href="#">Site 2</a></li>
          </ul>
        </li>
        <li>
          <a href="#">Gadgets +</a>
          <ul>
            <li><a href="#">Gadget 1</a></li>
            <li><a href="#">Gadget 2</a></li>
          </ul>
        </li>
      </ul>
    </li>
    <li><a href="">Contact</a></li>
  </ul>
</nav>

Vertical menu (mobile only)

this one might best suit for mobile (smaller screens CSS) otherwise the show/hide would troll with User Experience

jsBin demo

*{padding:0;margin:0;}
body{font:16px/1 sans-serif}


/*VERTICAL MENU*/
nav.vertical{
  position:relative;
  background:#667;
}

/* ALL UL */
nav.vertical ul{
  list-style: none;
}
/* ALL LI */
nav.vertical li{
  position:relative;
}
/* ALL A */
nav.vertical a{
  display:block;
  color:#eee;
  text-decoration:none;
  padding:10px 15px;
  transition:0.2s;
}
/* ALL A HOVER */
nav.vertical li:hover > a{
  background:#778;
}

/* INNER UL HIDE */
nav.vertical ul ul{
  background:rgba(0,0,0,0.1);
  padding-left:20px;
  transition: max-height 0.2s ease-out;
  max-height:0;
  overflow:hidden;
}
/* INNER UL SHOW */
nav.vertical li:hover > ul{
  max-height:500px;
  transition: max-height 0.25s ease-in;
}
<nav class="vertical">
  <ul>
    <li><a href="#">Home</a></li>
    <li><a href="#">Services +</a>
      <ul>
        <li><a href="#">Service 1</a></li>
        <li><a href="#">Service 2</a></li>
        <li><a href="#">Service 3</a></li>
      </ul>
    </li>
    <li><a href="#">Products +</a>
      <ul>
        <li><a href="#">Widgets</a></li>
        <li>
          <a href="#">Sites +</a>
          <ul>
            <li><a href="#">Site 1</a></li>
            <li><a href="#">Site 2</a></li>
          </ul>
        </li>
        <li><a href="#">Gadgets +</a>
          <ul>
            <li><a href="#">Gadget 1</a></li>
            <li><a href="#">Gadget 2</a></li>
          </ul>
        </li>
      </ul>
    </li>
    <li><a href="">Contact</a></li>
  </ul>
</nav>

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