Create a Shiny and Bright CSS3 Menu Bar

Andrey Prikaznov

Feb. 14, 12 · Interview

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in our new tutorial we’ll create a new nice multicolor and crossbrowser css3 menu with sliding (i use css3 transitions) and pure css3 color switcher. this is a ul-li-based menu.

here are samples and downloadable package:

live demo | download in package

ok, download the example files and let's start coding!

step 1. html

as usual, we start with the html. here is the full html code of our menu. as you can see – this is a multilevel menu built on ul-li elements. but, it is a little unusual. i don’t wrap submenus into their own ul element: i am going to hide them, and display if necessary.

index.html

<!doctype html>
<html lang="en" >
    <head>
        <meta charset="utf-8" />
        <title>css3 multicolor menu | script tutorials</title>
        <link href="css/styles.css" rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" />
        <link href="css/menu.css" rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" />
    </head>
    <body>
        <header>
            <h2>css3 multicolor menu</h2>
            <a href="http://www.script-tutorials.com/css3-multicolor-menu/" class="stuts">back to original tutorial on <span>script tutorials</span></a>
        </header>
        <div class="container">

            <span id="red"></span>
            <span id="orange"></span>
            <span id="pink"></span>
            <span id="green"></span>
            <span id="blue"></span>
            <span id="indigo"></span>
            <span id="violet"></span>
            <span id="grey"></span>

            <div class="colorscheme">
                <a href="#red" class="red"></a>
                <a href="#orange" class="orange"></a>
                <a href="#pink" class="pink"></a>
                <a href="#green" class="green"></a>
                <a href="#blue" class="blue"></a>
                <a href="#indigo" class="indigo"></a>
                <a href="#violet" class="violet"></a>
                <a href="#grey" class="grey"></a>
            </div>

            <ul id="nav">
                <li><a href="http://www.script-tutorials.com/">home</a></li>
                <li><a class="hsubs" href="#">menu 1</a>
                    <ul class="subs">
                        <li><a href="#">submenu 1</a></li>
                        <li><a href="#">submenu 2</a></li>
                        <li><a href="#">submenu 3</a></li>
                        <li><a href="#">submenu 4</a></li>
                        <li><a href="#">submenu 5</a></li>
                    </ul>
                </li>
                <li><a class="hsubs" href="#">menu 2</a>
                    <ul class="subs">
                        <li><a href="#">submenu 2-1</a></li>
                        <li><a href="#">submenu 2-2</a></li>
                        <li><a href="#">submenu 2-3</a></li>
                        <li><a href="#">submenu 2-4</a></li>
                        <li><a href="#">submenu 2-5</a></li>
                        <li><a href="#">submenu 2-6</a></li>
                        <li><a href="#">submenu 2-7</a></li>
                        <li><a href="#">submenu 2-8</a></li>
                    </ul>
                </li>
                <li><a class="hsubs" href="#">menu 3</a>
                    <ul class="subs">
                        <li><a href="#">submenu 3-1</a></li>
                        <li><a href="#">submenu 3-2</a></li>
                        <li><a href="#">submenu 3-3</a></li>
                        <li><a href="#">submenu 3-4</a></li>
                        <li><a href="#">submenu 3-5</a></li>
                    </ul>
                </li>
                <li><a href="#">menu 4</a></li>
                <li><a href="#">menu 5</a></li>
                <li><a href="#">menu 6</a></li>
                <li><a href="http://www.script-tutorials.com/css3-multicolor-menu/">back</a></li>
            </ul>

        </div>
    </body>
</html>

step 2. css

here are the css styles of our menu. maybe you’ve noticed – that in our html – i have two css files: layout.css and menu.css. the first file (layout.css) contain the styles of our demo page. we will not publish these styles in this article, but if you wish – you can find these styles in our package.

css/menu.css

#nav,#nav ul {
    list-style: none outside none;
    margin: 0;
    padding: 0;
}
#nav {
    background-color: #000000;
    border-radius: 5px 5px 5px 5px;
    box-shadow: 3px 3px 3px rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.5);
    display: table;
    padding: 10px;
    position: relative;
}
#nav ul {
    background-color: red;
    border:1px solid red;
    border-radius: 0 5px 5px 5px;
    border-width: 0 1px 1px;
    box-shadow: 0 5px 5px rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.5);
    left: -9999px;
    overflow: hidden;
    padding: 20px 0 10px;
    position: absolute;
    top: -9999px;

    -moz-transform: scaley(0);
    -ms-transform: scaley(0);
    -o-transform: scaley(0);
    -webkit-transform: scaley(0);
    transform: scaley(0);

    -moz-transform-origin: 0 0;
    -ms-transform-origin: 0 0;
    -o-transform-origin: 0 0;
    -webkit-transform-origin: 0 0;
    transform-origin: 0 0;

    -moz-transition: -moz-transform 0.1s linear;
    -ms-transition: -ms-transform 0.1s linear;
    -o-transition: -o-transform 0.1s linear;
    -webkit-transition: -webkit-transform 0.1s linear;
    transition: transform 0.1s linear;
}
#nav li {
    float: left;
    position: relative;
}
#nav li a {
    color: #ffffff;
    display: block;
    font-size: 16px;
    padding: 7px 20px;
    text-decoration: none;
}
#nav li:hover > a {
    background-color: red;
    border-radius: 5px 5px 5px 5px;
    color: #ffffff;
}
#nav li:hover > a.hsubs {
    border-radius: 5px 5px 0 0;
}
#nav li:hover ul.subs {
    left: 0;
    top: 34px;
    width: 180px;

    -moz-transform: scaley(1);
    -ms-transform: scaley(1);
    -o-transform: scaley(1);
    -webkit-transform: scaley(1);
}
#nav ul li {
    width: 100%;
}
#nav ul li:hover > a {
    background-color: #222222 !important;
    border-radius: 5px 5px 5px 5px;
}

/* colors */
.colorscheme {
    height: 32px;
    list-style: none outside none;
    margin: 0 auto 25px;
    width: 320px;
}
.colorscheme a {
    cursor: pointer;
    float: left;
    height: 30px;
    margin: 0 5px;
    width: 30px;
}
.colorscheme .red {
    background-color: red;
}
.colorscheme .orange {
    background-color: orange;
}
.colorscheme .pink {
    background-color: pink;
}
.colorscheme .green {
    background-color: green;
}
.colorscheme .blue {
    background-color: blue;
}
.colorscheme .indigo {
    background-color: indigo;
}
.colorscheme .violet {
    background-color: violet;
}
.colorscheme .grey {
    background-color: grey;
}

#red:target ~ #nav ul {
    background-color: red;
    border: 1px solid red;
}
#orange:target ~ #nav ul {
    background-color: orange;
    border: 1px solid orange;
}
#pink:target ~ #nav ul {
    background-color: pink;
    border: 1px solid pink;
}
#green:target ~ #nav ul {
    background-color: green;
    border: 1px solid green;
}
#blue:target ~ #nav ul {
    background-color: blue;
    border: 1px solid blue;
}
#indigo:target ~ #nav ul {
    background-color: indigo;
    border: 1px solid indigo;
}
#violet:target ~ #nav ul {
    background-color: violet;
    border: 1px solid violet;
}
#grey:target ~ #nav ul {
    background-color: grey;
    border: 1px solid grey;
}

#red:target ~ #nav li:hover > a {
    background-color: red;
}
#orange:target ~ #nav li:hover > a {
    background-color: orange;
}
#pink:target ~ #nav li:hover > a {
    background-color: pink;
}
#green:target ~ #nav li:hover > a {
    background-color: green;
}
#blue:target ~ #nav li:hover > a {
    background-color: blue;
}
#indigo:target ~ #nav li:hover > a {
    background-color: indigo;
}
#violet:target ~ #nav li:hover > a {
    background-color: violet;
}
#grey:target ~ #nav li:hover > a {
    background-color: grey;
}