One of the basic and most important parts of building interactive web pages is creating a drop-down menu in HTML. If you are looking for a career in web development, it is important for you to know how to add a drop-down, as it will make your webpage more user-friendly.
In this blog, we will talk about what a dropdown menu is, how it works, and how you can create a dropdown using simple HTML code. So let’s get started!
Table of Contents:
A dropdown menu is basically a list of options that appear after you click a button or a box on a web page. This allows you to select one option from many options, without showing all the options at once. This helps to keep the webpage organized.
The <select> tag and <option> tag can be used in HTML to generate a drop-down menu. These tags help you to group options under one clickable area. When you click on the menu button, the list drops down, and you can choose what you want.
Given below is a sample code for a basic dropdown menu:
Code:
Output:
Explanation:
The code is used to make a simple dropdown menu with HTML tags <select> and <option>. It shows a dropdown containing 3 options: HTML, CSS, and JavaScript. Users can choose any of these when they click the dropdown.
Boost Your Resume With Real Skills
Join Our Web Dev Course
In order to create a simple dropdown menu in HTML, you can use the <select> tag, which helps to define the dropdown. You can also use the <option> tag to list the selectable items. The <select> element works as the container, while each <option> is used to represent a single choice inside the menu. This structure is commonly used in forms to help users choose one value from a predefined list. A sample is given below for your understanding:
Code:
Output:
Explanation:
The above code is used to create a basic dropdown menu labeled as “Choose a page:” using <label> and <select> tags. It has three options, namely, Home, About, and Contact, that are defined as <option> tags.
Get 100% Hike!
Master Most in Demand Skills Now!
Using CSS, you can make your dropdown user-friendly and attractive to the eye. CSS changes the font, padding, background, color, borders, and hover effects of the dropdown. This helps to improve the appearance and also enhances the user experience by making the menu interactive.
Code:
Output:
Explanation:
The above code is used to create a simple dropdown menu. It is labeled as “Choose a page” by using the <select> and <option> HTML tags. It consists of options for Home, About, and Contact. It also consists of basic CSS, which styles the dropdown, adds padding, increases the font size, and rounds the corners. This makes the output appear clean and user-friendly.
Creating a Hover Dropdown
In order to create a more interactive menu, you can use the <ul> and <li> tags along with CSS. This helps you to create a hoverable dropdown menu. The sample code is given below:
Code:
Output:
Explanation:
The above code is used to create a basic dropdown menu using HTML and CSS. The <div class=”dropdown”> consists of a button labeled as “Menu” along with a hidden <div> containing three links: Home, About, and Contact. CSS is used to style .dropdown to be inline-block. It uses .dropdown-content along with display: none. This helps to hide the links by default. When you hover over the dropdown, .dropdown:hover .dropdown-content is used to set the display to block. This makes the links visible. Those links are formatted with padding, background color, and hover effects, which help to enhance the interface and usability.
Right-Aligned Dropdown
The content of the dropdown is presented on the right side of the button or container instead of the left side, with the dropdown right-aligned. You can create it using HTML for structure and CSS for positioning it to the right side. It is usually used between navigation bars or different menus involving user profiles. The sample code for Right-Aligned Dropdown is given below:
Code:
Output:
Explanation:
The above code is used to create two dropdown menus; one is aligned to the left of the page and the other is aligned to the right. The menu appears when you hover over the buttons and displays three links. The button design is done using the .dropbtn, and the .dropdown-content is used to manage the appearance and orientation of the dropdown. The left: 0 or right: 0 is used to set the direction where the menu opens.
A dropdown menu in the navbar helps you to group related links under one menu item. This helps to maintain a tidy structure of navigation. It is widely applied to such options as “Services” or “Profile” and can be developed by means of simple HTML and CSS.
Code:
Output:
Explanation:
This code generates a navigation bar with a dropdown menu consisting of HTML and CSS. The .navbar contains links such as Home, News, and Dropdown, which have an icon of a down arrow. As you pass your cursor over the Dropdown, an invisible menu (.dropdown-content) is displayed, revealing three links. CSS is set to style the layout, colors, and the hover effect, and the dropdown appears on hover using .dropdown:hover. dropdown-content { display: block; }
Some of the best practices to make a dropdown menu are given below:
1. You should always use the <label> tag with your dropdowns. This helps the readers and makes it accessible to users with disabilities.
2. You should always use short and clear option names. You just need to make sure that your dropdown menu is easy to read and understand.
3. During development, you must test your dropdowns in other browsers.
4. JavaScript can also be used in order to make advanced dropdowns. To make your dropdown menu work with click-to-open, animations, or dynamic content, you can team up its design with JavaScript.
Conclusion
The dropdown menu is a well-known but strong attribute of HTML. It helps you to organize and display multiple options. You should make sure that you know how to organize the dropdown menu based on HTML tags and also format it with the help of CSS. You can learn it easily with a little practice, and also test it across browsers using an HTML editor. This way, you will be able to produce well-designed, clean, and user-friendly dropdown menus that will enable you to improve the usability and design of your website. To learn more about HTML, go through this blog and enroll in our Web Development Course.
Q1. Which HTML tag is used to create a dropdown menu?
In HTML, a dropdown is created with the help of the <select> tag.
Q2. Is it possible to use a dropdown in plain HTML without using CSS or JavaScript?
Sure, even a simple drop-down can be made with pure HTML.
Q3. What is the use of an HTML editor?
An HTML editor helps you write and test HTML code quickly.
Q4. Can a dropdown menu be styled with CSS?
The answer is yes, you can alter the look of your dropdown with CSS.
Q5. Can multi-level dropdown menus be built using HTML?
Sure, multi-level dropdowns can be achieved using HTML, CSS, and JavaScript.