Lesson 18: Creating a Dropdown Menu in Bootstrap 5

Dropdown menus in Bootstrap 5 are a cool feature you shouldn't miss. Here's how to use dropdown menus in Bootstrap 5.

Dropdown menus in Bootstrap 5 are a cool feature you shouldn't miss. Here's how to use dropdown menus in Bootstrap 5 .

 

Create a basic dropdown menu.

A dropdown menu is a toggleable menu that allows the user to select a value from a predefined list. Essentially, it would look like this:

 

 

Detailed explanation:

This class .dropdownrepresents a dropdown menu.

To open this menu, use a button or link containing the class .dropdown-toggleand attribute data-bs-toggle="dropdown".

Add a class .dropdown-menuto the element to create a real dropdown menu. Then add the class .dropdown-itemto each element (link or button) inside the dropdown menu.

For example:

 Bootstrap Example 
 

 

Picture 1 of Lesson 18: Creating a Dropdown Menu in Bootstrap 5

Split dropdown menu

The `.dropdown-divider` class is used to separate the links within a dropdown menu with a thin horizontal border:

For example:

 Bootstrap Example 

Split dropdown menu

 

 

Picture 2 of Lesson 18: Creating a Dropdown Menu in Bootstrap 5

This class .dropdown-headeris used to add headers inside the dropdown menu:

For example:

 Bootstrap Example 
 

 

Picture 3 of Lesson 18: Creating a Dropdown Menu in Bootstrap 5

Disabled and enabled items

Highlight a specific dropdown item using a class .active(add a blue background color).

To disable an item in a dropdown menu, use the class .disabled(which has light gray text and no mouse cursor effect):

  1. Normal
  2. Active
  3. Disabled

For example:

 Bootstrap Example 

The dropdown menu has disabled items highlighted in light gray.

 

 

Picture 4 of Lesson 18: Creating a Dropdown Menu in Bootstrap 5

Drop-off location

You can also create a "dropend" (drop-down on the right) or "dropstart" (drop-down on the left) menu by adding the class .dropend or .dropstart to the dropdown element. Note that the caret/arrow is added automatically.

Drop it to the right:

Drop it to the left:

For example:

Menu dropend:

 Bootstrap Example 

Add .dropend next to the dropdown menu to right-align it. Carets and arrows are added automatically;

 

Picture 5 of Lesson 18: Creating a Dropdown Menu in Bootstrap 5

Dropstart menu:

 Bootstrap Example 

Dropstart menu

Add .dropstart next to the dropdown menu to align it to the left.

 

Picture 6 of Lesson 18: Creating a Dropdown Menu in Bootstrap 5

To the right of the dropdown menu

To align the dropdown menu to the right, add the .dropdown-menu-endfollowing class to this element .dropdown-menu:

 

For example:

 Bootstrap Example 

The dropdown menu is on the right.

 

Picture 7 of Lesson 18: Creating a Dropdown Menu in Bootstrap 5

Dropup

If you want the dropdown menu to expand upwards instead of dropping down, change the element with class='dropdown' to 'dropup' : :

 

For example:

 Bootstrap Example 

The `.dropup` class makes the dropdown menu expand upwards instead of downwards:

Note that there must be space for the expandable dropup menu.

Picture 8 of Lesson 18: Creating a Dropdown Menu in Bootstrap 5

Text dropdown

The class .dropdown-item-textis used to add plain text to a dropdown menu or to use links for the default link style:

For example:

 Bootstrap Example 
 

Picture 9 of Lesson 18: Creating a Dropdown Menu in Bootstrap 5

Group buttons with dropdown menus

The basic code is as follows:

   

For example:

 Bootstrap Example 

Nested button groups to create a dropdown menu.

   

Picture 10 of Lesson 18: Creating a Dropdown Menu in Bootstrap 5

Vertical button layout with dropdown menu

Basic code:

   

For example:

 Bootstrap Example 

Group the buttons vertically with the dropdown menu.

   

Picture 11 of Lesson 18: Creating a Dropdown Menu in Bootstrap 5

Above is how to create a dropdown menu using Bootstrap 5. As you can see, it's not too difficult if you take the time to learn a little. Good luck!

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