Animated Dropdown List Plugin with jQuery and CSS3

A simple lightweight jQuery plugin that transforms a normal select box into a nice, clean, custom drop down list with CSS3 animations.

How to use it:

1. Create a standard select box.

<select class="">
  <option value="" data-display-text="JavaScript">None</option>
  <option value="Ruby">Ruby</option>
  <option value="Python">Python</option>
  <option value="Swift">Swift</option>
</select>

2. The core CSS / CSS3 styles.

select { display: none; }

.dropdown {
  background-image: -webkit-linear-gradient(top, rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.25) 0%, rgba(255, 255, 255, 0) 100%);
  background-image: linear-gradient(to bottom, rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.25) 0%, rgba(255, 255, 255, 0) 100%);
  background-repeat: repeat-x;
 filter: progid:DXImageTransform.Microsoft.gradient(startColorstr='#40FFFFFF', endColorstr='#00FFFFFF', GradientType=0);
  background-color: #f6f6f6;
  border-radius: 6px;
  border: solid 1px #eee;
  box-shadow: 0 1px 0 rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.0075);
  box-sizing: border-box;
  cursor: pointer;
  display: block;
  float: left;
  font-size: 14px;
  font-weight: normal;
  height: 42px;
  line-height: 40px;
  outline: none;
  padding-left: 18px;
  padding-right: 30px;
  position: relative;
  text-align: left !important;
  -webkit-transition: all 0.2s ease-in-out;
  transition: all 0.2s ease-in-out;
  -webkit-user-select: none;
  -moz-user-select: none;
  -ms-user-select: none;
  user-select: none;
  white-space: nowrap;
  width: auto;
}

.dropdown:focus { background-color: #f1f1f1; }

.dropdown:hover { background-color: #f3f3f3; }

.dropdown:active, .dropdown.open {
  background-color: #f0f0f0 !important;
  border-color: #e4e4e4;
  box-shadow: 0 1px 4px rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.05) inset;
}

.dropdown:after {
  height: 0;
  width: 0;
  border-left: 4px solid transparent;
  border-right: 4px solid transparent;
  border-top: 4px solid #777;
  -webkit-transform: origin(50% 20%);
  -ms-transform: origin(50% 20%);
  transform: origin(50% 20%);
  -webkit-transition: all 0.125s ease-in-out;
  transition: all 0.125s ease-in-out;
  content: '';
  display: block;
  margin-top: -2px;
  pointer-events: none;
  position: absolute;
  right: 10px;
  top: 50%;
}

.dropdown.open:after {
  -webkit-transform: rotate(-180deg);
  -ms-transform: rotate(-180deg);
  transform: rotate(-180deg);
}

.dropdown.open .list {
  -webkit-transform: scale(1);
  -ms-transform: scale(1);
  transform: scale(1);
  opacity: 1;
  pointer-events: auto;
}

.dropdown.open .option { cursor: pointer; }

.dropdown.wide { width: 100%; }

.dropdown.wide .list {
  left: 0 !important;
  right: 0 !important;
}

.dropdown .list {
  box-sizing: border-box;
  -webkit-transition: all 0.15s cubic-bezier(0.25, 0, 0.25, 1.75), opacity 0.1s linear;
  transition: all 0.15s cubic-bezier(0.25, 0, 0.25, 1.75), opacity 0.1s linear;
  -webkit-transform: scale(0.75);
  -ms-transform: scale(0.75);
  transform: scale(0.75);
  -webkit-transform-origin: 50% 0;
  -ms-transform-origin: 50% 0;
  transform-origin: 50% 0;
  box-shadow: 0 0 0 1px rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.09);
  background-color: #fff;
  border-radius: 6px;
  margin-top: 4px;
  padding: 3px 0;
  opacity: 0;
  overflow: hidden;
  pointer-events: none;
  position: absolute;
  top: 100%;
  left: 0;
  z-index: 999;
}

.dropdown .list:hover .option:not(:hover) { background-color: transparent !important; }

.dropdown .option {
  cursor: default;
  font-weight: 400;
  line-height: 40px;
  outline: none;
  padding-left: 18px;
  padding-right: 29px;
  text-align: left;
  -webkit-transition: all 0.2s;
  transition: all 0.2s;
}

.dropdown .option:hover, .dropdown .option:focus { background-color: #f6f6f6 !important; }

.dropdown .option.selected { font-weight: 600; }

.dropdown .option.selected:focus { background: #f6f6f6; }

3. Include the latest version of jquery library from a CDN.

<script src="//code.jquery.com/jquery-2.1.4.min.js"></script> 

4. The main function.

function create_custom_dropdowns() {
  $('select').each(function(i, select) {
    if (!$(this).next().hasClass('dropdown')) {
      $(this).after('<div class="dropdown ' + ($(this).attr('class') || '') + '" tabindex="0"><span class="current"></span><div class="list"><ul></ul></div></div>');
      var dropdown = $(this).next();
      var options = $(select).find('option');
      var selected = $(this).find('option:selected');
      dropdown.find('.current').html(selected.data('display-text') || selected.text());
      options.each(function(j, o) {
        var display = $(o).data('display-text') || '';
        dropdown.find('ul').append('<li class="option ' + ($(o).is(':selected') ? 'selected' : '') + '" data-value="' + $(o).val() + '" data-display-text="' + display + '">' + $(o).text() + '</li>');
      });
    }
  });
}

5. Add event listeners.

// Event listeners

// Open/close
$(document).on('click', '.dropdown', function(event) {
  $('.dropdown').not($(this)).removeClass('open');
  $(this).toggleClass('open');
  if ($(this).hasClass('open')) {
    $(this).find('.option').attr('tabindex', 0);
    $(this).find('.selected').focus();
  } else {
    $(this).find('.option').removeAttr('tabindex');
    $(this).focus();
  }
});
// Close when clicking outside
$(document).on('click', function(event) {
  if ($(event.target).closest('.dropdown').length === 0) {
    $('.dropdown').removeClass('open');
    $('.dropdown .option').removeAttr('tabindex');
  }
  event.stopPropagation();
});
// Option click
$(document).on('click', '.dropdown .option', function(event) {
  $(this).closest('.list').find('.selected').removeClass('selected');
  $(this).addClass('selected');
  var text = $(this).data('display-text') || $(this).text();
  $(this).closest('.dropdown').find('.current').text(text);
  $(this).closest('.dropdown').prev('select').val($(this).data('value')).trigger('change');
});

// Keyboard events
$(document).on('keydown', '.dropdown', function(event) {
  var focused_option = $($(this).find('.list .option:focus')[0] || $(this).find('.list .option.selected')[0]);
  // Space or Enter
  if (event.keyCode == 32 || event.keyCode == 13) {
    if ($(this).hasClass('open')) {
      focused_option.trigger('click');
    } else {
      $(this).trigger('click');
    }
    return false;
    // Down
  } else if (event.keyCode == 40) {
    if (!$(this).hasClass('open')) {
      $(this).trigger('click');
    } else {
      focused_option.next().focus();
    }
    return false;
    // Up
  } else if (event.keyCode == 38) {
    if (!$(this).hasClass('open')) {
      $(this).trigger('click');
    } else {
      var focused_option = $($(this).find('.list .option:focus')[0] || $(this).find('.list .option.selected')[0]);
      focused_option.prev().focus();
    }
    return false;
  // Esc
  } else if (event.keyCode == 27) {
    if ($(this).hasClass('open')) {
      $(this).trigger('click');
    }
    return false;
  }
});

6. Initialize the plugin.

$(document).ready(function() {
  create_custom_dropdowns();
}); 

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This awesome jQuery plugin is developed by Hernán Sartorio. For more Advanced Usages, please check the demo page or visit the official website.