Minimalist Pull Down Nav Menu with jQuery and CSS

A short tutorial about creating a smooth, multi-level, pull down navigation menu from a nested <nav> list. Smooth animations based on jQuery slideUp & slideDown functions.

How to use it:

1. Create a normal navigation using nested Html lists.

<nav>
  <ul>
    <li> <a href="">Menu 01</a>
      <ul>
        <li><a href="">Menu 01-01</a></li>
        <li><a href="">Menu 01-02</a></li>
        <li><a href="">Menu 01-03</a></li>
        <li><a href="">Menu 01-04</a></li>
      </ul>
    </li>
    <li> <a href="">Menu 02</a>
      <ul>
        <li><a href="">Menu 02-01</a></li>
        <li><a href="">Menu 02-02</a></li>
      </ul>
    </li>
    <li> <a href="">Menu 03</a>
      <ul>
        <li><a href="">Menu 03-01</a></li>
        <li><a href="">Menu 03-02</a></li>
        <li><a href="">Menu 03-03</a></li>
        <li><a href="">Menu 03-04</a></li>
        <li><a href="">Menu 03-05</a></li>
        <li><a href="">Menu 03-06</a></li>
      </ul>
    </li>
    <li> <a href="">Menu 04</a>
      <ul>
        <li><a href="">Menu 04-01</a></li>
      </ul>
    </li>
  </ul>
</nav>

2. The CSS rules to reset the styling of all UL elements.

nav > ul {
  font-size: 1em;
  list-style: none;
  margin: 0;
  padding: 0;
}

3. The CSS rules to style the pull down menu & sub menus.

nav {
  width: 960px;
  margin: 100px auto 0px;
  font-size: 16px;
}

nav > ul > li {
  width: 240px;
  float: left;
  position: relative;
}

nav > ul > li a {
  display: block;
  background: #16a085;
  color: #fff;
  padding: 5px 0px;
  text-align: center;
  text-decoration: none;
}

nav > ul > li a:hover { background: #1abc9c; }

nav > ul > li > ul {
  position: absolute;
  width: 100%;
  left: 0px;
  top: 100%;
  display: none;
}

4. Include the necessary jQuery JavaScript library at the end of the document.

<script src="//ajax.googleapis.com/ajax/libs/jquery/1.11.2/jquery.min.js"></script> 

5. The JavaScript to active the pull down navigation menu.

(function ($) {
  'use strict';

  $.fn.pulldown = function (option) {
    var elm = this,
      options,
      delaySpeed = 100;
    
    options = $.extend({
      slideSpeed: 300
    }, option);

    elm.find('ul>li').hover(function () {

      $('>ul', $(this))
        .stop(true, false)
        .slideDown(options.slideSpeed);
    }, function (){

      $('>ul', $(this))
        .delay(delaySpeed)
        .slideUp(options.slideSpeed);
    });

    return this;
  }

})(jQuery);

$('nav').pulldown();

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This awesome jQuery plugin is developed by ourhorizon29. For more Advanced Usages, please check the demo page or visit the official website.