Super Smooth Accordion Dropdown Menu Using jQuery and CSS3

In this tutorial we're going to create an accordion-style dropdown menu using jQuery and CSS3 transitions & transforms, which is compatible with mobile devices and responsive web design. 

How to use it:

1. Include the OPTIONAL Font Awesome 4 for accordion icons.

<link href="//netdna.bootstrapcdn.com/font-awesome/4.2.0/css/font-awesome.min.css" rel="stylesheet">

2. Build the basic Html structure for an accordion dropdown menu.

<ul id="accordion" class="accordion">
  <li>
    <div class="link"><i class="fa fa-database"></i>Web Design<i class="fa fa-chevron-down"></i></div>
    <ul class="submenu">
      <li><a href="#">Photoshop</a></li>
      <li><a href="#">HTML</a></li>
      <li><a href="#">CSS</a></li>
    </ul>
  </li>
  <li>
    <div class="link"><i class="fa fa-code"></i>Coding<i class="fa fa-chevron-down"></i></div>
    <ul class="submenu">
      <li><a href="#">Javascript</a></li>
      <li><a href="#">jQuery</a></li>
      <li><a href="#">Ruby</a></li>
    </ul>
  </li>
  <li>
    <div class="link"><i class="fa fa-mobile"></i>Devices<i class="fa fa-chevron-down"></i></div>
    <ul class="submenu">
      <li><a href="#">Tablet</a></li>
      <li><a href="#">Mobile</a></li>
      <li><a href="#">Desktop</a></li>
    </ul>
  </li>
  <li>
    <div class="link"><i class="fa fa-globe"></i>Global<i class="fa fa-chevron-down"></i></div>
    <ul class="submenu">
      <li><a href="#">Google</a></li>
      <li><a href="#">Bing</a></li>
      <li><a href="#">Yahoo</a></li>
    </ul>
  </li>
</ul>

3. Style the accordion dropdown menu using CSS/CSS3. Add the following rules into your existing CSS file.

* {
  margin: 0;
  padding: 0;
  -webkit-box-sizing: border-box;
  -moz-box-sizing: border-box;
  box-sizing: border-box;
}

ul { list-style-type: none; }

a {
  color: #b63b4d;
  text-decoration: none;
}

.accordion {
  width: 100%;
  max-width: 360px;
  margin: 30px auto 20px;
  background: #FFF;
  -webkit-border-radius: 4px;
  -moz-border-radius: 4px;
  border-radius: 4px;
}

.accordion .link {
  cursor: pointer;
  display: block;
  padding: 15px 15px 15px 42px;
  color: #4D4D4D;
  font-size: 14px;
  font-weight: 700;
  border-bottom: 1px solid #CCC;
  position: relative;
  -webkit-transition: all 0.4s ease;
  -o-transition: all 0.4s ease;
  transition: all 0.4s ease;
}

.accordion li:last-child .link { border-bottom: 0; }

.accordion li i {
  position: absolute;
  top: 16px;
  left: 12px;
  font-size: 18px;
  color: #595959;
  -webkit-transition: all 0.4s ease;
  -o-transition: all 0.4s ease;
  transition: all 0.4s ease;
}

.accordion li i.fa-chevron-down {
  right: 12px;
  left: auto;
  font-size: 16px;
}

.accordion li.open .link { color: #b63b4d; }

.accordion li.open i { color: #b63b4d; }

.accordion li.open i.fa-chevron-down {
  -webkit-transform: rotate(180deg);
  -ms-transform: rotate(180deg);
  -o-transform: rotate(180deg);
  transform: rotate(180deg);
}

.submenu {
  display: none;
  background: #444359;
  font-size: 14px;
}

.submenu li { border-bottom: 1px solid #4b4a5e; }

.submenu a {
  display: block;
  text-decoration: none;
  color: #d9d9d9;
  padding: 12px;
  padding-left: 42px;
  -webkit-transition: all 0.25s ease;
  -o-transition: all 0.25s ease;
  transition: all 0.25s ease;
}

.submenu a:hover {
  background: #b63b4d;
  color: #FFF;
}

4. Include the needed jQuery library at the end of your document.

<script src="//code.jquery.com/jquery-1.11.1.min.js"></script> 

5. The jQuery script to enable the awesome accordion dropdown menu.

$(function() {
  var Accordion = function(el, multiple) {
    this.el = el || {};
    this.multiple = multiple || false;

    var links = this.el.find('.link');
    links.on('click', {el: this.el, multiple: this.multiple}, this.dropdown)
  }

  Accordion.prototype.dropdown = function(e) {
    var $el = e.data.el;
      $this = $(this),
      $next = $this.next();

    $next.slideToggle();
    $this.parent().toggleClass('open');

    if (!e.data.multiple) {
      $el.find('.submenu').not($next).slideUp().parent().removeClass('open');
    };
  }  

  var accordion = new Accordion($('#accordion'), false);
});

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