How to create eye-catching sidebar menu with HTML, CSS, and JS

The final result of the Sidebar navigation

Step-by-step guide on how to create a sidebar navigation

Step 1: Create Sidebar HTML container

<div class="sidebar"></div>

Step 2: Add the hamburger menu HTML markup

<div class="sidebar">
  <div class="hamburger-menu__container">
    <div class="hamburger-menu">
      <div class="hamburger-menu__line"></div>
      <div class="hamburger-menu__line"></div>
      <div class="hamburger-menu__line"></div>
    </div>
  </div>
</div>

Step 3: Add global and hamburger menu CSS styles

:root {
  --light-purple: #eef2ff;
  --dark-purple: #4f46e5;
  --darker-purple: #3730A3;
}

body {
  background-color: var(--light-purple);
  font-family: -apple-system, sans-serif;
  margin: 0;
}

.hamburger-menu__container {
  --size: 60px;
  background-color: var(--dark-purple);
  width: var(--size);
  height: var(--size);
  display: flex;
  align-items: center;
  justify-content: center;
  cursor: pointer;
}

.hamburger-menu {
  width: 50%;
  position: relative;
}
.hamburger-menu__line {
  background-color: var(--light-purple);
  height: 3px;
  border-radius: 2px;
}
.hamburger-menu__line:first-child, .hamburger-menu__line:last-child {
  width: 100%;
  position: absolute;
}

Step 4: Add hamburger menu CSS animation styles

.hamburger-menu__container {
  transition: all 0.2s ease-in;
}

.hamburger-menu__container:hover {
  background-color: var(--darker-purple);
}

.hamburger-menu__line:first-child, 
.hamburger-menu__line:last-child {
  transition: all 0.1s ease-out;
}

.hamburger-menu__line:not(:first-child):not(:last-child) {
  animation-name: hamburger;
  animation-duration: 0.15s;
  animation-delay: 0.15s;
  transform: scaleX(0);
}

.hamburger-menu__line, 
.hamburger-menu__line:first-child, .hamburger-menu__line:last-child {
  animation-fill-mode: forwards;
}

.hamburger-menu__line:first-child, .hamburger-menu__line:last-child {
  transform-origin: 50%;
  animation-duration: 0.3s;
}

.hamburger-menu__line:first-child {
  top: 0;
  animation-name: hamburgerFirst;
  transform: rotate(45deg);
}

.hamburger-menu__line:last-child {
  top: 0;
  animation-name: hamburgerLast;
  transform: rotate(-45deg);
}

.hamburger-menu--open .hamburger-menu__line:not(:first-child):not(:last-child) {
  animation-name: hamburgerOpen;
  transform: scaleX(100%);
}

.hamburger-menu--open .hamburger-menu__line:first-child {
  top: -10px;
  transform: rotate(0);
  animation-name: hamburgerFirstOpen;
}

.hamburger-menu--open .hamburger-menu__line:last-child {
  top: 10px;
  transform: rotate(0);
  animation-name: hamburgerLastOpen;
}

@keyframes hamburger {
  0% {
    transform: scaleX(0);
  }
  100% {
    transform: scaleX(1);
  }
}

@keyframes hamburgerOpen {
  0% {
    transform: scaleX(1);
  }
  100% {
    transform: scaleX(0);
  }
}

@keyframes hamburgerFirst {
  0% {
    top: 0;
    transform: rotate(45deg);
  }
  50% {
    top: 0;
    transform: rotate(0);
  }
  100% {
    top: 10px;
    transform: rotate(0);
  }
}

@keyframes hamburgerLast {
  0% {
    top: 0;
    transform: rotate(-45deg);
  }
  50% {
    top: 0;
    transform: rotate(0);
  }
  100% {
    top: -10px;
    transform: rotate(0);
  }
}

@keyframes hamburgerFirstOpen {
  0% {
    top: 10px;
    transform: rotate(0);
  }
  50% {
    top: 0;
    transform: rotate(0);
  }
  100% {
    top: 0;
    transform: rotate(45deg);
  }
}

@keyframes hamburgerLastOpen {
  0% {
    top: -12px;
    transform: rotate(0);
  }
  50% {
    top: 0;
    transform: rotate(0);
  }
  100% {
    top: 0;
    transform: rotate(-45deg);
  }
}

Step 5: Add the navigation menu HTML markup

<div class="sidebar">
  <div class="hamburger-menu__container">
    <div class="hamburger-menu">
      <div class="hamburger-menu__line"></div>
      <div class="hamburger-menu__line"></div>
      <div class="hamburger-menu__line"></div>
    </div>
  </div>

  <!--Add this HTML code after the hamburger menu:-->
  <nav class="nav">
    <nav class="nav__item">
      <i data-feather="user" class="nav__item-icon"></i>
      <span class="nav__item-text">Account</span>
    </nav>
    <nav class="nav__item">
      <i data-feather="bookmark" class="nav__item-icon"></i>
      <span class="nav__item-text">Bookmarks</span>
    </nav>
    <nav class="nav__item">
      <i data-feather="bar-chart-2" class="nav__item-icon"></i>
      <span class="nav__item-text">Data history</span>
    </nav>
    <nav class="nav__item">
      <i data-feather="arrow-down-circle" class="nav__item-icon"></i>
      <span class="nav__item-text">Download</span>
    </nav>
  </nav>
</div>

Step 6: Include the feather icon library

Add the required Feather icon library script tags at the end of the body tag

<script src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/npm/feather-icons/dist/feather.min.js"></script>
<script>
  feather.replace();
</script>

Step 7: Add the CSS styles for the navigation menu

.feather {
  color: var(--light-purple);
  stroke-width: 2.5;
  width: 26px;
  height: 26px;
}

.nav__item {
  --size: 60px;
  background-color: var(--dark-purple);
  width: var(--size);
  height: var(--size);
  display: flex;
  align-items: center;
  justify-content: center;
  cursor: pointer;
}

.nav__item {
  top: 0;
  position: absolute;
  z-index: -1;
}

.nav--open .nav__item:first-child {
  top: 60px;
  z-index: -1;
}

.nav--open .nav__item:nth-child(2) {
  top: calc(60px * 2);
  z-index: -2;
}

.nav--open .nav__item:nth-child(3) {
  top: calc(60px * 3);
  z-index: -3;
}

.nav--open .nav__item:last-child {
  top: calc(60px * 4);
  z-index: -4;
}

.nav__item-text {
  color: var(--dark-purple);
  position: absolute;
  font-weight: 600;
  left: 105%;
  opacity: 0;
  font-size: 18px;
  white-space: nowrap;
}

Step 8: Add the navigation menu CSS animation styles

.nav__item {
  transition: all 0.2s ease-in;
}

.nav__item:hover {
  background-color: var(--darker-purple);
}

.nav__item {
  transition-property: all;
  transition-timing-function: ease-in-out;
}
.nav__item:hover .nav__item-text {
  left: 120%;
  opacity: 1;
}

.nav--open .nav__item:first-child {
  transition-duration: 0.15s;

}

.nav--open .nav__item:nth-child(2) {
  transition-duration: 0.3s;
}

.nav--open .nav__item:nth-child(3) {
  transition-duration: 0.45s;
}

.nav--open .nav__item:last-child {
  transition-duration: 0.6s;
}

.nav__item-text {
  transition: all 0.3s ease-in-out;
}

Step 9: Add the required Javascript code to open/close the sidebar navigation menu

const sidebar = document.querySelector(".sidebar");

if (sidebar) {
  const init = () => {
    attachEvents();
  };

  const hamburgerMenu = document.querySelector(".hamburger-menu");
  const hamburgerMenuContainer = document.querySelector(
    ".hamburger-menu__container"
  );
  const nav = document.querySelector(".nav");

  const attachEvents = () => {
    hamburgerMenuContainer.addEventListener("click", toggleMenu);
  };

  const toggleMenu = () => {
    hamburgerMenu.classList.toggle("hamburger-menu--open");
    nav.classList.toggle("nav--open");
  };

  init();
}

CSS sidebar menu design examples

Need some sidebar menu design examples?

At Frontend planet we have a list of cool sidebar navigation examples to inspire you, check it out!.