Tailwind CSS Dropdown

A dropdown menu displays a list of actions and more with JavaScript dropdown plugin.

Installation

To get started, install Dropdown plugin via npm, else you can skip this step if you are already using Preline UI as a package.

                      
                        npm i @preline/dropdown

Wrap the dropdown's toggle (your button or link) and the dropdown menu within .relative, or another element that declares position: relative;. Dropdown can be triggered from <a> or <button> elements to better fit your potential needs.

                          
                            <div class="hs-dropdown relative inline-flex">
                              <button id="hs-dropdown-basic" type="button" class="hs-dropdown-toggle py-3 px-4 inline-flex items-center gap-x-2 text-sm font-medium rounded-lg border border-gray-200 bg-white text-gray-800 shadow-sm hover:bg-gray-50 disabled:opacity-50 disabled:pointer-events-none dark:bg-slate-900 dark:border-gray-700 dark:text-white dark:hover:bg-gray-800 dark:focus:outline-none dark:focus:ring-1 dark:focus:ring-gray-600">
                                Actions
                                <svg class="hs-dropdown-open:rotate-180 w-4 h-4 text-gray-600" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" width="24" height="24" viewBox="0 0 24 24" fill="none" stroke="currentColor" stroke-width="2" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round"><path d="m6 9 6 6 6-6"/></svg>
                              </button>

                              <div class="hs-dropdown-menu transition-[opacity,margin] duration hs-dropdown-open:opacity-100 opacity-0 w-56 hidden z-10 mt-2 min-w-[15rem] bg-white shadow-md rounded-lg p-2 dark:bg-gray-800 dark:border dark:border-gray-700 dark:divide-gray-700" aria-labelledby="hs-dropdown-basic">
                                <a class="flex items-center gap-x-3.5 py-2 px-3 rounded-lg text-sm text-gray-800 hover:bg-gray-100 focus:outline-none focus:bg-gray-100 dark:text-gray-400 dark:hover:bg-gray-700 dark:hover:text-gray-300 dark:focus:bg-gray-700" href="#">
                                  Newsletter
                                </a>
                                <a class="flex items-center gap-x-3.5 py-2 px-3 rounded-lg text-sm text-gray-800 hover:bg-gray-100 focus:outline-none focus:bg-gray-100 dark:text-gray-400 dark:hover:bg-gray-700 dark:hover:text-gray-300 dark:focus:bg-gray-700" href="#">
                                  Purchases
                                </a>
                                <a class="flex items-center gap-x-3.5 py-2 px-3 rounded-lg text-sm text-gray-800 hover:bg-gray-100 focus:outline-none focus:bg-gray-100 dark:text-gray-400 dark:hover:bg-gray-700 dark:hover:text-gray-300 dark:focus:bg-gray-700" href="#">
                                  Downloads
                                </a>
                                <a class="flex items-center gap-x-3.5 py-2 px-3 rounded-lg text-sm text-gray-800 hover:bg-gray-100 focus:outline-none focus:bg-gray-100 dark:text-gray-400 dark:hover:bg-gray-700 dark:hover:text-gray-300 dark:focus:bg-gray-700" href="#">
                                  Team Account
                                </a>
                              </div>
                            </div>

Basic usage

Prefer to create your own style? Here is a completely unstylized example.

                      
                        <div class="hs-dropdown relative inline-flex">
                          <button id="hs-dropdown-unstyled" type="button" class="hs-dropdown-toggle inline-flex justify-center items-center gap-x-2">
                            Actions
                          </button>

                          <div class="hs-dropdown-menu transition-[opacity,margin] duration hs-dropdown-open:opacity-100 opacity-0 w-56 hidden z-10 mt-2 min-w-[15rem] bg-white" aria-labelledby="hs-dropdown-unstyled">
                            <a class="block" href="#">Newsletter</a>
                            <a class="block" href="#">Purchases</a>
                            <a class="block" href="#">Downloads</a>
                            <a class="block" href="#">Team Account</a>
                          </div>
                        </div>

Accessibility notes

Keyboard interactions

Command	Description
`Enter`	Activates the selected tab.
`ArrowUp` and `ArrowDown`	Focuses previous/next non-disabled item.
`Home` and `End`	Focuses first/last non-disabled item.
`Esc`	Closes any open Menus.
`A-Z` `a-z`	Focuses first item that matches keyboard input.

JavaScript behavior

Options

Parameters	Description	Options	Default value
`data-hs-dropdown-transition`	Data attribute to designate the container to be animated.	—	—
`[--placement:*]`	Specifies the position of the menu when opened.	"top" \| "top-left" \| "top-right" \| "bottom" \| "bottom-left" \| "bottom-right" \| "right" \| "right-top" \| "right-bottom" \| "left" \| "left-top" \| "left-bottom"	`bottom`
`[--auto-close:*]`	Specifies the zone, when clicked, which will close the menu.	"inside" \| "outside" \| "false" \| "true"	`true`
`[--strategy:*]`	Sets the position to `absolute` instead of `fixed`, and removes the `transform` styles to position the menu `relative` to the relative parent block.	"fixed" \| "absolute"	`fixed`
`[--offset:*]`	Sets the dropdown's bottom or top offset.	number	`10`
`[--flip:*]`	Flips the menu's placement when it starts to overlap its reference element.	"true" \| "false"	`true`
`[--trigger:*]`	Event to trigger a dropdown.	"hover" \| "click"	`click`

Classes

Name	Description
`hs-dropdown`	Dropdown container.
`hs-dropdown-open`	The modifier that allows you to set tailwind classes when the dropdown menu is open.
`hs-dropdown-toggle`	Dropdown toggle.

Methods

The HSDropdown object is contained within the global window object

Method	Description
Public methods
`open()`	Force open dropdown menu.
`close(isAnimated)`	Force close dropdown menu. `isAnimated` boolean. Indicates whether the dropdown menu is closed with animation
`forceClearState()`	Destroy dropdown.
Static methods
`HSDropdown.getInstance(target)`	Returns the element associated to the `target`. `target` should be a Node or string (valid selector)
`HSDropdown.open(target)`	Open dropdown menu. `target` should be a Node
`HSDropdown.close(target)`	Close dropdown menu. `target` should be a Node

Open item (public method).

                      
                        const dropdown = new HSDropdown(document.querySelector('#dropdown'));
                        const openBtn = document.querySelector('#open-btn');

                        openBtn.addEventListener('click', () => {
                          dropdown.open();
                        });

Open item (static method).

                      
                        const openBtn = document.querySelector('#open-btn');

                        openBtn.addEventListener('click', () => {
                          HSDropdown.show('#dropdown');
                        });

Open item (mixed).

                      
                        const { element } = HSDropdown.getInstance('#dropdown', true);
                        const openBtn = document.querySelector('#open-btn');

                        openBtn.addEventListener('click', () => {
                          element.show();
                        });

Events

Method	Description
`on:open`	Called when any dropdown menu is opened.
`on:close`	Called when any dropdown menu is closed.

Call any function on open example.

                      
                        const el = HSDropdown.getInstance('#dropdown');

                        el.on('open', (instance) => {...});

Demo examples

Looking for prebuilt UI components based on the Tailwind CSS? Preline UI packs hundreds of component examples for all your website needs.

Check out Preline UI Dropdown