Stu Nicholls | CSSplay | An expanding menu

Information

Just a simple menu to produce an enlarging effect with a drop shadow on hover.

Again this is just a css styled unordered list using no images that will degrade well for text only browsers.

20th November 2005

A second list added to show how a background image can be used to make a more realistic shadow.

Cascading Style Sheet

MENU ONE

#painters {
  padding:0;
  margin:5em 0;
  list-style-type:none; 
  }
#painters li {
  width:75px; 
  height:20px; 
  float:left;
  border:1px solid #000;
  margin-right:2px;
  }
#painters a em {
  font-style:normal; 
  font-size:1em; 
  line-height:1.5em;
  }
#painters a {
  text-decoration:none;
  color:#000;
  position:absolute; 
  width:75px; 
  height:20px; 
  display:block;
  text-align:center;
  }
#painters a.red {background:#c00; color:#fff;}
#painters a.orange {background:#fc0; color:#000;}
#painters a.yellow {background:#ee0; color:#000;}
#painters a.green {background:#080; color:#fff;}
#painters a.blue {background:#00c; color:#fff;}
#painters a:hover {
  width:120px; 
  height:28px;
  z-index:200;
  background:#aaa;
  }
#painters a:hover em {
  font-size:1.5em;
  line-height:1.1em;
  overflow:hidden;
  cursor:pointer;
  background:#fff; 
  border:1px solid #000;
  position:absolute; 
  width:120px; 
  height:25px;
  left:-12px; 
  top:-8px;
  }
#painters a:hover.red em {background:#c00;}
#painters a:hover.orange em {background:#fc0;}
#painters a:hover.yellow em {background:#ee0;}
#painters a:hover.green em {background:#080;}
#painters a:hover.blue em {background:#00c;}

Cascading Style Sheet

MENU TWO

#painters2 {
  padding:0;
  margin:0;
  list-style-type:none; 
  }
#painters2 li {
  width:75px; 
  height:20px; 
  float:left;
  border:1px solid #000;
  margin-right:2px;
  }
#painters2 a em {
  font-style:normal; 
  font-size:1em; 
  line-height:1.5em;
  }
#painters2 a {
  text-decoration:none;
  color:#000;
  position:absolute; 
  width:75px; 
  height:20px; 
  display:block;
  text-align:center;
  }
#painters2 a.red {background:#c00; color:#fff;}
#painters2 a.orange {background:#fc0; color:#000;}
#painters2 a.yellow {background:#ee0; color:#000;}
#painters2 a.green {background:#080; color:#fff;}
#painters2 a.blue {background:#00c; color:#fff;}
#painters2 a:hover {
  width:120px; 
  height:28px;
  z-index:200;
  background:transparent url(../ads/opaque.gif);
  }
#painters2 a:hover em {
  font-size:1.5em;
  line-height:1.1em;
  overflow:hidden;
  cursor:pointer;
  background:#fff; 
  border:1px solid #000;
  position:absolute; 
  width:120px; 
  height:25px;
  left:-12px; 
  top:-4px;
  }
#painters2 a:hover.red em {background:#c00;}
#painters2 a:hover.orange em {background:#fc0;}
#painters2 a:hover.yellow em {background:#ee0;}
#painters2 a:hover.green em {background:#080;}
#painters2 a:hover.blue em {background:#00c;}

xhtml

MENU ONE

<ul id="painters">
  <li><a class="red" href="#nogo"><em>Monet</em></a></li>
  <li><a class="orange" href="#nogo"><em>Constable</em></a></li>
  <li><a class="yellow" href="#nogo"><em>Renoir</em></a></li>
  <li><a class="green" href="#nogo"><em>Turner</em></a></li>
  <li><a class="blue" href="#nogo"><em>Matisse</em></a></li>
</ul>

xhtml

MENU TWO

<ul id="painters2">
  <li><a class="red" href="#nogo"><em>Monet</em></a></li>
  <li><a class="orange" href="#nogo"><em>Constable</em></a></li>
  <li><a class="yellow" href="#nogo"><em>Renoir</em></a></li>
  <li><a class="green" href="#nogo"><em>Turner</em></a></li>
  <li><a class="blue" href="#nogo"><em>Matisse</em></a></li>
</ul>

Copyright

You may use this method on your personal 'non-profit' web site without seeking my permission. A link back to CSSplay is always appreciated.

Commercial usage is also permitted without seeking approval, but I would ask that a donation is considered to support my work on CSSPlay.

If you are having problems integrating any of my demonstrations into your website then I now offer a service to fault find and correct any errors that you may have introduced. Please email me for more information.