Creating A Dropdown Menu Using CSS3, No JavaScript

Today we are going to look at how to create a pure CSS3 dropdown menu without using JavaScript or jQuery. Before moving forward with this tutorial, it is highly recommend that you take a look at the demo and get a feeling of what the end result looks like.

HTML For The Dropdown Menu

<ul>
  <li>Home</li>
  <li>
    Category
    <ul>
      <li>Linux</li>
      <li>Coding</li>
      <li>WordPress</li>
    </ul>
  </li>
  <li>Web Tutorial</li>
  <li>Adsense</li>
</ul>

CSS For The Dropdown Menu

ul {
  text-align: left;
  display: inline;
  margin: 0;
  padding: 15px 4px 17px 0;
  list-style: none;
  -webkit-box-shadow: 0 0 5px rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.15);
  -moz-box-shadow: 0 0 5px rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.15);
  box-shadow: 0 0 5px rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.15);
}

ul li {
  font: bold 12px/18px sans-serif;
  display: inline-block;
  margin-right: -4px;
  position: relative;
  padding: 15px 20px;
  background: #fff;
  cursor: pointer;
  -webkit-transition: all 0.2s;
  -moz-transition: all 0.2s;
  -ms-transition: all 0.2s;
  -o-transition: all 0.2s;
  transition: all 0.2s;
}

ul li:hover {
  background: #555;
  color: #fff;
}

ul li ul {
  padding: 0;
  position: absolute;
  top: 48px;
  left: 0;
  width: 150px;
  -webkit-box-shadow: none;
  -moz-box-shadow: none;
  box-shadow: none;
  display: none;
  opacity: 0;
  visibility: hidden;
  -webkit-transiton: opacity 0.2s;
  -moz-transition: opacity 0.2s;
  -ms-transition: opacity 0.2s;
  -o-transition: opacity 0.2s;
  -transition: opacity 0.2s;
}

ul li ul li { 
  background: #555; 
  display: block; 
  color: #fff;
  text-shadow: 0 -1px 0 #000;
}

ul li ul li:hover { background: #666; }

ul li:hover ul {
  display: block;
  opacity: 1;
  visibility: visible;
}

Now you have a pure CSS3 menu dropdown without using JavaScript. You can play around and modify the look and feel of the menu dropdown via View Demo button above.