jQuery Bootstrap-style Dropdowns

Backstory

One of my favorite Boostrap plugins is dropdowns, but I had a bit of difficulty getting started with them. The docs say you can apply a sa-dropdown to nearly any element, but they really seem to work best with Bootstrap’s navbar, tab, and pill components. Since I was retrofitting an app that was around long before Bootstrap, this wasn’t going to work for me. That and I was hoping to get a scrollable sa-dropdown (with tips!) and a few other features out of the deal. Thus, this plugin was born.

While the appearance is almost identical to those of Bootstrap’s, it’s important to note that JavaScript for this plugin was developed entirely from scratch. Some CSS was borrowed, however, especially for generating those gorgeous tips.

Wanna see what they look like? Try it! Wanna contribute to this project? It’s on GitHub

Usage

1. Start by including the necessary files into your app:

<link type="text/css" rel="stylesheet" href="jquery.dropdown.css" />
<script type="text/javascript" src="jquery.dropdown.js"></script>

2. Create a sa-dropdown by placing a div with a unique id and the sa-dropdown class immediately before your closing body tag.

For sa-dropdown menus, the div should contain a ul with the sa-dropdown-menu class:

<div id="sa-dropdown-1" class="sa-dropdown sa-dropdown-tip">
    <ul class="sa-dropdown-menu">
        <li><a href="#1">Item 1</a></li>
        <li><a href="#2">Item 2</a></li>
        <li><a href="#3">Item 3</a></li>
        <li class="sa-dropdown-divider"></li>
        <li><a href="#4">Item 4</a></li>
        <li><a href="#5">Item 5</a></li>
        <li><a href="#5">Item 6</a></li>
    </ul>
</div>

For sa-dropdown panels, the div should contain a div with the sa-dropdown-panel class:

<div id="sa-dropdown-1" class="sa-dropdown sa-dropdown-tip">
    <div class="sa-dropdown-panel">
        You can put whatever HTML you want in a panel!
    </div>
</div>

3. Add the data-sa-dropdown attribute to any HTML element, using the id of the sa-dropdown as the value. That’s all you have to do–you don’t even have to initialize it! The plugin also works on dynamically generated triggers.

<a href="#" data-sa-dropdown="#sa-dropdown-1">dropdown</a>

Demos

Dropdowns can be attached to any element that you want:

Here’s a link and here’s a button and here’s a span

Scrolling

Now let’s see a really long sa-dropdown that will scroll: Example

Form Controls

You can add form controls to your dropdowns: Example

Panels

Dropdowns can have regular HTML, too. Example

Special Classes

• To disable the sa-dropdown, add the sa-dropdown-disabled class to the trigger element
• To offset positioning, add data-horizontal-offset="10" and/or data-vertical-offset="10" to the trigger element
• To add a tip to the sa-dropdown, add the sa-dropdown-tip class to the sa-dropdown element
• To make the sa-dropdown anchor to the right, add the sa-dropdown-anchor-right class: Example
• To position a sa-dropdown relative to its parent (as opposed to the document), add the sa-dropdown-relative class to the sa-dropdown container

API

You probably won’t need these, but they’re there just in case:

• attach – attach a sa-dropdown to the selected trigger element(s); pass in the #sa-dropdown-id-1 as value
• detach – detach a sa-dropdown from the selected trigger element(s)
• enable – enables the sa-dropdown and removes the sa-dropdown-disabled class from the trigger
• disable – disables the sa-dropdown and adds the sa-dropdown-disabled class to the trigger
• hide – hide the sa-dropdown
• show – show the sa-dropdown

Example usage: $('#trigger').jqDropdown('method', [value]);

Events

You can attach events to each sa-dropdown:

• show — triggered when the sa-dropdown is shown
• hide — triggered when the sa-dropdown is hidden

Example usage:

$('#sa-dropdown-id-1').on('show', function(event, dropdownData) {
    console.log(dropdownData);
}).on('hide', function(event, dropdownData) {
    console.log(dropdownData);
});

Q&A

• How do I stop the sa-dropdown from going off the screen?
  This plugin was intended to be very lightweight—the initial release is less than 70 lines of code! If you have a very elegant way to keep the sa-dropdown within the viewport without using a dependency, let me know. Otherwise, position them higher or use the sa-dropdown-anchor-right class.
• How do I modify the sa-dropdown menu on the fly?
  Just modify it like any other element, but leave the id intact.
• Do they support submenus?
  No, and they aren’t intended to. That would add a significant amount of complexity to the plugin and is really outside the scope of this project.
• Can I get rid of the tips?
  Sure, just remove the sa-dropdown-tip class from your sa-dropdown.
• Do they work in IE?
  Yes, but you won’t see any tips in IE7 and you won’t see any box-shadows until IE9. They’re completely usable in IE 7/8, they’re just not as pretty.
• Is it free to use?
  Of course! It’s licensed under the MIT license.
• Which version of jQuery is required?
  This plugin will work with jQuery 1.8 and higher.
• Who made this?
  The same guy that runs A Beautiful Site, LLC and Surreal CMS.