This feature has been part of a website project for many year. The left side off-canvas menu was mobile only, and the right side off-canvas menu was a utility menu with custom links, changing on each page.
This can be easily achieved with CSS only using hidden checkboxes. This is what we are going to create.
Let’s add the checkboxes. Note the hidden parameter, so you can add them anywhere you want on the page.
<input type="checkbox" id="sideToggle1" hidden>
<input type="checkbox" id="sideToggle2" hidden>
Next, we need the two menus, one on the left and one on the right. Again, as they are hidden, you can add them wherever you want, or even inject them via JavaScript. The point, however, is not using JavaScript at all.
<aside class="sideMenu left">
<h2>Side Menu</h2>
<ul>
<li><a href="#">Menu Item #1</a></li>
<li><a href="#">Menu Item #2</a></li>
<li><a href="#">Menu Item #3</a></li>
<li><a href="#">Menu Item #4</a></li>
</ul>
</aside>
<aside class="sideMenu right">
<h2>Side Menu</h2>
<ul>
<li><a href="#">Menu Item #1</a></li>
<li><a href="#">Menu Item #2</a></li>
<li><a href="#">Menu Item #3</a></li>
<li><a href="#">Menu Item #4</a></li>
</ul>
</aside>I have added the menus as <aside> elements.
Next, we need the rest of the content. This is an importan requirement, as the content needs to be wrapped in a parent element, so that we can push it left or right off the canvas, based on which menu has been triggerred.
<div id="contentWrap">
<div class="menuBtns">
<label class="menuBtn" for="sideToggle1">−</label>
<label class="menuBtn" for="sideToggle2">−</label>
</div>
<p>
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</p>
<p>
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</p>
<p>
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</p>
<p>
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</p>
<p>
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</p>
</div>Note the 2 .menuBtn button labels, both using a − character with 2 offset shadows. Less hacky than other solutions, but feel free to use an icon or another unicode character.
Let’s add the CSS now and see what each selector does:
/**
* The buttons are aligned using Flex and a double border to simulate a hamburger menu.
*/
.menuBtns {
display: flex;
justify-content: space-between;
}
.menuBtn {
background: #341f97;
border-radius: 100%;
color: #ffffff;
cursor: pointer;
font: 700 1.7em/36px Courier New;
width: 36px;
height: 36px;
line-height: 36px;
text-align: center;
text-shadow: 0 -5px, 0 5px;
transition: 0.15s;
}
.menuBtn:hover {
background: #222;
}
/**
* The side menus are fixed and placed under the content wrap.
* An alternative would be to translate them off-canvas,
* but that would remove the content sliding visual effect.
*/
.sideMenu {
position: fixed;
top: 0;
bottom: 0;
z-index: 0;
width: 250px;
background: #1B1464;
color: #ffffff;
padding: 20px;
}
.sideMenu.left,
.sideMenu.right {
opacity: 0;
transition: 0.33s cubic-bezier(0.7, 0.15, 0.36, 1);
}
/**
* Each side menu is attached to one side of the screen.
*/
.sideMenu.left {
left: 0;
}
.sideMenu.right {
right: 0;
}
.sideMenu > ul {
padding: 0;
list-style: none;
margin: 20px 0;
}
.sideMenu > ul > li {
border-top: 1px solid rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.1);
position: relative;
overflow: hidden;
}
.sideMenu > ul > li a {
color: #ccc;
text-decoration: none;
display: block;
line-height: 3.2;
font-size: 14px;
margin: 0 -10px;
padding: 0 20px;
overflow: hidden;
white-space: nowrap;
transition: 0.4s cubic-bezier(0.3, 0.8, 0.5, 1.08);
}
.sideMenu > ul > li a:hover {
color: #ffffff;
}
#contentWrap {
min-height: 100%;
position: relative;
background: #ffffff;
padding: 20px;
transition: 0.33s cubic-bezier(0.7, 0.15, 0.36, 1);
}
/**
* If any of the checkboxed is checked, we translate the content
* left or right, off the canvas and hide the overflow scrollbars.
* Additionally, an opacity transition is used to make the menus fade in.
*/
#sideToggle1:checked ~ #contentWrap {
border-radius: 24px;
transform: translateX(250px) rotate(2deg);
box-shadow: 0 0 128px rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.25);
}
#sideToggle1:checked ~ .sideMenu.left {
opacity: 1;
transform: none;
}
#sideToggle2:checked ~ #contentWrap {
border-radius: 24px;
transform: translateX(-250px) rotate(-2deg);
box-shadow: 0 0 128px rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.25);
}
#sideToggle2:checked ~ .sideMenu.right {
opacity: 1;
transform: none;
}Note how the content gets rotated. You can change the rotation origin and keep the menu icon in view for mobile screens.
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