CSS3 Vertical Multicolor 3D Menu

In our new tutorial we’ll create a new stylish vertical multicolor and crossbrowser CSS3 menu with 3D animation (I use css3 transition, perspective and transform properties) and a pure css3 color switcher. This is UL-LI-based menu.

Here are the samples and downloadable package:

Ok, download the example files and let's start coding!

Step 1. HTML

As usual, we start with the HTML. Here is the html code of our menu. As usual – this is again a UL-LI based navigation menu. The most interesting thing will be the CSS styles, of course.

<div class="container">

    <span id="clr1"></span>
    <span id="clr2"></span>
    <span id="clr3"></span>
    <span id="clr4"></span>
    <span id="clr5"></span>
    <span id="clr6"></span>

    <div class="colorScheme">
        <a href="#clr1" class="clr1"></a>
        <a href="#clr2" class="clr2"></a>
        <a href="#clr3" class="clr3"></a>
        <a href="#clr4" class="clr4"></a>
        <a href="#clr5" class="clr5"></a>
        <a href="#clr6" class="clr6"></a>
    </div>

    <ul id="nav">
        <li><a href="http://www.script-tutorials.com/">Home</a></li>
        <li><a href="#">Menu 1</a>
            <ul class="subs">
                <li><a href="#">Submenu 1</a></li>
                <li><a href="#">Submenu 2</a></li>
                <li><a href="#">Submenu 3</a></li>
                <li><a href="#">Submenu 4</a></li>
                <li><a href="#">Submenu 5</a></li>
            </ul>
        </li>
        <li><a href="#">Menu 2</a>
            <ul class="subs">
                <li><a href="#">Submenu 2-1</a></li>
                <li><a href="#">Submenu 2-2</a></li>
                <li><a href="#">Submenu 2-3</a></li>
                <li><a href="#">Submenu 2-4</a></li>
                <li><a href="#">Submenu 2-5</a></li>
                <li><a href="#">Submenu 2-6</a></li>
                <li><a href="#">Submenu 2-7</a></li>
                <li><a href="#">Submenu 2-8</a></li>
            </ul>
        </li>
        <li><a href="#">Menu 3</a>
            <ul class="subs">
                <li><a href="#">Submenu 3-1</a></li>
                <li><a href="#">Submenu 3-2</a></li>
                <li><a href="#">Submenu 3-3</a></li>
                <li><a href="#">Submenu 3-4</a></li>
                <li><a href="#">Submenu 3-5</a></li>
            </ul>
        </li>
        <li><a href="#">Menu 4</a></li>
        <li><a href="#">Menu 5</a></li>
        <li><a href="#">Menu 6</a></li>
        <li><a href="http://www.script-tutorials.com/css3-vertical-multicolor-3d-menu/">Back</a></li>
    </ul>

</div>

Step 2. CSS

Here are the CSS styles of our vertical menu. Maybe you’ve noticed – in our html we have two CSS files: layout.css and menu.css. The first one (layout.css) contains the styles of our demo page. We don’t publish these styles in the article, but if you need then, you can find these styles in our package.

#nav,#nav ul {
    background-color: #8899AA;
    list-style: none outside none;
    margin: 0;
    padding: 0;
}
#nav {
    display: block;
    padding: 5px;
    position: relative;
    width: 112px;

    -moz-perspective: 200px;
    -ms-perspective: 200px;
    -webkit-perspective: 200px;
    -o-perspective: 200px;
    perspective: 200px;
}
#nav ul {
    left: -9999px;
    opacity:0;
    overflow: hidden;
    padding: 5px;
    position: absolute;
    top: -9999px;

    -moz-transform: rotateY(70deg);
    -ms-transform: rotateY(70deg);
    -o-transform: rotateY(70deg);
    -webkit-transform: rotateY(70deg);
    transform: rotateY(70deg);

    -moz-transform-origin: 0 0;
    -ms-transform-origin: 0 0;
    -o-transform-origin: 0 0;
    -webkit-transform-origin: 0 0;
    transform-origin: 0 0;

    -moz-transition: -moz-transform 0.3s linear, opacity 0.3s linear;
    -ms-transition: -ms-transform 0.3s linear, opacity 0.3s linear;
    -o-transition: -o-transform 0.3s linear, opacity 0.3s linear;
    -webkit-transition: -webkit-transform 0.3s linear, opacity 0.3s linear;
    transition: transform 0.3s linear, opacity 0.3s linear;
}
#nav li {
    background-color: #FFFFFF;
    position: relative;
}
#nav > li {
    -moz-transform-style: preserve-3d;
    -ms-transform-style: preserve-3d;
    -o-transform-style: preserve-3d;
    -webkit-transform-style: preserve-3d;
    transform-style: preserve-3d;
}
#nav li a {
    background-color: #AABBCC;
    border-color: #DDDDDD #555555 #555555 #DDDDDD;
    border-style: solid;
    border-width: 1px;
    color: #000000;
    display: block;
    font-size: 15px;
    padding: 8px 10px 8px 5px;
    text-decoration: none;
    width:95px;

    -moz-transition: all 0.2s linear;
    -ms-transition: all 0.2s linear;
    -o-transition: all 0.2s linear;
    -webkit-transition: all 0.2s linear;
    transition: all 0.2s linear;
}
#nav li:hover > a {
    background-color: #8899AA;
    border-color: #8899AA;
    color: #FFFFFF;
}
#nav li:hover ul.subs {
    left: 114px;
    opacity:1;
    top: 0;

    -moz-transition-delay: 0.3s;
    -ms-transition-delay: 0.3s;
    -o-transition-delay: 0.3s;
    -webkit-transition-delay: 0.3s;
    transition-delay: 0.3s;

    -moz-transform: rotateY(0deg);
    -ms-transform: rotateY(0deg);
    -o-transform: rotateY(0deg);
    -webkit-transform: rotateY(0deg);
    transform: rotateY(0deg);
}
#nav ul li {
    width: 100%;
}

/* colors */
.colorScheme {
    list-style: none outside none;
    overflow: hidden;
    width: 120px;
}
.colorScheme a {
    cursor: pointer;
    float: left;
    height: 30px;
    margin: 0 5px 5px;
    width: 30px;
}
.colorScheme .clr1 {
    background-color: #8899AA;
}
.colorScheme .clr2 {
    background-color: #aa889e;
}
.colorScheme .clr3 {
    background-color: #8f88aa;
}
.colorScheme .clr4 {
    background-color: #88aaaa;
}
.colorScheme .clr5 {
    background-color: #88aa8a;
}
.colorScheme .clr6 {
    background-color: #aaa188;
}

#clr1:target ~ #nav, #clr1:target ~ #nav ul {
    background-color: #8899AA;
}
#clr2:target ~ #nav, #clr2:target ~ #nav ul {
    background-color: #aa889e;
}
#clr3:target ~ #nav, #clr3:target ~ #nav ul {
    background-color: #8f88aa;
}
#clr4:target ~ #nav, #clr4:target ~ #nav ul {
    background-color: #88aaaa;
}
#clr5:target ~ #nav, #clr5:target ~ #nav ul {
    background-color: #88aa8a;
}
#clr6:target ~ #nav, #clr6:target ~ #nav ul {
    background-color: #aaa188;
}

#clr1:target ~ #nav li:hover > a {
    background-color: #8899AA;
    border-color: #8899AA;
}
#clr2:target ~ #nav li:hover > a {
    background-color: #aa889e;
    border-color: #aa889e;
}
#clr3:target ~ #nav li:hover > a {
    background-color: #8f88aa;
    border-color: #8f88aa;
}
#clr4:target ~ #nav li:hover > a {
    background-color: #88aaaa;
    border-color: #88aaaa;
}
#clr5:target ~ #nav li:hover > a {
    background-color: #88aa8a;
    border-color: #88aa8a;
}
#clr6:target ~ #nav li:hover > a {
    background-color: #aaa188;
    border-color: #aaa188;
}

Conclusion

Hope you enjoyed playing with the new 3D menu! Don’t forget to post thanks and leave a comment. Good luck!