Website navigation is such an important consideration when you are designing a website. It’s the main element in your site and probably the one receiving the most user interaction.
Even though we can create a simple and pure HTML and CSS menu, using JavaScript can help increase creativity and improve the user experience overall.
JavaScript menus are a fantastic way to have a navigation menu that stands out and the added functionality makes everything more interesting.
If you landed here looking for hamburger menu animations, you should check these pure CSS hamburger menus!
What Is a JavaScript Menu?
A JavaScript menu is known as a sidebar, header navigation or a mobile menu. JavaScript is used to add beautiful animations or enhance the user experience of the menu.
By using JavaScript, you can make the menu more interactive and creative – being able to control hover and click events can only be done to a certain level using CSS only.
JavaScript gives you that added functionality that you can’t get by using just HTML and CSS.
15 Amazing JavaScript Menu Examples
You can create a navigation menu without the need for any JavaScript but, by using JavaScript, you can create something more interesting and more interactive, all these examples are using JavaScript to increase the user experience.
1. Page Tilt JavaScript Menu
A unique page tilt effect is used to display a menu on the left side, clicking the hamburger icon will activate the menu and shift the whole main body over to the right on a tilt.
Check other Hamburger Menu CSS Examples to use with this JavaScript Menu.
The animation is smooth and the look is unique, the menu has its own close button and the hamburger icon conveniently slides out of the way above the screen.
2. JavaScript Dropdown Menu
This cool JavaScript dropdown menu is a fantastic example of a multi-purpose menu that you can fit into your own UI and design.
Most dropdown menus will only have one level, but this JavaScript dropdown menu has multiple. You can select a subcategory and reveal a new menu – you can then also click “Back” to navigate to where you were.
A lot of advanced features and inside the CSS are some nice and easy variables that you can change to edit the style.
3. Animated Angled Menu
A cool and unique JavaScript menu that can be integrated into any website design, change the menu colours, font style and background colours to suit your brand in the CSS – easy variables already provided for you to change.
The HTML structure is easy to follow and add to and the JavaScript is used to animate the menu and toggle certain classes on click events.
4. Animated Header Navigation Menu
JavaScript menus come in all shapes and sizes and even though this menu is more a mobile-focused one, you could still get away with using it as a main header navigation menu.
You are free to implement this design into your own website however you want, use it as a dashboard menu or as a mobile-focused one.
The animation is very professional and the JavaScript is minimal and it shows you how you can use extra JavaScript to make CSS styling more dynamic and creative.
5. Bubble Menu
A creative and interactive JavaScript menu that is very engaging to use. Clicking the menu icon smoothly slides it into the centre and reveals the menu options to navigate to other pages.
Clicking a menu icon smoothly transitions into a new page and everything loads like a single page application. The menu icon stays in the same location, making it easy to navigate elsewhere.
The animations are extremely smooth and not overwhelming, there is a tone of added user experience from this example.
Enjoying the page transitions in this example, we wrote more about some amazing JavaScript page transitions
6. Navigation Menu
We are so used to traditional header navigation bars like this one and they work so well – users are familiar with this style and they are easy to understand.
This is where JavaScript comes in and helps make the menu more interactive and creative. JavaScript menus are great to add that unique flair to a menu and make it stand out more.
JavaScript is used here to dynamically add and remove CSS styles, making the JavaScript menu more creative.
7. Twitter Animated Sidebar Menu
If you are looking to make a sidebar more interesting and more creative, this example is great for that.
Hover and click on the links and watch the animations take place, they are all smooth and custom to the icon itself.
JavaScript is used to tie everything together and enhance the CSS styling to make it dynamic and interactive.
8. Fullscreen Morphing Navigation Menu
High performance 60 FPS animations where the menu morphs into a full-screen vertical menu.
All the menu links have a subtle animation effect on them when the menu is opened and closed.
9. Slide Out JavaScript Menu Bar
A hamburger style menu that slides out to expand to icons that you can click on. This could be used as a great mobile menu or for an additional settings menu as well.
If you are looking for more slide menus, you’ll love our collection of slides menus!
Change the colours and icons to make this JavaScript menu your own and match your brand style and identity.
JavaScript in this example is used to activate CSS styles and for animation.
10. Simple Context Menu
A basic JavaScript context menu that gets displayed when using the right-click anywhere on the page.
The styling is very simple, so you can fully customise it to your needs.
The benefit of using such a simple context menu is that it feels very natural. As if it was a context menu coming directly from the browser.
11. Animated Phone Navigation Menu
An animated navigation menu that you can integrate into your own website design, it uses a very materialistic design and the icons are minimal.
Icon text smoothly displays as you click on each menu item and slides into view.
JavaScript is used to activate and remove CSS styles more dynamically on click events.
12. Mobile JavaScript Menu
If you are looking for a JavaScript menu that is focused on mobile design only, this one is for you.
It features a mock-up of an application but the menu is fully functioning. Clicking the hamburger menu reveals the animated mobile menu.
The animations are subtle and smooth, and the menu takes up the whole screen and can be easily added to, as it uses normal HTML links.
13. Responsive JavaScript Sidebar Navigation
A full-on responsive sidebar navigation menu, this example is very cool as you can use it as a starting point for your next project.
The navigation menu comes with some fancy icons and smooth animations that slide down the menu items to expand further.
JavaScript is used to add and remove styling when you interact with the menu, so it has increased interactivity depending on what the user clicks on and dynamic CSS classes.
14. Circular Navigation Menu
An example that is extremely unique and could just be what you are looking for, very interactive and creative – it really goes to show what you can do with some extra JavaScript.
A circular menu with lots of animations and effects. You can hover over the different smaller circles to view them, and when clicked they will count as being selected.
15. Shutter Menu
A fully functioning example with a focus on a shutter based menu, vertical images as backgrounds and text to indicate which menu item category it is.
Hover over each item so that the image is revealed and you can see more detail, clicked items will then take you to that page.
This example even has its own mobile hamburger menu.
16. Modern JavaScript Context Menu
Here’s another beautiful context menu using HTML, CSS and JavaScript.
In this case, the context menu looks beautiful, modern and with rounded corners. It even allows the use of icons!
Thanks to JavaScript, this context menu allows you to track the click events made in each of its items. Making it ideal to plug your own functionality on it.
Check it out by yourself by clicking on the items and see how the JavaScript callbacks get fired.
17. Top Bar Navigation JavaScript Menu
Hover your mouse over the menu items and watch the indicator icon slide between each link – all controlled via JavaScript.
This example is very easy to expand, all you have to do is edit the HTML and add more menu links and the menu will accommodate extra links.
You can also easily change the colour styles of this example to something else as well. You can also change the rebound effect by simply editing the variable rebound to zero in the JS.
