A jQuery plugin that creates a paneled-style menu (like the type seen in the mobile versions of Facebook and Google, as well as in many native iPhone applications).
###Version 1.4.1
jPanelMenu is a jQuery plugin for easily creating and managing off-canvas content.
Check out the demo (and documentation) site to see it in action.
Check out the changelog to see what’s new.
Start off by including the jPanelMenu.js file in your page. (Bonus points for using the minified version [jPanelMenu.min.js], or for bundling the jPanelMenu code into your own JavaScript file to reduce size and HTTP requests.)
Build your page as you normally would (the source order does not matter), and instantiate jPanelMenu by calling the plugin constructor function.
var jPM = $.jPanelMenu();
By default, jPanelMenu will look for an element with an ID of menu to use as the menu, and elements with a class of menu-trigger to use as the trigger(s). Either use these IDs and classes on your elements, or pass a custom selector string pointing jPanelMenu to your menu and trigger elements in an object into the constructor function call, as follows:
var jPM = $.jPanelMenu({
menu: '#custom-menu-selector',
trigger: '.custom-menu-trigger-selector'
});
Note: Check out the options section for more customizable goodness like the above.
After jPanelMenu has been instantiated (make sure to save the returned object to a variable, as shown above), it’s time to turn it on!
jPM.on();
After that, jPanelMenu will be functioning, and that’s it!
If you want to take things to the next level, keep reading.
When jPanelMenu is turned on, two <div> elements are created. The menu element (with an ID of jPanelMenu-menu), and the panel element (with a class of jPanelMenu-panel). In addition, a class of jPanelMenu is applied to the <html> tag.
The menu, #jPanelMenu-menu, contains the elements targeted by the menu selector passed into the jPanelMenu constructor function. By default, the targeted menu element is cloned into #jPanelMenu-menu, and is not removed from its original position in the DOM. This action can be overridden with the clone option.
The panel, .jPanelMenu-panel, contains all of the content in the element specified by the panel option (except for the elements specified by the excludedPanelContent option). The selected content is moved, not cloned, into .jPanelMenu-panel.
To style or select the menu, use the following selector: #jPanelMenu-menu.
To style or select the content panel, use the following selector: .jPanelMenu-panel.
When jPanelMenu is turned off, the two <div> elements are removed, all of the content inside .jPanelMenu-panel is moved back into the <body> element, and the class of jPanelMenu is removed from the <html> tag.
Of course! (If you want it to, there’s an option for that.)
Animation is handled by CSS transitions, for browsers with support. CSS transitions are hardware-accelerated on supporting devices, so the animations are silky smooth.
For browsers that do not support CSS transitions, the jQuery animation engine is used as a fallback.
The following options are set via an object passed into the constructor function call, as shown below.
var jPM = $.jPanelMenu({
menu: '#menu',
trigger: '.menu-trigger',
duration: 300
});
###menu
A selector string pointing to the desired menu element.
string#menu###panel
A selector string pointing to the desired root panel element. Point this to the element containing all content that should go into the panel.
stringbody###trigger
A selector string pointing to the menu-triggering element.
string.menu-triggerA selector string specifying which elements within the <body> element should not be pushed into .jPanelMenu-panel. The selector string may contain any selector, not just tags.
Generally, <style> and <script> tags should not be moved from their original location, but in certain circumstances (mostly advertising), <script> tags may need to move with the page content.
stringstyle, script###clone
A boolean value specifying whether or not the targeted menu element should be cloned to create #jPanelMenu-menu, or simply moved in the DOM.
booleantrue or falsetrue###direction
A string specifying which direction the menu should open from.
stringleft or rightleft###openPosition
The measurement value for the open position of the menu. Can be set as a pixel, percentage, or em value.
string250px, 75%, 20em250px###animated
A boolean value specifying whether or not the opening and closing of the menu should be animated.
When using the API functions open( ), close(), and trigger(), this setting can be overridden by passing in true as the parameter. More info in the API section.
booleantrue or falsetrueA boolean value specifying whether or not the menu should be closed when clicking on the panel content.
booleantrue or falsetrueAn option that allows you to control if keyboard shortcuts are enabled, and if they are, which keys do what.
Setting this option to false will disable keyboard shortcuts entirely. To enable keyboard shortcuts, pass in an array of objects. Each enabled key gets its own object in the array and each object should be structured as follows:
{
code: 27, /* Keycode of enabled key */
open: true /* Boolean (true or false), specifying whether or not key should open the menu */
close: false /* Boolean (true or false), specifying whether or not key should close the menu */
}
Data Type: array or boolean
Accepted Values: array or false
Default Value:
[
{
code: 27, /* Escape Key /
open: false,
close: true
},{
code: 37, / Left Arrow Key /
open: false,
close: true
},{
code: 39, / Right Arrow Key /
open: true,
close: true
},{
code: 77, / M Key */
open: true,
close: true
}
]
###duration
The time, in milliseconds, which it should take to open and close the menu, when animated.
int150###openDuration
The time, in milliseconds, which it should take to open the menu, when animated. If set, this overrides the duration option.
intdurationThe time, in milliseconds, which it should take to close the menu, when animated. If set, this overrides the duration option.
intduration###easing
The easing function to use when animating the opening and closing of the menu.
stringlinear, ease, ease-in, ease-out, ase-in-outease-in-out###openEasing
The easing function to use when animating the opening of the menu. If set, this overrides the easing option.
stringlinear, ease, ease-in, ease-out, ase-in-outeasing###closeEasing
The easing function to use when animating the closing of the menu. If set, this overrides the easing option.
stringlinear, ease, ease-in, ease-out, ase-in-outeasing###before
Called before the menu is opened or closed, regardless of animation state.
functionfunction(){ }###beforeOpen
Called before the menu is opened, regardless of animation state.
functionfunction(){ }###beforeClose
Called before the menu is closed, regardless of animation state.
functionfunction(){ }###after
Called after the menu is opened or closed, regardless of animation state.
functionfunction(){ }###afterOpen
Called after the menu is opened, regardless of animation state.
functionfunction(){ }###afterClose
Called after the menu is closed, regardless of animation state.
functionfunction(){ }###beforeOn
Called before the plugin is turned on (when on( ) is called).
functionfunction(){ }###afterOn
Called after the plugin is turned on (when on( ) is called).
functionfunction(){ }###beforeOff
Called before the plugin is turned off (when off( ) is called).
functionfunction(){ }###afterOff
Called after the plugin is turned off (when off( ) is called).
functionfunction(){ }#API
The following are the methods and properties of the object returned by the jPanelMenu constructor function call. In the following example, these would be the methods and properties of jPM.
var jPM = $.jPanelMenu();
jPM.on();
jPM.trigger(true);
###on( )
Initializes a jPanelMenu instance. Sets up the markup, styles, listeners, and interactions, according to the options passed into the constructor function.
null###off( )
Destroys a jPanelMenu instance. Resets the markup and styles, removes listeners and interactions.
nullTriggers the opening or closing of the menu, depending on the current state (open or closed).
animated
true, and will not animate if set to false. If no value is set, the value of the animated option will be used.booleantrue or falsenullTriggers the opening of the menu.
animated
true, and will not animate if set to false. If no value is set, the value of the animated option will be used.booleantrue or falsenullTriggers the closing of the menu.
animated
true, and will not animate if set to false. If no value is set, the value of the animated option will be used.booleantrue or falsenull###isOpen( )
Checks the current state of the menu. Returns true if the menu is currently open, and false if it is closed.
boolean, true or false###menu
A property equal to the raw selector string of the created menu object.
string###getMenu( )
Returns a jQuery Object containing the created menu object.
jQuery Object###panel
A property equal to the raw selector string of the created panel object.
string###getPanel( )
Returns a jQuery Object containing the created panel object.
jQuery ObjectSets the measurement value for the open position of the menu. Can be set as a pixel, percentage, or em value.
position
string250px, 75%, 20emnull#Tips, Best Practices, and Other Good Ideas (with Examples)
jPanelMenu was built to be very open-ended and allow a lot of customization for each implementation. A lot of the customization of jPanelMenu implementations will start with the easy hooks provided by the plugin.
When jPanelMenu is turned on, the following elements are created (or classes applied, in the case of the <html> tag):
<html class="jPanelMenu">
<head>
...
</head>
<body>
<div id="jPanelMenu-menu" />
<div class="jPanelMenu-panel" />
</body>
</html>
Note: Content abbreviated for simplicity.
In addition, there are a few helpful things to know that will improve specific implementations, regardless of use case.
###Stylin’
There are no default graphical styles injected into your page by jPanelMenu, because, as a developer who loves complete control over my pages, there is nothing I dislike more than plugins which do that. Therefore, all graphical styling is up to you, and jPanelMenu makes it very easy.
When jPanelMenu is turned on, two <div> elements are created. The menu element (selector: #jPanelMenu-menu), and the panel element (selector: .jPanelMenu-panel). In addition, a class of jPanelMenu is applied to the <html> tag.
The background color of .jPanelMenu-panel is set by the plugin, and its value is inherited from the <body> element’s background-color.
If the <body> element’s background-color is not set, the <html> element’s background-color is used. If neither is set, the background-color is set to white.
Users without JavaScript (whether they have turned it off or are using a device without it) will obviously not get the interactions provided by jPanelMenu. It’s a good idea to take a “progressive enhancement” approach, and build your site to work without JavaScript and jPanelMenu.
A great way to do this is to use the hooks provided to you by jPanelMenu. When jPanelMenu is turned on, the class jPanelMenu is applied to the <html> tag (conversely, when jPanelMenu is turned off, this class is removed).
Build your site as you normally would, without JavaScript and without styles specific to JavaScript interactions or plugins. Restrict all jPanelMenu-specific styles and script actions to elements that are descendents of .jPanelMenu. Styles such as those which hide elements that are unnecessary with jPanelMenu enabled, or scripting actions specific to jPanelMenu functions, should use the .jPanelMenu selector to ensure that their effects only take hold when jPanelMenu is enabled.
That idea was used to create the demo/documentation page.
###jPanelMenu and jRespond — Perfect Together
I’m a huge fan of jRespond, which is “a simple way to globally manage JavaScript on responsive websites.”
jRespond and jPanelMenu are the perfect couple — use jRespond to enable and disable jPanelMenu at the appropriate breakpoints, creating a truly great experience. That’s how I almost always use jPanelMenu, and I suggest you give it a shot, too.
Responsive design is awesome on its own, but add responsive behavior to the mix, and you’ve made something incredible.
Check out the example of how to use jRespond with jPanelMenu, which includes a basic how-to, code snippets, and helpful tips.
jPanelMenu is distributed freely under the MIT License, so you’re free to use this plugin on any and all projects.
###1.4.1
November 11th, 2014
touchend listeners for better touch support.###1.4.0
November 11th, 2014
panel option.clone option.setPosition( ) API method..jPanelMenu-panel to be positioned statically..jPanelMenu-panel appropriately.<select> field.###1.3.0
February 4th, 2013
closeOnContentClick option.###1.2.0
February 3rd, 2013
###1.1.1
February 3rd, 2013
###1.1.0
December 7th, 2012
###1.0.0
November 4th, 2012
#Who Made This Wonderful Little Plugin?
jPanelMenu was created, and is maintained, by Anthony Colangelo.
You can find him (@acolangelo) on Twitter and Github.
Have a question about how jPanelMenu works that is not answered here? Have feedback for new features, options, or API functions that I should add? Anything else you want to talk about?
Talk to me on Twitter, where I am @acolangelo, and let’s talk!