Project: Responsive Navigation Bar

📚 Lesson 18 of 30  •  ⏱ 20 min read  •  Project

Build a real sticky navigation bar from scratch — desktop horizontal layout, mobile hamburger menu, and smooth transitions. This combines everything from positioning, flexbox, media queries, and pseudo-classes.

HTML Structure

HTML
<header class="navbar">
  <div class="nav-container">
    <a href="/" class="nav-logo">MySite</a>

    <button class="nav-toggle" aria-label="Toggle menu">
      <span></span>
      <span></span>
      <span></span>
    </button>

    <nav class="nav-links">
      <a href="/">Home</a>
      <a href="/courses">Courses</a>
      <a href="/blog">Blog</a>
      <a href="/contact" class="nav-cta">Get Started</a>
    </nav>
  </div>
</header>

CSS — Desktop First

CSS
.navbar {
  position: sticky;
  top: 0;
  z-index: 100;
  background: #fff;
  border-bottom: 1px solid #eee;
  box-shadow: 0 2px 8px rgba(0,0,0,0.08);
}

.nav-container {
  max-width: 1200px;
  margin: 0 auto;
  padding: 0 1.5rem;
  display: flex;
  align-items: center;
  justify-content: space-between;
  height: 64px;
}

.nav-logo {
  font-size: 1.25rem;
  font-weight: 700;
  color: #6c63ff;
  text-decoration: none;
}

.nav-links {
  display: flex;
  gap: 0.25rem;
  align-items: center;
}

.nav-links a {
  padding: 0.5rem 0.875rem;
  border-radius: 6px;
  color: #444;
  text-decoration: none;
  font-size: 0.95rem;
  transition: background 0.2s, color 0.2s;
}

.nav-links a:hover {
  background: #f0eeff;
  color: #6c63ff;
}

.nav-cta {
  background: #6c63ff !important;
  color: white !important;
  font-weight: 600;
}
.nav-cta:hover { background: #5a52d5 !important; }

.nav-toggle { display: none; } /* hidden on desktop */

CSS — Mobile Menu

CSS
@media (max-width: 768px) {
  .nav-toggle {
    display: flex;
    flex-direction: column;
    gap: 5px;
    background: none;
    border: none;
    cursor: pointer;
    padding: 4px;
  }

  .nav-toggle span {
    display: block;
    width: 24px; height: 2px;
    background: #333;
    transition: transform 0.3s;
  }

  .nav-links {
    position: absolute;
    top: 64px; left: 0; right: 0;
    background: white;
    flex-direction: column;
    padding: 1rem;
    border-bottom: 1px solid #eee;
    display: none;  /* hidden by default */
  }

  .nav-links.open { display: flex; }

  .nav-links a { width: 100%; text-align: center; }
}

JavaScript — Toggle Menu

JavaScript
const toggle = document.querySelector('.nav-toggle');
const links  = document.querySelector('.nav-links');

toggle.addEventListener('click', () => {
  links.classList.toggle('open');
});

// Close menu when a link is clicked
links.querySelectorAll('a').forEach(link => {
  link.addEventListener('click', () => links.classList.remove('open'));
});