Angular Bootstrap Dropdowns
Angular dropdowns - Bootstrap 4 & Material Design
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version is available for Bootstrap 5. We recommend migrating to the latest version of our
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Material Design for Bootstrap 5.
Go to docs v.5
Toggle contextual overlays for displaying lists of links and more with the Angular Bootstrap dropdown.
Overview
Dropdowns are toggleable, contextual overlays for displaying lists of links and more. They’re made interactive with the included Bootstrap dropdown JavaScript plugin. They’re toggled by clicking, not by hovering; this is an intentional design decision.
In case of more complicated navigations systems dropdowns are the essential elements providing you with possibility of placing all the most relevant links in our navigation bar (or other component acting as navigation - such as SideNav)
Aside from being not only highly functional, MDB dropdowns are also extraordinary visually attractive. It gives them this characteristic Material Design effects, like shadows, living colors or charming waves effect after opening a link.
They’re toggled by clicking, not by hovering; this is an intentional design decision. Why?
MDB is "mobile first" framework so, we avoid mixing functional elements and interaction by hovering because it decreases User Experience of users of mobile devices.
Google Material Design guidelines recommend the same approach.
Accessibility
The
WAI
ARIA
standard defines an actual
role="menu" widget, but this is specific to application-like menus which trigger actions or functions.
ARIA menus can only contain menu
items, checkbox menu items, radio button menu items, radio button groups, and sub-menus.
Bootstrap’s dropdowns, on the other hand, are designed to be generic and applicable to a variety
of situations and markup structures. For instance, it is possible to create dropdowns that
contain additional inputs and form controls, such as search fields or login forms. For this
reason, Bootstrap does not expect (nor automatically add) any of the role and
aria- attributes required for true
ARIA menus. Authors will have to
include these more specific attributes themselves.
However, Bootstrap does add built-in support for most standard keyboard menu interactions, such
as the ability to move through individual .dropdown-item elements using the cursor
keys and close the menu with the ESC key.
Examples
You can wrap the dropdown’s toggle (your button or link) and the dropdown menu within
<button> elements to better fit your potential needs.
Single button
Any single button can be turned into a dropdown toggle with some markup changes. Here’s how you
can put them to work with either button element:
Default dropdown
Default styling for the Bootstrap Dropdown component
<div class="btn-group" mdbDropdown>
<button
mdbDropdownToggle
type="button"
mdbBtn
color="primary"
class="dropdown-toggle waves-light"
mdbWavesEffect
>
Basic dropdown
</button>
<div class="dropdown-menu dropdown-primary">
<a class="dropdown-item" href="#">Action</a>
<a class="dropdown-item" href="#">Another action</a>
<a class="dropdown-item" href="#">Something else here</a>
<div class="divider dropdown-divider"></div>
<a class="dropdown-item" href="#">Separated link</a>
</div>
</div>
Material dropdown MDB Pro component
The Material Design styling for Angular Bootstrap Dropdown component
<div class="dropdown" mdbDropdown>
<button
mdbDropdownToggle
mdbBtn
color="primary"
class="dropdown-toggle waves-light"
type="button"
mdbWavesEffect
>
Dropdown primary
</button>
<div class="dropdown-menu dropdown-primary">
<a class="dropdown-item" href="#">Action</a>
<a class="dropdown-item" href="#">Another action</a>
<a class="dropdown-item" href="#">Something else here</a>
<a class="dropdown-item" href="#">Something else here</a>
</div>
</div>
Default dropdown with a element
Default styling for the Bootstrap Dropdown component with a element
<div class="btn-group" mdbDropdown>
<a
mdbDropdownToggle
type="button"
mdbBtn
color="primary"
class="dropdown-toggle waves-light"
mdbWavesEffect
>
Basic dropdown
</a>
<div class="dropdown-menu dropdown-primary">
<a class="dropdown-item" href="#">Action</a>
<a class="dropdown-item" href="#">Another action</a>
<a class="dropdown-item" href="#">Something else here</a>
<div class="divider dropdown-divider"></div>
<a class="dropdown-item" href="#">Separated link</a>
</div>
</div>
Material dropdown with a element
MDB Pro component
The Material Design styling for Bootstrap Dropdown component with a element
<div class="dropdown" mdbDropdown>
<a
mdbDropdownToggle
mdbBtn
color="primary"
class="dropdown-toggle waves-light"
type="button"
mdbWavesEffect
>
Dropdown primary
</a>
<div class="dropdown-menu dropdown-primary">
<a class="dropdown-item" href="#">Action</a>
<a class="dropdown-item" href="#">Another action</a>
<a class="dropdown-item" href="#">Something else here</a>
<a class="dropdown-item" href="#">Something else here</a>
</div>
</div>
Split button
Similarly, create split button dropdowns with virtually the same markup as single button
dropdowns, but with the addition of .dropdown-toggle-split for proper spacing
around the dropdown caret.
We use this extra class to reduce the horizontal padding on either side of the
caret by 25% and remove the margin-left that’s added for regular button dropdowns.
Those extra changes keep the caret centered in the split button and provide a more appropriately
sized hit area next to the main button.
<div class="btn-group" mdbDropdown>
<button type="button" mdbBtn color="danger" class="waves-light" mdbWavesEffect>Action</button>
<button
type="button"
mdbDropdownToggle
mdbBtn
color="danger"
class="dropdown-toggle dropdown-toggle-split px-3 waves-light"
mdbWavesEffect
></button>
<div class="dropdown-menu">
<a class="dropdown-item" href="#">Action</a>
<a class="dropdown-item" href="#">Another action</a>
<a class="dropdown-item" href="#">Something else here</a>
<div class="dropdown-divider"></div>
<a class="dropdown-item" href="#">Separated link</a>
</div>
</div>
Material dropdowns MDB Pro component
<div class="dropdown" mdbDropdown>
<button mdbDropdownToggle mdbBtn color="primary" class="dropdown-toggle waves-light" type="button" mdbWavesEffect>
Dropdown primary
</button>
<div class="dropdown-menu dropdown-primary">
<a class="dropdown-item" href="#">Action</a>
<a class="dropdown-item" href="#">Another action</a>
<a class="dropdown-item" href="#">Something else here</a>
<a class="dropdown-item" href="#">Something else here</a>
</div>
</div>
Sizing
Button dropdowns work with buttons of all sizes
<div class="btn-group" mdbDropdown>
<button mdbDropdownToggle mdbBtn color="danger" size="lg" class="dropdown-toggle waves-light" type="button" mdbWavesEffect>
Large button
</button>
<div class="dropdown-menu">
<a class="dropdown-item" href="#">Action</a>
<a class="dropdown-item" href="#">Another action</a>
<a class="dropdown-item" href="#">Something else here</a>
<div class="dropdown-divider"></div>
<a class="dropdown-item" href="#">Separated link</a>
</div>
</div>
<div class="btn-group" mdbDropdown>
<button mdbDropdownToggle mdbBtn color="danger" size="sm" class="dropdown-toggle waves-light" type="button" mdbWavesEffect>
Small button
</button>
<div class="dropdown-menu">
<a class="dropdown-item" href="#">Action</a>
<a class="dropdown-item" href="#">Another action</a>
<a class="dropdown-item" href="#">Something else here</a>
<div class="dropdown-divider"></div>
<a class="dropdown-item" href="#">Separated link</a>
</div>
</div>
Dropup variation
Trigger dropdown menus above elements by adding [dropup]="true" to the parent.
<div class="btn-group" mdbDropdown [dropup]="true">
<button type="button" mdbBtn color="primary" class="waves-light" mdbWavesEffect>Dropup</button>
<button
type="button"
mdbBtn
color="primary"
mdbDropdownToggle
class="dropdown-toggle dropdown-toggle-split px-3 waves-light"
mdbWavesEffect
></button>
<div class="dropdown-menu">
<a class="dropdown-item" href="#">Action</a>
<a class="dropdown-item" href="#">Another action</a>
<a class="dropdown-item" href="#">Something else here</a>
<div class="dropdown-divider"></div>
<a class="dropdown-item" href="#">Separated link</a>
</div>
</div>
Active menu items
Add .active to items in the dropdown to style them as active.
<div class="dropdown" mdbDropdown>
<button mdbDropdownToggle type="button" mdbBtn color="primary" class="dropdown-toggle waves-light" mdbWavesEffect>
Dropdown
</button>
<div class="dropdown-menu">
<a class="dropdown-item" href="#">Action</a>
<a class="dropdown-item active" href="#">Another action</a>
<a class="dropdown-item" href="#">Something else here</a>
</div>
</div>
Disabled menu items
Add .disabled to items in the dropdown to style them as disabled.
<div class="dropdown" mdbDropdown>
<button mdbDropdownToggle type="button" mdbBtn color="primary" class="dropdown-toggle waves-light" mdbWavesEffect>
Dropdown
</button>
<div class="dropdown-menu">
<a class="dropdown-item" href="#">Regular link</a>
<a class="dropdown-item disabled" href="#">Disabled link</a>
<a class="dropdown-item" href="#">Another link</a>
</div>
</div>
Various dropdown elements
Use dropdown as various elements like badge, icon, avatar.
New
<div class="row">
<div class="col-md-6 mx-auto">
<h4 class="text-center">Various dropdown elements</h4>
</div>
<div class="col-md-12 mx-auto mb-5 d-flex justify-content-center align-items-center flex-wrap">
<div class="btn-group mx-4" mdbDropdown>
<mdb-icon fas icon="user" classInside="dropdown-toggle" mdbDropdownToggle class="waves-effect" mdbWavesEffect></mdb-icon>
<div class="dropdown-menu dropdown-primary">
<a class="dropdown-item" href="#">Action</a>
<a class="dropdown-item" href="#">Another action</a>
<a class="dropdown-item" href="#">Something else here</a>
<div class="divider dropdown-divider"></div>
<a class="dropdown-item" href="#">Separated link</a>
</div>
</div>
<div class="btn-group" mdbDropdown>
<a mdbDropdownToggle mdbWavesEffect type="button" class="dropdown-toggle waves-light" mdbWavesEffect style="height: auto; width: 30px">
<img src="https://mdbootstrap.com/img/Photos/Avatars/avatar-2.webp" alt="" class="img-fluid rounded-circle z-depth-0">
</a>
<div class="dropdown-menu dropdown-primary">
<a class="dropdown-item" href="#">Action</a>
<a class="dropdown-item" href="#">Another action</a>
<a class="dropdown-item" href="#">Something else here</a>
<div class="divider dropdown-divider"></div>
<a class="dropdown-item" href="#">Separated link</a>
</div>
</div>
<div class="btn-group mx-4" mdbDropdown>
<mdb-badge color="red" mdbDropdownToggle classInside="dropdown-toggle" class="waves-effect" mdbWavesEffect>
New
</mdb-badge>
<div class="dropdown-menu dropdown-primary">
<a class="dropdown-item" href="#">Action</a>
<a class="dropdown-item" href="#">Another action</a>
<a class="dropdown-item" href="#">Something else here</a>
<div class="divider dropdown-divider"></div>
<a class="dropdown-item" href="#">Separated link</a>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
Angular Dropdown - API
In this section you will find informations about dropdown and its required modules and available inputs, outputs, methods and events.
Modules used
In order to speed up your application, you can choose to import only the modules you actually need, instead of importing the entire MDB Angular library. Remember that importing the entire library, and immediately afterwards a specific module, is bad practice, and can cause application errors.
import { ButtonsModule, WavesModule, DropdownModule.forRoot() } from 'ng-uikit-pro-standard'
import { ButtonsModule, WavesModule, DropdownModule.forRoot() } from 'angular-bootstrap-md'
Inputs
BsDropdownDirective
| Name | Type | Default | Description | Example |
|---|---|---|---|---|
autoClose |
boolean | false | Indicates that dropdown will be closed on item or document click, and after pressing ESC. | autoClose="true" |
dropup |
boolean | false | This attribute indicates that the dropdown should be opened upwards. | dropup="true" |
dropupDefault |
boolean | false | Gives the default dropup styles | dropupDefault="true" |
dynamicPosition |
boolean | false | Opens the component automatically at the top when there is not enough space underneath | dynamicPosition="true" |
isDisabled |
boolean | false | Disables dropdown toggle and hides dropdown menu if opened | isDisabled="true" |
isOpen |
boolean | false | Returns whether or not the popover is currently being shown | isOpen="true" |
placement |
string | ' ' | Placement of a popover. Accepts: "top", "bottom", "left", "right". Also .dropdown-menu-right
is needed for .dropdown-menu div |
placement="right" |
triggers |
string | ' ' | Specifies events that should trigger. Supports a space separated list of event names | triggers="mousedown click" |
Outputs
| Name | Type | Description | Example |
|---|---|---|---|
isOpenChange |
EventEmitter<any> | Emits an event when isOpen change | (isOpenChange)="isOpenChange()" |
hidden |
EventEmitter<any> | Emits an event when the popover is hidden | (hidden)="onHidden()" |
shown |
EventEmitter<any> | Emits an event when the popover is shown | (shown)="onShown()" |
Methods
To your mdbDropdown element add #dropdown='bs-dropdown'. And to the trigger add below mentioned options.
| Name | Description | Example |
|---|---|---|
show |
Opens an element’s popover. This is considered a “manual” triggering of the popover | (event)="name.show()" |
hide |
Closes an element’s popover. This is considered a “manual” triggering of the popover | (event)="name.hide()" |
toggle |
Toggles an element’s popover. This is considered a “manual” triggering of the popover | (event)="name.toggle(value: boolean)()" |