Nav Equalizer Demo

index.html

<div class="container">
  <h1>Nav Equalizer Demo</h1>
  <hr>
  <p>The below navigation will automatically size itself according to the length/content of the links added to it. The demo below demonstrates the effect when using variable amounts of links and/or variable link text length.</p>
  <p>The trick is to use a display table/table-cell properties on the menu and it's list items respectively. This insures that the browser handles the menu items correctly and doesn't rely on awkward margin-calulations, especially with variable amounts of menu items.</p>
  
  <p>Go ahead and try adding/removing menu items to see the effect. You can also adjust your browser window to see how it performs in a responsive scenario or with variable browser widths.</p>
  
  <div class="notice"></div>
  
  <p class="message text-center add-bottom"></p>
  <p class="alert text-center" style="display:none;"></p>
  <nav role="navigation">
    <ul class="flex-menu">
      <li><a href="#">Link 1 Text is Long</a></li>
      <li><a href="#">Link 2 Text Is longer</a></li>
      <li><a href="#">Link 3</a></li>
      <li><a href="#">Link 4</a></li>
      <li><a href="#">Link 5 Is the longest yet</a></li>
      <li><a href="#">Link 6</a></li>
    </ul>
  </nav>
 
  
<div class="text-center add-bottom">
  <label for="link_label"><input type="text" id="link_label" value="Another Link"></label> 
  <button class="add btn">Add Menu Item</button>
</div>
<div class="border-top text-center add-bottom">
  <button class="remove btn">Remove Last Menu Item</button> <button class="reset btn">Reset Demo</button>
</div>
<div class="add-bottom text-center">Note: Container width = 90% max viewport width</div>
</div><!--end container-->


<div class="author text-center">Made by <a href="https://twitter.com/iansvo" target="_blank">@iansvo</a></div>

Nav-Equalizer-Demo.markdown

Nav Equalizer Demo

The below navigation will automatically size itself according to the length/content of the links added to it. The demo below demonstrates the effect when using variable amounts of links and/or variable link text length.

The trick is to use a display table/table-cell properties on the menu and it's list items respectively. This insures that the browser handles the menu items correctly and doesn't rely on awkward margin-calulations, especially with variable amounts of menu items.

Go ahead and try adding/removing menu items to see the effect. You can also adjust your browser window to see how it performs in a responsive scenario or with variable browser widths.

A Pen by Ian Svoboda on CodePen.

License.

script.js

// Setup variables
var $menuList,
    $menuListItems,
    $menuListItemAnchors,
    menuListWidth,
    menuListItemsWidth,
    menuListItemCount,
    container_width,
    defaultDemo,
    linkText;

//Sets Variable Values
$menuList = $('.flex-menu');
$menuListItems = $('.flex-menu > li');
$menuListItemAnchors = $('.flex-menu li a');

function navEqualizer() {
  
  $menuList = $('.flex-menu');
  $menuListItems = $('.flex-menu > li');
  $menuListItemAnchors = $('.flex-menu li a');
  menuListWidth = $menuList.width();
  menuListItemCount = $menuListItems.length;
  menuListItemsWidth = menuListWidth / menuListItemCount;

    // Actions
    if( $(window).width() >= 768 ) 
    {
        $menuListItems.css('width', menuListItemsWidth)
        $('.container .message').html('The list items are approx. ' + Math.round(menuListItemsWidth) + 'px wide.')
        if(menuListItemsWidth < 100) {
          $('.alert').show().html('At this point you may be trying to fit too many list items. Try using fewer list items for best results.')
        }
        if(menuListItemsWidth >= 100) {
         	  $('.alert').hide();
        }
        
    }
    if( $(window).width() < 768 ) {
        $menuListItems.css('width', '100%');
        menuListItemsWidth = $menuListItems.width();
        $('.container p').html('The list items are the width of the container.')
    }
} // end function

function demoFunctions() {
  $('.reset.btn').click(function() {
    $menuList.html(defaultDemo);
    navEqualizer();
  })
  $('.add.btn').click(function() {
    linkText = $('#link_label').val();
    $menuList.append('<li><a href=#">'+linkText+'</a></li>');
    navEqualizer();
	  })
  $('#link_label').keypress(function(event) {
    var keycode = (event.keyCode ? event.keyCode : event.which);
    if(keycode == '13') {
      linkText = $('#link_label').val();
      $menuList.append('<li><a href=#">'+linkText+'</a></li>');
      navEqualizer();
    }
});
  $('.remove.btn').click(function() {
    $('.flex-menu > li:last').remove();
    navEqualizer();
  });
}

function containerWidth() {
    container_width = $('.container').width();
    $('.notice').html('The container is ' + container_width + 'px wide.' );
}

// call on resize
$(window).resize(function() {
    containerWidth();
    $('.notice').html('The container is ' + container_width + 'px wide.' );
    navEqualizer();
});

// Doc Ready
$(function() {
	    containerWidth()
    navEqualizer();
				    defaultDemo = $menuList.html();
  	  demoFunctions();
});







	  

style.css

/* Adds Open Sans Font */
@import url(http://fonts.googleapis.com/css?family=Open+Sans);


/* Basic Demo Page Styles */
html {height: 100%;}
body {
  background: #3498DB;
  font-size: 16px;
  line-height: 20px;
  color: #FFFFFF;
  font-family: 'Open Sans', sans-serif;
  height: 100%;
}
.container {
  max-width: 1200px;
  width: 90%;
  margin: 0 auto;
  margin-top: 10%;
  background: none;
  padding-bottom: 20px;
}

nav {margin: 40px 0}
.notice {
  font-size: 2em;
  color: #FFFFFF;
  line-height: 30px;
  background: none;
  text-align: center;
  margin: 40px 0;
}
.alert {
  font-weight: bold;
  color: #000;
  padding: 1em;
  line-height: 20px;
  font-size: 14px;
}


/* Controls Styling */
.btn {
  padding: 10px; 
  cursor: pointer; 
  background: none; 
  text-transform: uppercase;
  border: 1px solid #FFF;
  color: #FFF;
  font-weight: bold;
}
.add.btn {
  width: 150px; 
  margin-left: 10px;
}
.reset.btn {
  width: 150px; 
  margin-left: 10px;
}
.border-top {
  border-top: 1px solid #DEDEDE; 
  padding-top: 20px;
}
.remove.btn {width: 225px;}
input {width: 205px; padding: 12px 10px;}

.author {margin: 60px auto 20px;}
.author a {color: #FFF;}
.author a:hover {color: #E3263A;}


/* Menu Styles */
.flex-menu {
  list-style: none;
  padding: 0;
  margin: 0;
  width: 100%;
  max-width: 100%;
}


/* Solid fallback styling to insure mostly equal separation even without javascript*/
@media (min-width: 768px) {
  .flex-menu {  display: table;} 
  .flex-menu li {
    display: table-cell;
  }
}


/* Menu Look-n-Feel */
.flex-menu li {
  background:  #E3263A;
  color: #EFEFEf;
  border-right: 1px solid #DEDEDE;
  vertical-align: middle;
  text-align: center;
}
.flex-menu li:hover {background: #2c3e50;}
.flex-menu li:last-child {border-right: none;}
.flex-menu li a {
  padding: 20px 5px;
  display: block;
  text-align: center;
  color: inherit;
  text-transform: uppercase;
  text-decoration: none;
}
.flex-menu li:hover a {color: #E3263A;}


/* Helper Classes */
.text-center {text-align: center;}
.add-bottom {margin-bottom: 20px;}