Crafting the Perfect Shopify Dropdown Menu: A Simple Guide for the Dawn Theme

Ah, the delightful conundrum of online shopping — we're on Emil’s Shopify store, pondering over how best to navigate our way through an array of "Beard Care" products. Each beard-positive click should transport us magically to a realm of oils, brushes, and shampoos. But wait — life throws us a curveball. Instead of a portal, we get... a dropdown menu. This is exactly where magic fizzles out because once that list descends, the adventure halts. Today we are here to revamp that experience, merging hover with click, in glorious harmony. It's just a sprinkle of code away.

Moving Parts in Harmony: The Hover vs. Click Saga

To set the scene: imagine our predicament — we're standing at the crossroads of hover and click, or in Emil's case, the classic dilemma between what appears and where it leads. So here we go, splitting atoms and weaving code to ensure that when we circle the "Beard Care," the dropdown does its obliging bow. A click, however, should whisk us to a grander page where every facet of beard perfection stands tall and proud.

For our intrepid coders, let's break it down on what needs to be done in Emil's Dawn theme.

Step One: The Magic Begins in HTML and Liquid

First, sneak into your Shopify admin> Online Store > Themes > Actions > Edit Code. Here, we must paint our canvas with clever strokes of HTML and Liquid lines.

Within your header.liquid file, locate the section responsible for the navigation menu - it will most likely be wrapped in a nav tag with some lists. Here is an example for structure:

<ul class="main-menu">
  <li class="menu-item">
    <a href="/collections/beard-care" class="menu-link">Beard Care</a>
    <ul class="dropdown">
      <li><a href="/collections/beard-care/beard-oil">Beard Oil</a></li>
      <li><a href="/collections/beard-care/beard-brush">Beard Brush</a></li>
      <li><a href="/collections/beard-care/beard-shampoo">Beard Shampoo</a></li>
    </ul>
  </li>
</ul>

Behold, the drama unfolds as we reveal the true link hidden beneath.

Step Two: The CSS Charade

Now we fashion our cloak for the dropdown in subtle strokes. Open your base.css file (or stylesheet of your choice) because it’s a costume party.

.dropdown {
  display: none;
  position: absolute;
  background-color: #f9f9f9;
  box-shadow: 0px 8px 16px 0px rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.2);
  z-index: 1;
}

.menu-item:hover .dropdown {
  display: block;
}

It’s about playing peekaboo — no dropdown until enticed by hovering over its parent, maintaining elegant discretion until the right moment.

Step Three: The JavaScript Trickery

And here’s the swerve — we can't let the click action get overridden. To balance this magical act, we’ll employ a little Javacript illusion. Navigate to theme.js or your specialized script file.

document.querySelectorAll('.menu-item > .menu-link').forEach((link) => {
  link.addEventListener('click', function (e) {
    e.stopPropagation() // Prevents dropdown toggle on click
  })
})

Simple yet powerful, this script nullifies the dropdown's wishes and secures our voyage to the intended page when clicking.

Closing the Curtain

As we meander back to Emil and his beard-bound quest, a new dawn rises with a fully functional dropdown menu where hover reveals and click embarks on the intended journey. Yes, Shopify customization might sometimes feel like taming a rogue lion with only a coiled rope and a whisper. But, with the collision of savvy structs and stylish design, harmony can be restored.

Near the hearth of our coding journey, we’re reminded that every tweak, every line, brings us a little closer to a world perfectly tailored to our — and Emil’s — commercial quandaries. Here's to easier navigation, fulfilling shopping experiences, and keeping those beards primed and flourishing.

Until the next untangled thread, code well and may your stores be ever prosperous.