If you’re a beginner in frontend development and still confuse which project to build, don’t worry. In this post we’ll learn how to create a bottom tab navigation using HTML, CSS, and JavaScript. It’s a simple, mobile-friendly design when you click an icon it becomes highlighted while the others turn gray.
I’ll use only a few lines of plain JavaScript so it’s easy to understand. No delays — let’s build a responsive bottom tab navigation step by step without any unnecessary stuff.
Learn the structure of the files
- Create an index.html file and add the main tab navigation structure inside it.
- Make a style.css file where you will design all your navigation tabs.
- Create an index.js file and write a small function that highlights the icon when you click it.
To add icons, use Remix Icons. Pick any icon you like and add the CDN link inside the <head> tag.
<link rel="stylesheet" href="https://cdnjs.cloudflare.com/ajax/libs/remixicon/4.6.0/remixicon.css" integrity="sha512-kJlvECunwXftkPwyvHbclArO8wszgBGisiLeuDFwNM8ws+wKIw0sv1os3ClWZOcrEB2eRXULYUsm8OVRGJKwGA==" crossorigin="anonymous" referrerpolicy="no-referrer" />
HTML Structure
<!DOCTYPE html>
<html lang="en">
<head>
<meta charset="UTF-8">
<meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1.0">
<title>Bottom Tab Navigation using HTML, CSS and JavaScript</title>
<link href="https://fonts.googleapis.com/css2?family=Poppins:ital,wght@0,100;0,200;0,300;0,400;0,500;0,600;0,700;0,800;0,900;1,100;1,200;1,300;1,400;1,500;1,600;1,700;1,800;1,900&display=swap" rel="stylesheet">
<link rel="stylesheet" href="https://cdnjs.cloudflare.com/ajax/libs/remixicon/4.6.0/remixicon.css"/>
<link rel="stylesheet" href="style.css">
</head>
<body>
<div class="navigation">
<ul>
<li class="list active">
<a href="#">
<span class="icon">
<i class="ri-home-9-line"></i>
</span>
<span class="text">Home</span>
</a>
</li>
<li class="list">
<a href="#">
<span class="icon">
<i class="ri-search-line"></i>
</span>
<span class="text">Search</span>
</a>
</li>
<li class="list">
<a href="#">
<span class="icon">
<i class="ri-notification-3-line"></i>
</span>
<span class="text">Informe</span>
</a>
</li>
<li class="list">
<a href="#">
<span class="icon">
<i class="ri-settings-5-line"></i>
</span>
<span class="text">Setting</span>
</a>
</li>
<li class="list">
<a href="#">
<span class="icon">
<i class="ri-user-6-line"></i>
</span>
<span class="text">User</span>
</a>
</li>
<div class="indicator"></div>
</ul>
</div>
<script src="index.js"></script>
</body>
</html>
CSS Structure
*{
margin: 0;
padding: 0;
box-sizing: border-box;
font-family: "Poppins", sans-serif;
}
body{
min-height: 100vh;
width: 100%;
background: #101010;
display: flex;
justify-content: center;
align-items: center;
}
.navigation{
width: 450px;
height: 80px;
position: relative;
border-radius: 5px;
background: #e4e5e7;
display: flex;
justify-content: center;
}
.navigation ul{
position: relative;
display: flex;
width: 400px;
}
.navigation ul li{
position: relative;
list-style: none;
width: 80px;
height: 80px;
}
.navigation ul li a{
position: relative;
display: flex;
flex-direction: column;
justify-content: center;
align-items: center;
width: 100%;
text-align: center;
font-weight: 500;
text-decoration: none;
}
.navigation ul li a .icon{
position: relative;
display: block;
line-height: 85px;
font-size: 1.5em;
transition: 0.3s;
text-align: center;
color: #5f5f5f;
}
.navigation ul li a:hover .icon{
color: #101010;
}
.navigation ul li.active a .icon{
color: #0d5aff;
transform: translateY(-8px);
}
.navigation ul li a .text{
position: absolute;
font-weight: 600;
color: #fff;
font-size: 0.6em;
text-transform: uppercase;
transform: translateY(0);
letter-spacing: 0.05em;
opacity: 0 ;
}
.navigation ul li.active a .text{
opacity: 1;
transform: translateY(16px);
z-index: 10;
}
.indicator{
position: absolute;
width: 80px;
height: 80px;
display: flex;
justify-content: center;
align-items: center;
cursor: pointer;
transition: 0.5s;
}
.indicator::before{
content: '';
position: absolute;
bottom: 14px;
width: 80%;
height: 16px;
background: #0d5aff;
border-radius: 5px;
}
.navigation ul li:nth-child(2).active ~ .indicator{
transform: translateX(calc(80px * 1));
}
.navigation ul li:nth-child(3).active ~ .indicator{
transform: translateX(calc(80px * 2));
}
.navigation ul li:nth-child(4).active ~ .indicator{
transform: translateX(calc(80px * 3));
}
.navigation ul li:nth-child(5).active ~ .indicator{
transform: translateX(calc(80px * 4));
}
JavaScript Structure
let list = document.querySelectorAll(".list")
function activeLink(){
list.forEach((item) =>
item.classList.remove('active'));
this.classList.add('active');
}
list.forEach((item) => item.addEventListener('click', activeLink));