Sticky navigation bar design

A sticky navigation bar stays visible at the top of the page even when the user scrolls down. This type of navigation is useful for providing easy access to important links without having to scroll back to the top of the page. In Power Pages (formerly Power Apps Portals), you can implement a sticky navigation bar using HTML, CSS, and JavaScript.

This guide walks you through the steps to design a sticky navigation bar for your Power Pages site.

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Step 1: Basic HTML Structure for the Navigation Bar

First, create the HTML structure for your navigation bar. You can place this code within the Web Template for your header or main layout.

Example HTML for the navigation bar:

<nav class="sticky-navbar">
  <div class="container">
    <ul class="nav-list">
      <li><a href="/home">Home</a></li>
      <li><a href="/about">About</a></li>
      <li><a href="/services">Services</a></li>
      <li><a href="/contact">Contact</a></li>
    </ul>
  </div>
</nav>

Explanation:

• <nav>: Defines the navigation bar.
• <ul>: Contains the navigation links.
• <li>: Each list item represents a menu option.

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Step 2: Add Basic CSS for Styling

Next, style the navigation bar. To make it sticky, we will use CSS to fix the position of the navigation bar at the top of the page.

Example CSS:

/* Basic styling for the sticky navigation bar */
.sticky-navbar {
  background-color: #333;
  color: white;
  padding: 10px 0;
  position: fixed;
  top: 0;
  left: 0;
  width: 100%;
  z-index: 9999;
  box-shadow: 0 4px 2px -2px gray; /* Optional: Adds shadow effect */
}

/* Container to center the content */
.sticky-navbar .container {
  max-width: 1200px;
  margin: 0 auto;
  padding: 0 20px;
}

/* Styling for the navigation list */
.sticky-navbar .nav-list {
  list-style: none;
  display: flex;
  justify-content: space-around;
  margin: 0;
  padding: 0;
}

/* Styling for individual navigation items */
.sticky-navbar .nav-list li {
  display: inline;
}

/* Styling for the links */
.sticky-navbar .nav-list li a {
  color: white;
  text-decoration: none;
  padding: 10px 20px;
  font-size: 16px;
}

/* Hover effect for links */
.sticky-navbar .nav-list li a:hover {
  background-color: #575757;
  border-radius: 4px;
}

Explanation of the CSS:

• Positioning: The position: fixed; ensures the navigation bar stays fixed at the top of the page even when scrolling.
• Box Shadow: Adds a subtle shadow to the navigation bar for a more polished look.
• Styling Links: The navigation links are styled with white text and a hover effect to make them interactive.
• Responsive Layout: You can customize the layout further to ensure the navigation bar looks good on all devices.

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Step 3: Handle Page Content with Sticky Navigation

Since the navigation bar is fixed at the top, it can overlap the content beneath it. To prevent this, you need to add a top margin to the content area, ensuring it doesn’t get hidden behind the navbar.

Example CSS to create space below the sticky navbar:

body {
  margin-top: 60px; /* Adjust based on the height of your navbar */
}

This will create enough space below the navigation bar for the content to be displayed properly.

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Step 4: Add Optional JavaScript for Dynamic Effects

You can enhance the sticky navbar with some dynamic effects, such as adding a “shrink” effect when the user scrolls down, making the navigation bar smaller and less intrusive.

Example JavaScript for shrink effect:

<script>
  window.onscroll = function() {shrinkNavbar()};

  var navbar = document.querySelector(".sticky-navbar");

  function shrinkNavbar() {
    if (window.scrollY > 50) {
      navbar.style.padding = "5px 0"; /* Reduces the navbar padding when scrolling down */
    } else {
      navbar.style.padding = "10px 0"; /* Restores original padding when at the top */
    }
  }
</script>

Explanation of the JavaScript:

• onscroll Event: The function is triggered every time the user scrolls.
• window.scrollY: This property gives the number of pixels the document is currently scrolled vertically.
• When the scroll position exceeds 50px, the padding of the navigation bar is reduced, creating a “shrinking” effect.

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Step 5: Test the Sticky Navigation Bar

1. Implement the HTML, CSS, and JavaScript code into your Power Pages web template or content.
2. Load the page in a browser and scroll to ensure that the navigation bar stays fixed at the top of the page.
3. Verify the “shrink” effect (if applied) and ensure that the page content is not hidden behind the navbar.

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Step 6: Mobile Responsiveness

To ensure that your sticky navigation bar works well on mobile devices, use media queries to adjust its layout.

For example:

@media (max-width: 768px) {
  .sticky-navbar .nav-list {
    flex-direction: column;
    align-items: center;
  }
  .sticky-navbar .nav-list li {
    margin: 5px 0;
  }
}

Explanation:

• Flex Direction: On smaller screens (less than 768px), the menu items are stacked vertically instead of horizontally.
• Alignment: The menu items are centered for better presentation on mobile devices.

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Step 7: Optional Enhancements

• Dropdown Menus: If you want to add dropdowns to your sticky navbar, you can use CSS or JavaScript to toggle the visibility of submenus.
• Animation Effects: Add smooth animations to the navbar when it shrinks or when hovering over links.

Example CSS for dropdown effect:

.sticky-navbar .nav-list li:hover .dropdown {
  display: block;
}

This would display a dropdown menu when hovering over a menu item.