DropdownMenu

The DropdownMenu displays a list of actions (each contained in a MenuItem, MenuItemsChoice, or MenuGroup) in a compact way. It appears in a Popover after the user has interacted with an element (a button or icon) or when they perform a specific action.

Anatomy

1. Popover: a container component in which the DropdownMenu is wrapped.
2. Parent button: the icon or button that is used to toggle the display of the Popover containing the DropdownMenu.
3. MenuItem: the list items within the DropdownMenu.

Design guidelines

Usage

When to use a DropdownMenu

Use a DropdownMenu when you want users to:

• Choose an action or change a setting from a list, AND
• Only see the available choices contextually.

If you need to display all the available options at all times, consider using a Toolbar instead.

Do
Use a DropdownMenu to display a list of actions after the user interacts with an icon.

Don’t
Don’t use a DropdownMenu for frequently used actions. Use a Toolbar instead.

Behavior

Generally, the parent button should have a triangular icon to the right of the icon or text to indicate that interacting with it will show a DropdownMenu. In rare cases where the parent button directly indicates that there’ll be more content (through the use of an ellipsis or “More” label), this can be omitted.

The parent button should retain the same visual styling regardless of whether the DropdownMenu is displayed or not.

Placement

The DropdownMenu should typically appear directly below, or below and to the left of, the parent button. If there isn’t enough space below to display the full DropdownMenu, it can be displayed instead above the parent button.

Development guidelines

DropdownMenu is a React component to render an expandable menu of buttons. It is similar in purpose to a <select> element, with the distinction that it does not maintain a value. Instead, each option behaves as an action button.

Usage

Render a Dropdown Menu with a set of controls:

import { DropdownMenu } from '@wordpress/components';
import {
    more,
    arrowLeft,
    arrowRight,
    arrowUp,
    arrowDown,
} from '@wordpress/icons';

const MyDropdownMenu = () => (
    <DropdownMenu
        icon={ more }
        label="Select a direction"
        controls={ [
            {
                title: 'Up',
                icon: arrowUp,
                onClick: () => console.log( 'up' ),
            },
            {
                title: 'Right',
                icon: arrowRight,
                onClick: () => console.log( 'right' ),
            },
            {
                title: 'Down',
                icon: arrowDown,
                onClick: () => console.log( 'down' ),
            },
            {
                title: 'Left',
                icon: arrowLeft,
                onClick: () => console.log( 'left' ),
            },
        ] }
    />
);

Alternatively, specify a children function which returns elements valid for use in a DropdownMenu: MenuItem, MenuItemsChoice, or MenuGroup.

import { DropdownMenu, MenuGroup, MenuItem } from '@wordpress/components';
import { more, arrowUp, arrowDown, trash } from '@wordpress/icons';

const MyDropdownMenu = () => (
    <DropdownMenu icon={ more } label="Select a direction">
        { ( { onClose } ) => (
            <>
                <MenuGroup>
                    <MenuItem icon={ arrowUp } onClick={ onClose }>
                        Move Up
                    </MenuItem>
                    <MenuItem icon={ arrowDown } onClick={ onClose }>
                        Move Down
                    </MenuItem>
                </MenuGroup>
                <MenuGroup>
                    <MenuItem icon={ trash } onClick={ onClose }>
                        Remove
                    </MenuItem>
                </MenuGroup>
            </>
        ) }
    </DropdownMenu>
);

Props

The component accepts the following props:

icon: string | null

The Dashicon icon slug to be shown in the collapsed menu button.

• Required: No
• Default: "menu"

See also: https://developer.wordpress.org/resource/dashicons/

label: string

A human-readable label to present as accessibility text on the focused collapsed menu button.

• Required: Yes

controls: DropdownOption[] | DropdownOption[][]

An array or nested array of objects describing the options to be shown in the expanded menu.

Each object should include an icon Dashicon slug string, a human-readable title string, isDisabled boolean flag and an onClick function callback to invoke when the option is selected.

A valid DropdownMenu must specify a controls or children prop, or both.
– Required: No

children: ( callbackProps: DropdownCallbackProps ) => ReactNode

A function render prop which should return an element or elements valid for use in a DropdownMenu: MenuItem, MenuItemsChoice, or MenuGroup. Its first argument is a props object including the same values as given to a Dropdown‘s renderContent (isOpen, onToggle, onClose).

A valid DropdownMenu must specify a controls or children prop, or both.

• Required: No

See also: https://developer.wordpress.org/resource/dashicons/

className: string

A class name to apply to the dropdown menu’s toggle element wrapper.

• Required: No

popoverProps: DropdownProps[ 'popoverProps' ]

Properties of popoverProps object will be passed as props to the nested Popover component.
Use this object to modify props available for the Popover component that are not already exposed in the DropdownMenu component, e.g.: the direction in which the popover should open relative to its parent node set with position prop.

• Required: No

toggleProps: ToggleProps

Properties of toggleProps object will be passed as props to the nested Button component in the renderToggle implementation of the Dropdown component used internally.
Use this object to modify props available for the Button component that are not already exposed in the DropdownMenu component, e.g.: the tooltip text displayed on hover set with tooltip prop.

• Required: No

menuProps: NavigableContainerProps

Properties of menuProps object will be passed as props to the nested NavigableMenu component in the renderContent implementation of the Dropdown component used internally.
Use this object to modify props available for the NavigableMenu component that are not already exposed in the DropdownMenu component, e.g.: the orientation of the menu set with orientation prop.

• Required: No

disableOpenOnArrowDown: boolean

In some contexts, the arrow down key used to open the dropdown menu might need to be disabled—for example when that key is used to perform another action.

• Required: No
• Default: false

defaultOpen: boolean

The open state of the dropdown menu when initially rendered. Use when you do not need to control its open state. It will be overridden by the open prop if it is specified on the component’s first render.

• Required: No

open: boolean

The controlled open state of the dropdown menu. Must be used in conjunction with onToggle.

• Required: No

onToggle: ( willOpen: boolean ) => void

A callback invoked when the state of the dropdown changes from open to closed and vice versa.

• Required: No