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How to build a sidebar component with Tailwind CSS and Flowbite

How to build a sidebar component with Tailwind CSS and Flowbite

Zoltán Szőgyényi's photo
Zoltán Szőgyényi
·Feb 14, 2022·

5 min read

One of my favorite front-end development stacks right now is Tailwind CSS and Flowbite, because the utility classes from Tailwind makes it really easy to build flexible and lightweight UI interfaces, and the components from Flowbite can help me get started even faster with commonly used UI components like dropdowns, buttons, modals, and more.

I have started a series of articles here on the Dev community on how to build certain components with Tailwind CSS and Flowbite, and today I would like to show you how to build a sidebar component.

Here's how it will look in the end:

Tailwind CSS Sidebar - Flowbite

Let's get started!

Tailwind CSS Sidebar

First things first, we should write the basic HTML markup. We'll used an aside element with an unordered list inside:

<aside aria-label="Sidebar">
   <div>
      <ul>
      <!-- menu items will come here -->
      </ul>
   </div>
</aside>

Let's add some basic styles to the sidebar:

<aside class="w-64" aria-label="Sidebar">
   <div class="px-3 py-4 overflow-y-auto rounded bg-gray-50">
      <ul class="space-y-2">
      <!-- menu items will come here -->
      </ul>
   </div>
</aside>

These classes will set the background color, sizing, and spacing for the sidebar component.

Let's now add a list item inside the <ul> element:

<aside class="w-64" aria-label="Sidebar">
   <div class="px-3 py-4 overflow-y-auto rounded bg-gray-50">
      <ul class="space-y-2">
          <li>
            <a href="#" class="flex items-center p-2 text-base font-normal text-gray-900 rounded-lg hover:bg-gray-100">
               Dashboard
            </a>
         </li>
      </ul>
   </div>
</aside>

We added the styles to the '' element so that whenever the users clicks the hover effect will apply to the link itself.

Let's add an icon inside the list item:

<aside class="w-64" aria-label="Sidebar">
   <div class="px-3 py-4 overflow-y-auto rounded bg-gray-50">
      <ul class="space-y-2">
          <li>
            <a href="#" class="flex items-center p-2 text-base font-normal text-gray-900 rounded-lg hover:bg-gray-100">
                <svg class="w-6 h-6 text-gray-500 transition duration-75 group-hover:text-gray-900" fill="currentColor" viewBox="0 0 20 20" xmlns="w3.org/2000/svg"><path d="M2 10a8 8 0 018-8v8h8a8 8 0 11-16 0z"></path><path d="M12 2.252A8.014 8.014 0 0117.748 8H12V2.252z"></path></svg>
               <span class="ml-3">Dashboard</span>
            </a>
         </li>
      </ul>
   </div>
</aside>

Looking great! As you can see, we used the group-hover class to also change the color of the icon when hovering over the parent '' element.

Let's now add the classes that will make it look pretty in dark mode. It should look like this:

Tailwind CSS Sidebar Dark Mode - Flowbite

<aside class="w-64" aria-label="Sidebar">
   <div class="px-3 py-4 overflow-y-auto rounded bg-gray-50 dark:bg-gray-800">
      <ul class="space-y-2">
          <li>
            <a href="#" class="flex items-center p-2 text-base font-normal text-gray-900 rounded-lg dark:text-white hover:bg-gray-100 dark:hover:bg-gray-700">
                <svg class="w-6 h-6 text-gray-500 transition duration-75 dark:text-gray-400 group-hover:text-gray-900 dark:group-hover:text-white" fill="currentColor" viewBox="0 0 20 20" xmlns="w3.org/2000/svg"><path d="M2 10a8 8 0 018-8v8h8a8 8 0 11-16 0z"></path><path d="M12 2.252A8.014 8.014 0 0117.748 8H12V2.252z"></path></svg>
               <span class="ml-3">Dashboard</span>
            </a>
         </li>
      </ul>
   </div>
</aside>

Looking great! The last thing we should do is add a couple more menu items inside the list:

<aside class="w-64" aria-label="Sidebar">
   <div class="px-3 py-4 overflow-y-auto rounded bg-gray-50 dark:bg-gray-800">
      <ul class="space-y-2">
         <li>
            <a href="#" class="flex items-center p-2 text-base font-normal text-gray-900 rounded-lg dark:text-white hover:bg-gray-100 dark:hover:bg-gray-700">
               <svg class="w-6 h-6 text-gray-500 transition duration-75 dark:text-gray-400 group-hover:text-gray-900 dark:group-hover:text-white" fill="currentColor" viewBox="0 0 20 20" xmlns="w3.org/2000/svg"><path d="M2 10a8 8 0 018-8v8h8a8 8 0 11-16 0z"></path><path d="M12 2.252A8.014 8.014 0 0117.748 8H12V2.252z"></path></svg>
               <span class="ml-3">Dashboard</span>
            </a>
         </li>
         <li>
            <a href="#" target="_blank" class="flex items-center p-2 text-base font-normal text-gray-900 rounded-lg dark:text-white hover:bg-gray-100 dark:hover:bg-gray-700">
               <svg class="flex-shrink-0 w-6 h-6 text-gray-500 transition duration-75 dark:text-gray-400 group-hover:text-gray-900 dark:group-hover:text-white" fill="currentColor" viewBox="0 0 20 20" xmlns="w3.org/2000/svg"><path d="M5 3a2 2 0 00-2 2v2a2 2 0 002 2h2a2 2 0 002-2V5a2 2 0 00-2-2H5zM5 11a2 2 0 00-2 2v2a2 2 0 002 2h2a2 2 0 002-2v-2a2 2 0 00-2-2H5zM11 5a2 2 0 012-2h2a2 2 0 012 2v2a2 2 0 01-2 2h-2a2 2 0 01-2-2V5zM11 13a2 2 0 012-2h2a2 2 0 012 2v2a2 2 0 01-2 2h-2a2 2 0 01-2-2v-2z"></path></svg>
               <span class="flex-1 ml-3 whitespace-nowrap">Kanban</span>
               <span class="inline-flex items-center justify-center px-2 ml-3 text-sm font-medium text-gray-800 bg-gray-200 rounded-full dark:bg-gray-700 dark:text-gray-300">Pro</span>
            </a>
         </li>
         <li>
            <a href="#" target="_blank" class="flex items-center p-2 text-base font-normal text-gray-900 rounded-lg dark:text-white hover:bg-gray-100 dark:hover:bg-gray-700">
               <svg class="flex-shrink-0 w-6 h-6 text-gray-500 transition duration-75 dark:text-gray-400 group-hover:text-gray-900 dark:group-hover:text-white" fill="currentColor" viewBox="0 0 20 20" xmlns="w3.org/2000/svg"><path d="M8.707 7.293a1 1 0 00-1.414 1.414l2 2a1 1 0 001.414 0l2-2a1 1 0 00-1.414-1.414L11 7.586V3a1 1 0 10-2 0v4.586l-.293-.293z"></path><path d="M3 5a2 2 0 012-2h1a1 1 0 010 2H5v7h2l1 2h4l1-2h2V5h-1a1 1 0 110-2h1a2 2 0 012 2v10a2 2 0 01-2 2H5a2 2 0 01-2-2V5z"></path></svg>
               <span class="flex-1 ml-3 whitespace-nowrap">Inbox</span>
               <span class="inline-flex items-center justify-center w-3 h-3 p-3 ml-3 text-sm font-medium text-blue-600 bg-blue-200 rounded-full dark:bg-blue-900 dark:text-blue-200">3</span>
            </a>
         </li>
         <li>
            <a href="#" class="flex items-center p-2 text-base font-normal text-gray-900 rounded-lg dark:text-white hover:bg-gray-100 dark:hover:bg-gray-700">
               <svg class="flex-shrink-0 w-6 h-6 text-gray-500 transition duration-75 dark:text-gray-400 group-hover:text-gray-900 dark:group-hover:text-white" fill="currentColor" viewBox="0 0 20 20" xmlns="w3.org/2000/svg"><path fill-rule="evenodd" d="M10 9a3 3 0 100-6 3 3 0 000 6zm-7 9a7 7 0 1114 0H3z" clip-rule="evenodd"></path></svg>
               <span class="flex-1 ml-3 whitespace-nowrap">Users</span>
            </a>
         </li>
         <li>
            <a href="#" class="flex items-center p-2 text-base font-normal text-gray-900 rounded-lg dark:text-white hover:bg-gray-100 dark:hover:bg-gray-700">
               <svg class="flex-shrink-0 w-6 h-6 text-gray-500 transition duration-75 dark:text-gray-400 group-hover:text-gray-900 dark:group-hover:text-white" fill="currentColor" viewBox="0 0 20 20" xmlns="w3.org/2000/svg"><path fill-rule="evenodd" d="M10 2a4 4 0 00-4 4v1H5a1 1 0 00-.994.89l-1 9A1 1 0 004 18h12a1 1 0 00.994-1.11l-1-9A1 1 0 0015 7h-1V6a4 4 0 00-4-4zm2 5V6a2 2 0 10-4 0v1h4zm-6 3a1 1 0 112 0 1 1 0 01-2 0zm7-1a1 1 0 100 2 1 1 0 000-2z" clip-rule="evenodd"></path></svg>
               <span class="flex-1 ml-3 whitespace-nowrap">Products</span>
            </a>
         </li>
         <li>
            <a href="#" class="flex items-center p-2 text-base font-normal text-gray-900 rounded-lg dark:text-white hover:bg-gray-100 dark:hover:bg-gray-700">
               <svg class="flex-shrink-0 w-6 h-6 text-gray-500 transition duration-75 dark:text-gray-400 group-hover:text-gray-900 dark:group-hover:text-white" fill="currentColor" viewBox="0 0 20 20" xmlns="w3.org/2000/svg"><path fill-rule="evenodd" d="M3 3a1 1 0 00-1 1v12a1 1 0 102 0V4a1 1 0 00-1-1zm10.293 9.293a1 1 0 001.414 1.414l3-3a1 1 0 000-1.414l-3-3a1 1 0 10-1.414 1.414L14.586 9H7a1 1 0 100 2h7.586l-1.293 1.293z" clip-rule="evenodd"></path></svg>
               <span class="flex-1 ml-3 whitespace-nowrap">Sign In</span>
            </a>
         </li>
         <li>
            <a href="#" class="flex items-center p-2 text-base font-normal text-gray-900 rounded-lg dark:text-white hover:bg-gray-100 dark:hover:bg-gray-700">
               <svg class="flex-shrink-0 w-6 h-6 text-gray-500 transition duration-75 dark:text-gray-400 group-hover:text-gray-900 dark:group-hover:text-white" fill="currentColor" viewBox="0 0 20 20" xmlns="w3.org/2000/svg"><path fill-rule="evenodd" d="M5 4a3 3 0 00-3 3v6a3 3 0 003 3h10a3 3 0 003-3V7a3 3 0 00-3-3H5zm-1 9v-1h5v2H5a1 1 0 01-1-1zm7 1h4a1 1 0 001-1v-1h-5v2zm0-4h5V8h-5v2zM9 8H4v2h5V8z" clip-rule="evenodd"></path></svg>
               <span class="flex-1 ml-3 whitespace-nowrap">Sign Up</span>
            </a>
         </li>
      </ul>
   </div>
</aside>

If you'd like to learn how to apply dark mode with Tailwind CSS and Flowbite, check out this guide:

That's all! I hope you liked this tutorial.

Tailwind CSS components - Flowbite

If you want to check out more components like this sidebar, you can check out the library of open-source UI components like buttons, dropdowns, modals, and more from Flowbite.