Mobile-First Navigation

Part of the Practical Frontend section of Coddy's HTML journey — lesson 8 of 35.

Mobile-first navigation means starting with a simple, touch-friendly menu for small screens, then enhancing it for larger screens.

Start with a basic mobile navigation structure: inside the <nav> element, include a button and a list.

<nav class="main-nav">
  <button class="menu-toggle">Menu</button>
  <ul class="nav-list">
    <li><a href="#">Home</a></li>
    <li><a href="#">About</a></li>
    <li><a href="#">Services</a></li>
    <li><a href="#">Contact</a></li>
  </ul>
</nav>

Apply mobile styling first. On small screens → show a “menu” button and hide the list.

.menu-toggle {
  display: block;
  //some more styles
}

.nav-list {
  display: none;
  //some more styles
}

Then use media queries for larger screens. On larger screens → show the menu as a horizontal list at the top and hide a “menu” button.

@media (min-width: 768px) {
  .menu-toggle {
    display: none;
  }
  
  .nav-list {
    display: flex;
  }
}

This approach ensures the navigation is optimized for mobile devices first, then enhanced for larger screens.

Challenge

Easy

Given an HTML file with a navigation containing a menu button and a list, currently the list is always visible.

Your task is to fix the mobile-first navigation style by:

Making the navigation list hidden by default on mobile screens.
Making the navigation list visible larger screens (display: flex).

Cheat sheet

Mobile-first navigation starts with a simple, touch-friendly menu for small screens, then enhances it for larger screens.

Basic mobile navigation structure:

<nav class="main-nav">
  <button class="menu-toggle">Menu</button>
  <ul class="nav-list">
    <li><a href="#">Home</a></li>
    <li><a href="#">About</a></li>
    <li><a href="#">Services</a></li>
    <li><a href="#">Contact</a></li>
  </ul>
</nav>

Mobile styling (show button, hide list):

.menu-toggle {
  display: block;
}

.nav-list {
  display: none;
}

Desktop styling with media queries (hide button, show horizontal list):

@media (min-width: 768px) {
  .menu-toggle {
    display: none;
  }
  
  .nav-list {
    display: flex;
  }
}

Try it yourself

<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
  <title>Mobile-First Navigation</title>
  <style>
    :root {
      --primary-color: #4a6de5;
      --text-color: #333333;
    }
    
    .nav-container {
      display: flex;
      justify-content: space-between;
      align-items: center;
    }
    
    .logo {
      font-weight: bold;
      color: var(--primary-color);
      text-decoration: none;
      font-size: 1.5rem;
    }
    
    .menu-toggle {
      display: block;
      background-color: var(--primary-color);
      color: white;
      border: none;
      padding: 0.5rem 1rem;
      cursor: pointer;
    }
    
    .nav-list {
      list-style: none;
      padding: 0;
      margin: 1rem 0 0 0;
      width: 100%;
    }
  
    .nav-list li a {
      color: var(--text-color);
      text-decoration: none;
      display: block;
      padding: 0.5rem 0;
    }
    
    @media (min-width: 768px) {
      .menu-toggle {
        display: none;
      }
      
      .nav-list {
        margin: 0;
        width: auto;
      }
      
      .nav-list li {
        margin: 0 0 0 1.5rem;
      }
    }
  </style>
</head>
<body>
  <header class="site-header">
    <nav class="nav-container">
      <a href="#" class="logo">MySite</a>
      <button class="menu-toggle">Menu</button>
      <ul class="nav-list">
        <li><a href="#">Home</a></li>
        <li><a href="#">About</a></li>
        <li><a href="#">Services</a></li>
        <li><a href="#">Contact</a></li>
      </ul>
    </nav>
  </header>
</body>
</html>