Add container to nav_menu sub menu

by

The question:

Is there a way I can wrap a div around wp_nav_menu’s ul.sub-menu

So for example the markup would go from

<ul class="menu">

    <li><a href="/" rel="nofollow noreferrer noopener" rel="nofollow noreferrer noopener" rel="nofollow noreferrer noopener" rel="nofollow noreferrer noopener" rel="nofollow noreferrer noopener" rel="nofollow noreferrer noopener" rel="nofollow noreferrer noopener" rel="nofollow noreferrer noopener" rel="nofollow noreferrer noopener" rel="nofollow noreferrer noopener" rel="nofollow noreferrer noopener" rel="nofollow noreferrer noopener">Item 1</a></li>
    <li>
        <a href="/" rel="nofollow noreferrer noopener" rel="nofollow noreferrer noopener" rel="nofollow noreferrer noopener" rel="nofollow noreferrer noopener" rel="nofollow noreferrer noopener" rel="nofollow noreferrer noopener" rel="nofollow noreferrer noopener" rel="nofollow noreferrer noopener" rel="nofollow noreferrer noopener" rel="nofollow noreferrer noopener" rel="nofollow noreferrer noopener" rel="nofollow noreferrer noopener">Item 2</a>

        <ul class="sub-menu">

            <li><a href="/" rel="nofollow noreferrer noopener" rel="nofollow noreferrer noopener" rel="nofollow noreferrer noopener" rel="nofollow noreferrer noopener" rel="nofollow noreferrer noopener" rel="nofollow noreferrer noopener" rel="nofollow noreferrer noopener" rel="nofollow noreferrer noopener" rel="nofollow noreferrer noopener" rel="nofollow noreferrer noopener" rel="nofollow noreferrer noopener" rel="nofollow noreferrer noopener">Item 1</a></li>
            <li><a href="/" rel="nofollow noreferrer noopener" rel="nofollow noreferrer noopener" rel="nofollow noreferrer noopener" rel="nofollow noreferrer noopener" rel="nofollow noreferrer noopener" rel="nofollow noreferrer noopener" rel="nofollow noreferrer noopener" rel="nofollow noreferrer noopener" rel="nofollow noreferrer noopener" rel="nofollow noreferrer noopener" rel="nofollow noreferrer noopener" rel="nofollow noreferrer noopener">Item 1</a></li>

        </ul>
   </li>
    <li><a href="/" rel="nofollow noreferrer noopener" rel="nofollow noreferrer noopener" rel="nofollow noreferrer noopener" rel="nofollow noreferrer noopener" rel="nofollow noreferrer noopener" rel="nofollow noreferrer noopener" rel="nofollow noreferrer noopener" rel="nofollow noreferrer noopener" rel="nofollow noreferrer noopener" rel="nofollow noreferrer noopener" rel="nofollow noreferrer noopener" rel="nofollow noreferrer noopener">Item 1</a></li>
    <li><a href="/" rel="nofollow noreferrer noopener" rel="nofollow noreferrer noopener" rel="nofollow noreferrer noopener" rel="nofollow noreferrer noopener" rel="nofollow noreferrer noopener" rel="nofollow noreferrer noopener" rel="nofollow noreferrer noopener" rel="nofollow noreferrer noopener" rel="nofollow noreferrer noopener" rel="nofollow noreferrer noopener" rel="nofollow noreferrer noopener" rel="nofollow noreferrer noopener">Item 1</a></li>

</ul>

to this

<ul class="menu">

    <li><a href="/" rel="nofollow noreferrer noopener" rel="nofollow noreferrer noopener" rel="nofollow noreferrer noopener" rel="nofollow noreferrer noopener" rel="nofollow noreferrer noopener" rel="nofollow noreferrer noopener" rel="nofollow noreferrer noopener" rel="nofollow noreferrer noopener" rel="nofollow noreferrer noopener" rel="nofollow noreferrer noopener" rel="nofollow noreferrer noopener" rel="nofollow noreferrer noopener">Item 1</a></li>
    <li>
        <a href="/" rel="nofollow noreferrer noopener" rel="nofollow noreferrer noopener" rel="nofollow noreferrer noopener" rel="nofollow noreferrer noopener" rel="nofollow noreferrer noopener" rel="nofollow noreferrer noopener" rel="nofollow noreferrer noopener" rel="nofollow noreferrer noopener" rel="nofollow noreferrer noopener" rel="nofollow noreferrer noopener" rel="nofollow noreferrer noopener" rel="nofollow noreferrer noopener">Item 2</a>

        <div class="sub-menu-wrap">

            <ul class="sub-menu">

                <li><a href="/" rel="nofollow noreferrer noopener" rel="nofollow noreferrer noopener" rel="nofollow noreferrer noopener" rel="nofollow noreferrer noopener" rel="nofollow noreferrer noopener" rel="nofollow noreferrer noopener" rel="nofollow noreferrer noopener" rel="nofollow noreferrer noopener" rel="nofollow noreferrer noopener" rel="nofollow noreferrer noopener" rel="nofollow noreferrer noopener" rel="nofollow noreferrer noopener">Item 1</a></li>
                <li><a href="/" rel="nofollow noreferrer noopener" rel="nofollow noreferrer noopener" rel="nofollow noreferrer noopener" rel="nofollow noreferrer noopener" rel="nofollow noreferrer noopener" rel="nofollow noreferrer noopener" rel="nofollow noreferrer noopener" rel="nofollow noreferrer noopener" rel="nofollow noreferrer noopener" rel="nofollow noreferrer noopener" rel="nofollow noreferrer noopener" rel="nofollow noreferrer noopener">Item 1</a></li>

            </ul>

        </div>

   </li>

    <li><a href="/" rel="nofollow noreferrer noopener" rel="nofollow noreferrer noopener" rel="nofollow noreferrer noopener" rel="nofollow noreferrer noopener" rel="nofollow noreferrer noopener" rel="nofollow noreferrer noopener" rel="nofollow noreferrer noopener" rel="nofollow noreferrer noopener" rel="nofollow noreferrer noopener" rel="nofollow noreferrer noopener" rel="nofollow noreferrer noopener" rel="nofollow noreferrer noopener">Item 1</a></li>
    <li><a href="/" rel="nofollow noreferrer noopener" rel="nofollow noreferrer noopener" rel="nofollow noreferrer noopener" rel="nofollow noreferrer noopener" rel="nofollow noreferrer noopener" rel="nofollow noreferrer noopener" rel="nofollow noreferrer noopener" rel="nofollow noreferrer noopener" rel="nofollow noreferrer noopener" rel="nofollow noreferrer noopener" rel="nofollow noreferrer noopener" rel="nofollow noreferrer noopener">Item 1</a></li>

</ul>

Where “sub-menu-wrap” is the custom div.

Is this possible?

The Solutions:

Below are the methods you can try. The first solution is probably the best. Try others if the first one doesn’t work. Senior developers aren’t just copying/pasting – they read the methods carefully & apply them wisely to each case.

Method 1

Use a custom walker, extend the methods start_lvl() and end_lvl.

Sample code, not tested:

class WPSE_78121_Sublevel_Walker extends Walker_Nav_Menu
{
    function start_lvl( &$output, $depth = 0, $args = array() ) {
        $indent = str_repeat("t", $depth);
        $output .= "n$indent<div class='sub-menu-wrap'><ul class='sub-menu'>n";
    }
    function end_lvl( &$output, $depth = 0, $args = array() ) {
        $indent = str_repeat("t", $depth);
        $output .= "$indent</ul></div>n";
    }
}

Usage in your theme:

wp_nav_menu(
    array (
        'theme_location' => 'your-theme-location-EDIT-THIS',
        'walker'         => new WPSE_78121_Sublevel_Walker
    )
);

Method 2

Proposed solution does not play nice with WordPress – WordPress default code and filters are ignored. I am giving here much more elegant solution, which keeps all filters like ‘nav_menu_submenu_css_class’ and other WP default code functioning:

<?php
/**
 * Wraps sub-menus in div element
 */
class My_Menu_Walker extends Walker_Nav_Menu {

    public function start_lvl( &$output, $depth = 0, $args = null ) {
        $output .=
        '<div class="wrapper">';
        parent::start_lvl($output, $depth, $args);
    }

    public function end_lvl( &$output, $depth = 0, $args = null ) {
        parent::end_lvl($output, $depth, $args);
        $output .= '</div>';
    }

}


All methods was sourced from stackoverflow.com or stackexchange.com, is licensed under cc by-sa 2.5, cc by-sa 3.0 and cc by-sa 4.0

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