Morningstar Design System

Menus

Menus offer a contextual set of options in a Popover.

Variations

Default

Use for a single-level menu of options.

Example
Default 
<div class="mds-menu">
    <div class="mds-popover__wrapper mds-popover--overlay-closable mds-popover--overlay-dismissible">
        <button class="mds-button mds-popover__trigger mds-button--secondary" type="button" data-mds-popover="mds-popover--4501" aria-haspopup="true" aria-expanded="true" aria-controls="mds-popover--4501">
            <span class="mds-button__text"> Menu </span>
            <svg class="mds-icon mds-button__icon mds-button__icon--right" aria-hidden="true">
                <use xlink:href="/icons/mds.svg#caret-down--s"> </use>
            </svg>
        </button>
        <div class="mds-popover__overlay"></div>
        <section id="mds-popover--4501" class="mds-popover mds-popover mds-popover--bottom-center mds-popover--width-200px" role="tooltip">
            <header class="mds-popover__header">
                <h2 class="mds-popover__title"> Workbook </h2>
            </header>
            <div class="mds-popover__content">
                <ul class="mds-list-group" role="menu">
                    <li class="mds-list-group__item " role="none">
                        <a href="#" class="mds-list-group__link" role="menuitem">
                            <span class="mds-list-group__item-text"> Create New </span>
                        </a>
                    </li>
                    <li class="mds-list-group__item " role="none">
                        <a href="#" class="mds-list-group__link" role="menuitem">
                            <span class="mds-list-group__item-text"> Open </span>
                        </a>
                    </li>
                    <li class="mds-list-group__item  mds-list-group__item--disabled" role="none">
                        <a href="#" class="mds-list-group__link" aria-disabled="true" role="menuitem">
                            <span class="mds-list-group__item-text"> Save </span>
                        </a>
                    </li>
                    <li class="mds-list-group__item " role="none">
                        <a href="#" class="mds-list-group__link" role="menuitem">
                            <span class="mds-list-group__item-text"> Save As </span>
                        </a>
                    </li>
                </ul>
            </div>
        </section>
    </div>
</div>
  • Construct using the List Group and Popover components.
  • Menu items conform to the style and behavior of the List Group.
  • Include a Popover header to clarify the purpose of the menu.

No Title

Example
No Title 
<div class="mds-menu">
    <div class="mds-popover__wrapper mds-popover--overlay-closable mds-popover--overlay-dismissible">
        <button class="mds-button mds-popover__trigger mds-button--secondary" type="button" data-mds-popover="mds-popover--24730" aria-haspopup="true" aria-expanded="true" aria-controls="mds-popover--24730">
            <span class="mds-button__text"> Menu </span>
            <svg class="mds-icon mds-button__icon mds-button__icon--right" aria-hidden="true">
                <use xlink:href="/icons/mds.svg#caret-down--s"> </use>
            </svg>
        </button>
        <div class="mds-popover__overlay"></div>
        <section id="mds-popover--24730" class="mds-popover mds-popover mds-popover--bottom-center mds-popover--width-200px" role="tooltip">
            <div class="mds-popover__content">
                <ul class="mds-list-group" role="menu">
                    <li class="mds-list-group__item " role="none">
                        <a href="#" class="mds-list-group__link" role="menuitem">
                            <span class="mds-list-group__item-text"> Create New </span>
                        </a>
                    </li>
                    <li class="mds-list-group__item " role="none">
                        <a href="#" class="mds-list-group__link" role="menuitem">
                            <span class="mds-list-group__item-text"> Open </span>
                        </a>
                    </li>
                    <li class="mds-list-group__item  mds-list-group__item--disabled" role="none">
                        <a href="#" class="mds-list-group__link" aria-disabled="true" role="menuitem">
                            <span class="mds-list-group__item-text"> Save </span>
                        </a>
                    </li>
                    <li class="mds-list-group__item " role="none">
                        <a href="#" class="mds-list-group__link" role="menuitem">
                            <span class="mds-list-group__item-text"> Save As </span>
                        </a>
                    </li>
                </ul>
            </div>
        </section>
    </div>
</div>
  • Avoid this construction unless the trigger includes text describing the menu purpose.

Single Selection

Include an icon to indicate a default or previously chosen item from a list of options.

Example
Single Selection 
<div class="mds-menu">
    <div class="mds-popover__wrapper mds-popover--overlay-closable mds-popover--overlay-dismissible">
        <button class="mds-button mds-popover__trigger mds-button--secondary" type="button" data-mds-popover="mds-popover--43349" aria-haspopup="true" aria-expanded="true" aria-controls="mds-popover--43349">
            <span class="mds-button__text"> Menu </span>
            <svg class="mds-icon mds-button__icon mds-button__icon--right" aria-hidden="true">
                <use xlink:href="/icons/mds.svg#caret-down--s"> </use>
            </svg>
        </button>
        <div class="mds-popover__overlay"></div>
        <section id="mds-popover--43349" class="mds-popover mds-popover mds-popover--bottom-center mds-popover--width-200px" role="tooltip">
            <div class="mds-popover__content">
                <ul class="mds-list-group" role="menu">
                    <li class="mds-list-group__item  mds-list-group__item--active" role="none">
                        <a href="#" class="mds-list-group__link" role="menuitem">
                            <span class="mds-list-group__item-text"> Option 1 </span>
                            <svg class="mds-icon mds-list-group__active-icon" aria-hidden="true">
                                <use xlink:href="/icons/mds.svg#check--s"> </use>
                            </svg>
                        </a>
                    </li>
                    <li class="mds-list-group__item " role="none">
                        <a href="#" class="mds-list-group__link" role="menuitem">
                            <span class="mds-list-group__item-text"> Option 2 </span>
                        </a>
                    </li>
                    <li class="mds-list-group__item  mds-list-group__item--disabled" role="none">
                        <a href="#" class="mds-list-group__link" aria-disabled="true" role="menuitem">
                            <span class="mds-list-group__item-text"> Option 3 </span>
                        </a>
                    </li>
                    <li class="mds-list-group__item " role="none">
                        <a href="#" class="mds-list-group__link" role="menuitem">
                            <span class="mds-list-group__item-text"> Option 4 </span>
                        </a>
                    </li>
                </ul>
            </div>
        </section>
    </div>
</div>
  • Always use the check icon, check--s, to indicate selected item.
  • Use $mds-text-color-link-default for selected-item text and $mds-interactive-color-primary-default for selected-item icon.
  • Never use as a form element, instead use a Form radio button group or select.

Sizing

Menus are built using List Groups and Popovers. The size of a menu is defined by the nested List Group and the width is defined by the nested Popover. Refer to the Sizing sections of the List Group and Popover component pages for the corresponding documentation.

Guidelines

Use When

  • Creating a menu triggered from a button or text.
Membership menu inside Morningstar.com.
Workbook menu inside Direct Cloud.
  • Creating a single-selection menu.
Menu showing likelihood of return on investment inside Retirement Manager.
  • Creating a menu of overflow options from a toolbar.

Don’t Use When

Visual Language

Do use `$mds-space-inset-2-x` in the popover.
Do use `$mds-space-inset-2-x` in the popover.
Don‘t extend list group item dividers to the edge of the popover.
Don‘t extend list group item dividers to the edge of the popover.

Trigger Pairings

  • Icon
    Invoke a menu with an icon-only Button, omitting the down caret icon, caret-down--s.
Down caret icon that launches Workbook menu inside Direct Cloud.
  • Button
    Invoke a menu with a Button only when a down caret icon, caret-down--s, is included to the right of the label.
Invoke a menu with a Flat Button.
Invoke a menu with a Secondary Button.

Behaviors

  • Always trigger a menu on click, never on hover.
  • Dismiss a menu by:
    • Selecting an option.
    • Pressing escape.
    • Clicking outside the menu.

Editorial

  • Title all menus, unless menu is launched from an explicitly worded button.
  • Keep list items brief with a consistent wordcount—4 to 6 words at most.
  • Similar to Links, list items should deliver exactly on their name.
  • Don’t mix nouns and verbs. Choose one or the other.
    • Do: Charts / Lines / Data instead
    • Don't: Charts / Drawing / Data
  • Keep a list of all commands in the active tense.
    • Do: Open / Save / Copy / Print / Quit
    • Do: Create a task / Share with a colleague / Print this report

Accessibility

  • When creating the mds-popover__title of a Popover, teams should use the header tag (<h#>) which properly places the content within their product's information hierarchy.

As menu is simply a wrapper, the accessibility guidelines covered in Popovers and List Groups should be followed, with the following caveats:

  • Change role=”tooltip” to role=”menu” to present a list of actions, mds-list-group.
  • Add role=”menuitem” to link items, mds-list-group__link.
  • Add the aria-labelledby=”[Trigger Button ID]” attribute.
  • Add tabindex=”-1” to both Popover, mds-popover, and List Group links item, mds-list-group__item.

Additionally, update the Button component that triggers the menu to change its behavior:

  • Add aria-haspopup=”true” to the trigger button.
  • Add aria-expanded=”false” to the trigger button and dynamically update the value to true when menu is open.
  • Add aria-controls=”[Popover ID]” to the trigger button.

Code Reference

CSS Class References

Follow class reference sections in Popovers and List Groups.

Additional Resources

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