dress up your interface >> daily fresh clickable icons / at a click

How to create VISTA style toolbar with CSS

by domagoj 4. Augustus 2007

UPDATE: 14.09.2007.

The unfortunate forgery of this article has been removed from the the Internets. Yay! The victory is ours! 

UPDATE 13.09.2007.

Due to great demand, now you can download all files in 1 zip file

VISTA_toolbar.zip (20.36 kb)

I want to show you what you can do with a minimal effort and a little imagination. Here's a screenshoot from Windows VISTA. We'll try to reproduce that toolbar, with buttons and hover effect in cross-browser compatible CSS and HTML.

Screenshoot from Windows VISTA
vista toolbar

 

Our toolbar with few line of css and html. Click to see live demo
vista toolbar

All toolbar icons are from itookia.com

 

Toolbar

We'll define toolbar as user list tag -> <ul>. <ul> tag will be in #vista_toolbar <div> tag. Each <li> element will be toolbar button. So when you need a new button you just add new <li> tag, hmmm I just love CSS! Here's how it looks in HTML

<div id="vista_toolbar">

<ul>

            <li>...</li>

      </ul>

</div>

Ok, lets define CSS for this elements

First <div id="vista_toolbar">

 

#vista_toolbar {

float:left;

font:normal 12px 'Trebuchet MS','Arial';

margin:0;

padding:0;

}

 

It's straightforward.

 

<ul> element CSS

 

#vista_toolbar ul {

background-image:url(back.gif);

background-repeat:repeat-x;

float:left;

line-height:32px;

list-style:none;

margin:0;

padding:0 10px 0 10px;

width:500px;

}

 

Height of toobar define with „line-height:32px;“ and width with „width:500px;“. And 10 px padding because we don't want to start with buttons from beggining of toolbar.

 

<li> element CSS

 

#vista_toolbar li {

display:inline;

padding:0;

}

Display „inline“ because we want our buttons to be displayed in row.

 

 

Buttons.

How to create a button? It's simple, we will use Sliding doors technique.

Just crop picture of button.

left vista button  left.png

vista button right  right.png

 

we'll add this picture on a:hover in CSS and it works in IE6 as well. Let's go!

 

HTML code of button

 

<li>

<a href="#">

<span>Add New</span>

</a>

</li>

 

If you want add picture next to text just add <img align="left" src="files/add.gif" alt="add new" /> in <span> tab

Example HTML code for button with image:

<li>

<a href="#">

<span>

<img align="left" src="files/add.gif" alt="add new"/>Add New

</span>

</a>

</li>


 

Put it in work with CSS

#vista_toolbar a {

color:#FFF

float:left;

padding:0 3px 0 3px;

text-decoration:none;

}

 
Color property is defined because we need to override default link color with white color and also text-decoration.

 

#vista_toolbar a span {

display:block;

float:none;

padding:0 10px 0 7px;

}

 

#vista_toolbar a span img {

border:none;

margin:8px 4px 0 0;

}

If we have image next to text we must center her vertical with margins.

Here is a CSS code used to make hover effect

 

#vista_toolbar a:hover{

background: url(left.png) no-repeat left center;

}

 

#vista_toolbar a:hover span {

background:url(right.png) no-repeat right center;

}

 

Cross-browser compatibility?

Tested in: Firefox 2, IE 6, IE 7, Opera 9.2, Safari 3.0.3 for Windows

If you test in other browsers please let me know.


Summary

I hope this tutorial was helpful. Feel free to post any comment. 

Have a great week! 

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Comments

Augustus 5. 2007 07:44

Pingback from anieto2k.com

MenĂş estilo Windows Vista en CSS | aNieto2K

anieto2k.com

Augustus 5. 2007 08:27

Why don't you also add "Segoe UI" to the font family? Then it will really look like Vista's menu

Oriol

Augustus 5. 2007 08:59

Thx for idea, although this will work only if you have VISTA or MS Office 2007 installed on client computer (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Segoe).

Domagoj Barisic

Augustus 5. 2007 20:04

Hi Domagoj,

This is really cool! I'm glad I checking Digg. Good job Wink

Shane

Augustus 5. 2007 23:48

Pingback from frogx3.wordpress.com

Creando menus estilo Windows Vista en Web « frogx.three

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Augustus 6. 2007 14:22

Pingback from pinceladasdaweb.com.br

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Augustus 6. 2007 20:22

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Augustus 6. 2007 22:14

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Augustus 7. 2007 01:48

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Augustus 7. 2007 04:37

Pingback from infectedfx.net

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infectedfx.net

Augustus 8. 2007 14:42

Si cool, thnx for make that n_n.

LoveMaster

Augustus 8. 2007 17:18

Pingback from hebertphp.net

WINDOWS VISTA MENU COM CSS | hebertphp

hebertphp.net

Augustus 8. 2007 18:58

Pingback from conocimientosweb.es

MenĂş estilo Vista

conocimientosweb.es

Augustus 9. 2007 00:24

it's all very clever but there are problems of vertical alignment when you increase text size in firefox (button text drifts to bottom--doesn't look very good). i've been trying to hack a solution for the past hour and nothing seems to work.

noctilux

Augustus 9. 2007 06:18

Pingback from browsing.ru

browsing.ru — новые ресурсы интернета и любимые веб-браузеры. » VISTA style toolbar with CSS

browsing.ru

Augustus 10. 2007 06:19

Pingback from freakgroup.com.ar

Freak Group | Diseño web, recursos y mucho más » Crear un menĂş estilo WINDOWS VISTA con CSS

freakgroup.com.ar

Augustus 13. 2007 11:35

Pingback from mitry.wordpress.com

links for 2007-08-14 « dMitry Alexandrov

mitry.wordpress.com

Augustus 13. 2007 14:37

Pingback from neosite.ilogic.com.br

Como criar um menu no estilo do Windows Vista

neosite.ilogic.com.br

Augustus 14. 2007 12:21

Nice. Thanks for sharing.

Federico

Augustus 15. 2007 07:54

BUENAS NOCHES ME PODRIAN DAR LOS CODIGOS PARA MI FOROS
SI NO ES MUCHAS MOLESTIAS GRACIAS DE ANTE MANO
BUENAS NOCHES........

VENUS

Augustus 18. 2007 00:58

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Augustus 18. 2007 08:05

Pingback from gonzalolopez.net

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Augustus 21. 2007 23:29

Pingback from webdosfera.com

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Augustus 25. 2007 12:42

Pingback from mtnconcept.com

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Augustus 28. 2007 01:49

amazing tutorial. I have been looking for something like this for quite some time and i'm glad I dont have to reinvent the wheel.

Rich

Augustus 31. 2007 07:47

Pingback from themesheaven.com

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themesheaven.com

September 10. 2007 19:54

Pingback from programmando.net

Vista style menu | Programmando.net

programmando.net

September 13. 2007 17:01

I'm sorry I voted for that article on digg where they ripped off your tutorial. I had no idea when I saw it on digg that someone had ripped it off.

Aaronontheweb

September 14. 2007 05:31

Pingback from soneo.wordpress.com

Crear una barra de navegaciĂłn similar a la de Windows Vista « El Soneo - El Rincon De Un Vago Wink

soneo.wordpress.com

September 14. 2007 07:26

Good work. Although it's always a bit problematic to make website elements look like native OS elements.

By the way, ul stands for unsorted list, not for "user list", doesn't it?

ciao
hof

hofi

September 15. 2007 07:10

Pingback from bludice.com

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September 15. 2007 23:53

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September 17. 2007 11:35

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September 18. 2007 04:18

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September 18. 2007 04:19

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September 18. 2007 05:53

Pingback from myukm.com

Best of August 2007 .

myukm.com

September 18. 2007 07:11

Pingback from bakje.nl

Bakje » Blog Archive » Vista style toolbar with CSS

bakje.nl

September 18. 2007 07:13

Looks nice ...but serious issues when you increase your font size... so not very accessible.

Adam

September 18. 2007 07:35

simple, easy but EXCELLENT. Its really a gr8 article.

Anis uddin Ahmad

September 18. 2007 08:22

Pingback from lostnode.com
Best of August 2007

lostnode.com

September 18. 2007 09:49

Pingback from howtoplaza.com

How To Create Windows Vista style toolbar with CSS

howtoplaza.com

September 18. 2007 11:43

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September 18. 2007 15:26

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links for 2007-09-18

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September 18. 2007 19:24

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September 18. 2007 22:16

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qatardr.net

September 19. 2007 00:31

Pingback from isurflite.com

links for 2007-09-19 | iSurflite

isurflite.com

September 19. 2007 12:12

Nice tut!
I agreed with Oriol, Segoe family will be perfect.

yichi

September 19. 2007 12:36

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wakeup.tipaska.ru

September 20. 2007 01:24

Pingback from blog.ju-lian.info

blog.ju-lian.info

September 20. 2007 04:02

Very nicely done. Impressed.

Thanks for sharing.

Phil

Phil

September 20. 2007 05:55

adfg

SFDF

September 20. 2007 05:56

sds

SFDF

September 20. 2007 11:27

Pingback from ywnk.com
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ywnk.com

September 20. 2007 11:53

Nice tutorial. Very clean! I dig it!

Rocco

September 20. 2007 19:23

Pingback from daniblog.com

Enlaces Varios: 20-09-07

daniblog.com

September 20. 2007 23:02

Thanks for this articles...

Viking KARWUR

September 21. 2007 00:44

Pingback from mhmazidi.wordpress.com

mhmazidi.wordpress.com

September 23. 2007 16:03

Very good job! Will use it for the next Website!

Alex

September 23. 2007 19:23

Pingback from blog.patrickkempf.de

links for 2007-09-24 | Patrick Kempf

blog.patrickkempf.de

September 24. 2007 10:57

Pingback from csslayout.info

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csslayout.info

September 26. 2007 06:56

Pingback from netzlogbuch.de

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netzlogbuch.de

September 26. 2007 15:11

Pingback from cmd.bruysten.com

» Best of August 2007

cmd.bruysten.com

September 29. 2007 20:47

Very cool effekt. Thanks for sharing it to us.

simon

Oktober 2. 2007 23:53

Trackback from mysiteonline™

Interesting Links from the Web

mysiteonline™

Oktober 16. 2007 03:31

Pingback from tiredblogger.wordpress.com

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Oktober 30. 2007 17:49

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November 3. 2007 11:30

Pingback from deswign.com

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deswign.com

November 19. 2007 00:45

great design - I also found this site for vista gadgets http://www.gadgetsdownload.com - there you can upload your creations

movie

November 30. 2007 17:36

Pingback from refugioantiaereo.com

Apariencia de Windows Vista con CSS

refugioantiaereo.com

Desember 5. 2007 23:34

Great Article.

EeePC

Desember 6. 2007 21:06

Pingback from my-ad-sense.com

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my-ad-sense.com

Desember 28. 2007 04:39

Reminds me of the drop down menu from CSSPlay

http://www.cssplay.co.uk/menus/image_drop.html

I hacked the source in Nagios to get rid of the old frameset (bleh) web code and inserted this menu system. Worked quite well.

Mark

Desember 30. 2007 21:18

Great work. thank you.

Rennes

Januarie 4. 2008 03:10

Pingback from 38z.net.ru
VISTA style toolbar with CSS at ajax scripts compound

38z.net.ru

Januarie 6. 2008 21:23

Wow, really nice

Anglictina

Januarie 7. 2008 00:05

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