HTML & XHTML Pocket Reference, 4th Edition

Name

menu — HTML 4.01 | HTML5

Synopsis

<menu> . . . </menu>

In HTML 4.01, the deprecated menu element indicates a menu list, which consists of one or more list items (li). Menus were intended for a list of short choices, such as a menu of links to other documents.

In HTML5, menu represents a list of interactive options or commands such as a menu of options in a web application.

Start/End Tags

Required/Required

Attributes

Core, Internationalization, Events, HTML5 Global Attributes

compact (compact="compact" in XHTML)

Deprecated. Not in HTML5. Makes the list as small as possible. Few browsers support the compact attribute.

label="text"

HTML5 only. Specifies a label for the menu, which can be displayed in nested menus.

type="context|toolbar"

HTML5 only. Identifies the menu state. context indicates a context menu that can be accessed only when it is activated. toolbar indicates the menu is to be used as a toolbar that can be interacted with immediately. If the type attribute is omitted, the default is merely a list of commands.

Example (HTML 4.01)

<menu>
  <li>About</li>
  <li>News</li>
  <li>Blog</li>
  <li>Contact</li>
</menu>

Example (HTML5)

<menu>
   <command onclick="cut()" label="Cut">
   <command onclick="copy()" label="Copy">
   <command onclick="paste()" label="Paste">
   <command onclick="delete()" label="Clear">
</menu>