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Creating an Accordion Sitemap for Your Blog: A Step-by-Step Guide

In today's digital world, having a well-organized and easily navigable website is crucial. One effective way to improve site navigation is by creating an accordion sitemap. In this tutorial, we will walk you through the process of creating an accordion sitemap for your blog using simple HTML and CSS.

Prerequisites

Before we begin, ensure that you have a basic understanding of the following:

  • HTML (HyperText Markup Language)
  • CSS (Cascading Style Sheets)
  • Blog platform (e.g., WordPress, Blogger, etc.)

Creating the HTML structure

First, let's create the accordion sitemap's basic structure using HTML. Add a new file to your blog, for example, sitemap.html, and paste the following code:

<!DOCTYPE html>
<html lang="en">
<head>
  <meta charset="UTF-8">
  <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1.0">
  <title>Sitemap</title>
  <link rel="stylesheet" href="styles.css">
  <style>
    /* Hide the accordion */
    .faq {max-height: 0; transition: max-height .5s ease;}
    /* Add a plus icon for each question */
    .question::before {content: "+"; cursor: pointer;}
    /* Change the background color of the heading when clicked on */
    .question.is-open::before {content: "-";}
  </style>
</head>
<body>
  <!-- Accordion sitemap goes here -->
  <div id="accordion"></div>
  <script src="https://kit.fontawesome.com/a07a639d29.js" crossorigin="anonymous"></script>
</body>
</html>

This code sets up the basic structure of our accordion sitemap, including a link to a CSS file (which we'll create next), and the Font Awesome library for the icons.

Creating the CSS styles

Now let's add some styles using CSS in the styles.css file:

/* Styles for the accordion */
#accordion {
  width: 100%;
}

.question {
  background-color: #f1f1f1;
  cursor: pointer;
  padding: 18px;
  border: none;
  transition: background-color .3s ease;
}

.question.is-open {
  background-color: #e9e9e9;
}

.question:focus {
  outline: none;
}

/* Styles for the accordion content */
.answer {
  padding: 0 18px;
  transition: max-height .5s ease;
  overflow: hidden;
  background-color: white;
  max-height: 0;
}

.question.is-open .answer {
  max-height: 300px;
}

Adding the accordion sitemap content

Now it's time to add your blog's categories and pages as accordions. Replace <!-- Accordion sitemap goes here --> with the following code in the sitemap.html file:

<div id="accordion">
  <button class="question" onclick="toggleAccordian(event)">
    Blog Categories
    <i class="fa fa-plus"></i>
  </button>
  <ul class="answer is-open">
    <li><a href="/category/category1">Category 1</a></li>
    <li><a href="/category/category2">Category 2</a></li>
    <!-- Add more categories as needed -->
  </ul>

  <button class="question" onclick="toggleAccordian(event)">
    Pages
    <i class="fa fa-plus"></i>
  </button>
  <ul class="answer">
    <li><a href="/page1">Page 1</a></li>
    <li><a href="/page2">Page 2</a></li>
    <!-- Add more pages as needed -->
  </ul>
</div>

Replace the placeholders (e.g., /category/category1) with your actual category and page URLs.

Putting it all together

Now that we have created our accordion sitemap, let's add it to your blog:

  1. Upload the sitemap.html file to your blog via FTP or the content management system (CMS) if available.
  2. If possible, create a custom menu in your CMS and assign the link to sitemap.html.
  3. Finally, update any links to your sitemap on your blog with the new URL.

With these steps completed, you now have an accordion sitemap for your blog!

Happy blogging! 😊

Published August, 2016