Description

A split button groups actions together in a Drop-down Menu, with one primary action and a set of related actions.

Usage & Behavior

General guidelines

Structure

The split button consists of:

an action area, with a label or icon showing the primary action.
an arrow icon.

The separator between these two areas signals that they have different actions.

The arrow icon opens an action menu, as a Drop-down Menu.

Content

The label in the action area should be the primary action.
The width of the action menu should adapt to the longest option, up to a maximum width. Where options are too long they should be truncated with a tooltip displaying the full text shown on hover.

See the main Buttons information for guidelines on labels.

See Drop-down Menu for the order of options.

Internal Logic

The action area and the drop-down arrow area are treated as 2 distinct buttons, with their own separate states. For example, they have separate hover states:

Split Buttons Hover Menu.png

The primary action should also be shown in the action menu.
The button has 2 modes of operations:
- Persistent split button - the default action is kept until the user makes a different selection, which then becomes the default.
- Fixed split button - the primary action is kept as the default, even when the user selects another option.
The action menu closes when the user makes a selection.

States

	Regular	Enter
Regular
Hover
Active
Disabled
Focused
Focused, Hover
Focused, Active

Interaction

Clicking the left-hand action area triggers the primary action.
Clicking the right-hand drop-down arrow opens an action menu of alternative actions.
Clicking an action in the Action Menu triggers the related action.

Best practice

Use:

when there are many possible related actions, but only one primary action.
if the actions are related but only one of the actions is commonly used.

Don't use:

as a form element.
for navigation → use Links.
when there are a lot of related actions (more than 5 or 6) → consider using an Action Menu.

Accessibility compliance

Unless otherwise specified, see our general compliance information in Fundamentals - Accessibility.

Focus management

Keyboard	Description
Tab	Navigates to the next component.
Shift + Tab	Navigates to the previous component.
Space	Opens the menu. For the Action menu’s focus management see https://kanasoftware.jira.com/wiki/spaces/UserExp/pages/918917536/Action+Menus#Focus-management.
Enter	Applies the current action.
Esc	N/A
Arrows	Up/Down - Opens the menu.

Design

Zeplin link

Screen thumbnail

https://zpl.io/Q0Alg9n

https://zpl.io/vMgvGOY

Code

<link rel="stylesheet" href="https://ux.verint.com/bootstrap-4.0.0/dist/fonts/css/verint_lux.css">
<link rel="stylesheet" href="https://ux.verint.com/bootstrap-4.0.0/dist/css/bootstrap.css">
<script src="https://ajax.googleapis.com/ajax/libs/jquery/3.3.1/jquery.min.js"></script>
<script src="https://ux.verint.com/bootstrap-4.0.0/dist/js/bootstrap.bundle.js"></script>
<script src="https://ux.verint.com/bootstrap-4.0.0/dist/other/bootstrap-tooltip-custom-class.js"></script>
<script src="https://ux.verint.com/bootstrap-4.0.0/dist/other/accessibility.js"></script>
<script src="https://ux.verint.com/bootstrap-4.0.0/dist/other/prism.min.js"></script>
<link rel="stylesheet" href="https://ux.verint.com/bootstrap-4.0.0/dist/other/prism-coy.min.css">


<div class="card">
			<div class="card-header">Split Button <button id="toggleMarkup" type="button" class="btn btn-sm btn-outline-primary btn btn-fixed-width float-right m-0" onclick="$('pre' ).toggle()">Toggle Markup</button></div>
			<div class="card-body">
				<form>
					<div class="form-group row">
						<label for="inputKey" class="col-lg-2 col-form-label col-form-label-sm">Regular</label>
						<div class="col-lg-4">
							<div class="btn-group">
								<button type="button" class="btn btn-outline-light btn-sm btn-fixed-width">Split Button</button>
								<button type="button" class="btn btn-outline-light btn-sm dropdown-toggle dropdown-toggle-split" data-toggle="dropdown" data-offset="-120" aria-haspopup="true" aria-expanded="false">
									<span class="sr-only">Toggle Dropdown</span>
								</button>
								<div class="dropdown-menu dropdown-menu-sm">
									<a class="dropdown-item" href="#">First Option</a> <a class="dropdown-item" href="#">Second Option</a> <a class="dropdown-item" href="#">Third Option</a> <a class="dropdown-item" href="#">Fourth Option</a>
									<div class="dropdown-divider"></div>
									<a class="dropdown-item" href="#">Fifth Option</a>
								</div>
							</div>
						</div>
						<div class="col-lg-6">
							<pre class="language-html"><code><script type="prism-html-markup"><div class="btn-group">
	<button type="button" class="btn btn-outline-light btn-sm btn-fixed-width">Split Button</button>
	<button type="button" class="btn btn-outline-light btn-sm dropdown-toggle dropdown-toggle-split" data-toggle="dropdown" data-offset="-120" aria-haspopup="true" aria-expanded="false">
		<span class="sr-only">Toggle Dropdown</span>
	</button>
	<div class="dropdown-menu dropdown-menu-sm">
		<a class="dropdown-item" href="#">First Option</a>
		<a class="dropdown-item" href="#">Second Option</a>
		<a class="dropdown-item" href="#">Third Option</a>
		<a class="dropdown-item" href="#">Fourth Option</a>
		<div class="dropdown-divider"></div>
		<a class="dropdown-item" href="#">Fifth Option</a>
	</div>
</div></script></code></pre>
						</div>
					</div>
					<div class="form-group row">
						<label for="inputKey" class="col-lg-2 col-form-label col-form-label-sm">Disabled</label>
						<div class="col-lg-4">
							<div class="btn-group">
								<button type="button" class="btn btn-outline-light btn-sm btn-fixed-width" disabled>Split Button</button>
								<button type="button" class="btn btn-outline-light btn-sm dropdown-toggle dropdown-toggle-split" data-toggle="dropdown" data-offset="-120" aria-haspopup="true" aria-expanded="false" disabled>
									<span class="sr-only">Toggle Dropdown</span>
								</button>
								<div class="dropdown-menu dropdown-menu-sm">
									<a class="dropdown-item" href="#">First Option</a> <a class="dropdown-item" href="#">Second Option</a> <a class="dropdown-item" href="#">Third Option</a> <a class="dropdown-item" href="#">Fourth Option</a>
									<div class="dropdown-divider"></div>
									<a class="dropdown-item" href="#">Fifth Option</a>
								</div>
							</div>
						</div>
						<div class="col-lg-6">
							<pre class="language-html"><code><script type="prism-html-markup"><div class="btn-group">
	<button type="button" class="btn btn-outline-light btn-sm btn-fixed-width" disabled>Split Button</button>
	<button type="button" class="btn btn-outline-light btn-sm dropdown-toggle dropdown-toggle-split" data-toggle="dropdown" data-offset="-120" aria-haspopup="true" aria-expanded="false" disabled>
		<span class="sr-only">Toggle Dropdown</span>
	</button>
	<div class="dropdown-menu dropdown-menu-sm">
		<a class="dropdown-item" href="#">First Option</a>
		<a class="dropdown-item" href="#">Second Option</a>
		<a class="dropdown-item" href="#">Third Option</a>
		<a class="dropdown-item" href="#">Fourth Option</a>
		<div class="dropdown-divider"></div>
		<a class="dropdown-item" href="#">Fifth Option</a>
	</div>
</div></script></code></pre>
						</div>
					</div>
					<div class="form-group row">
						<label for="inputKey" class="col-lg-2 col-form-label col-form-label-sm">Error</label>
						<div class="col-lg-4">
							<div class="btn-group">
								<button type="button" class="btn btn-outline-light btn-sm btn-fixed-width is-invalid">Split Button</button>
								<button type="button" class="btn btn-outline-light btn-sm dropdown-toggle dropdown-toggle-split is-invalid" data-toggle="dropdown" data-offset="-118" aria-haspopup="true" aria-expanded="false">
									<span class="sr-only">Toggle Dropdown</span>
								</button>
								<div class="dropdown-menu dropdown-menu-sm">
									<a class="dropdown-item" href="#">First Option</a> <a class="dropdown-item" href="#">Second Option</a> <a class="dropdown-item" href="#">Third Option</a> <a class="dropdown-item" href="#">Fourth Option</a>
									<div class="dropdown-divider"></div>
									<a class="dropdown-item" href="#">Fifth Option</a>
								</div>
							</div>
						</div>
						<div class="col-lg-6">
							<pre class="language-html"><code><script type="prism-html-markup"><div class="btn-group">
	<button type="button" class="btn btn-outline-light btn-sm btn-fixed-width is-invalid">Split Button</button>
	<button type="button" class="btn btn-outline-light btn-sm dropdown-toggle dropdown-toggle-split is-invalid" data-toggle="dropdown" data-offset="-118" aria-haspopup="true" aria-expanded="false">
		<span class="sr-only">Toggle Dropdown</span>
	</button>
	<div class="dropdown-menu dropdown-menu-sm">
		<a class="dropdown-item" href="#">First Option</a>
		<a class="dropdown-item" href="#">Second Option</a>
		<a class="dropdown-item" href="#">Third Option</a>
		<a class="dropdown-item" href="#">Fourth Option</a>
		<div class="dropdown-divider"></div>
		<a class="dropdown-item" href="#">Fifth Option</a>
	</div>
</div></script></code></pre>
						</div>
					</div>
				</form>
			</div>
		</div>