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Sticky Menu & Sticky Header

By WebFactory

Design & Themes / Themes & Templates

Sticky Menu & Sticky Header Review - In-Depth Analysis

Sticky Menu or Sticky Header allows you to stick elements at the top of the screen when scrolling. Create floating menus or fixed widgets easily.

Performance Overview

WPS Score

6.8/10

User Rating

4.7/5 (based on 757+ reviews)

Active Installations

90,000+

Update Frequency

Below Average It is calculated using the weighted average of same category plugins.

Security Score

3 / 10 (Low Risk) It is calculated using the weighted average of all versions.

What It Does

The Sticky Menu or Sticky Header On Scroll plugin allows you to make any element on your pages sticky as soon as it hits the top of the page when you scroll down. Although this is commonly used to keep menus at the top of your page to create floating menus, the plugin allows you to make any element sticky. You can create a sticky header, sticky menu, sticky widget, sticky logo, or a floating menu.

To make an element sticky, you just need to pick the right selector for the element you want to make sticky. It must be a unique selector. Sometimes a simple selector like 'nav', '#main-menu', or '.menu-main-menu-1' is enough. Other times, you may need to use a more specific selector.

Features include the ability to stick any element, set positioning from the top, enable stickiness for certain screen sizes, and select specific pages where the element should be sticky. You can also manage Z-index and use Debug Mode to troubleshoot issues.

Comparing to Alternatives

Sticky Menu & Sticky Header stands out among similar plugins for its simplicity and reliability in keeping menus and headers fixed during scroll.

Top alternatives

Sticky Menu & Sticky Header

Strengths

Easy to use with minimal setup
Effectively keeps menus and headers visible on scroll
Lightweight and does not impact site performance significantly
Flexible options for different sticky elements

Weaknesses

Limited advanced customization without pro version
Some users find it challenging to use within complex column layouts
Lacks extensive styling options
Pro features may be necessary for full functionality

User Sentiment Analysis

User feedback highlights the plugin's effectiveness and simplicity, though some note minor usability issues.

Positive highlights

'Good experience' - hasib531
'It solves a big problem. Thanks!' - truejoke
'I like simple fixes. Sticky Menu & Sticky Header delivers~!' - markster67
'Good to use!' - Taeseok Kim
'After installing STICKY MENU plugin all my issues with the Navigation Menu were resolved.' - gilovalen0217

Common complaints

Difficulty using within column layouts
Limited advanced customization options
Some users desire more styling flexibility

Weaknesses

Not very sticky in complex layouts
Requires learning curve for certain configurations
Pro features needed for enhanced control

Who Should Use This?

Best for

Users seeking a straightforward, reliable solution to keep menus or headers visible during scrolling will find this plugin ideal, especially those who prefer minimal setup and lightweight tools.

Not ideal for

Those needing extensive customization or advanced sticky behaviors in complex layouts may find this plugin limiting without the pro version or additional development.

Pricing & Value

Free version includes

The free version offers essential sticky functionality for menus and headers with basic customization options, suitable for most standard uses.

Pro version (39 - 99 USD / year)

The pro version typically includes advanced customization, support for multiple sticky elements, enhanced styling options, and priority support.

Final Verdict

Sticky Menu & Sticky Header is a dependable and user-friendly plugin that effectively addresses the common need for sticky navigation elements on WordPress sites.

While it excels in simplicity and performance, users requiring advanced features or complex layout support may need to consider the pro version or alternative solutions.

Other Notable Features

Here are a few other notable features of this free Sticky Menu & Sticky Header plugin.

Sticky Menu

Sticky Header

Floating Menu

Screenshots

FAQ

Sure, WP Sticky PRO has that option. You can make as many elements sticky as you like and configure settings individually for each element.

This mode is only available in Legacy Mode, and to properly explain this, we’ll need to go a little deeper in the plugin’s functionality. So bear with me…

In Legacy Mode, when an element becomes sticky at the top of the page (and keeps its place regardless of the scrolling), it’s actually not the element itself you see, but a cloned copy of it, while the actual original element is out of view and invisible.

The original element always stays where it originally is on the page, while the cloned element is always at the top of the browser viewport screen. However, you will never see them both at the same time; depending on your scroll position, it always just shows either one or the other.

In the original plugin version, the clone would be created right the moment when you load the page (but not visible right away). Then when you would scroll down, it would become visible (and stick at the top), while the original element would disappear from view.

However, some themes use JavaScript to dynamically create elements (menus, mostly) for mobile sites. With this method, a menu doesn’t exist in the HTML source code when you load the page, but is created some time after the page is fully loaded — in many cases, these menus would just be generated ONLY when the screen is more (or less) than a certain specific width. With the original version of the plugin, the problem would be that the original element (that you want to make sticky) may not have been fully created upon page load, so the clone would also not be fully functional.

Enter Dynamic Mode. Now, a clone of the element is not created on page load — instead, it’s only created when the user scrolls and hits the “sticky” point. This ensures that the cloned element is an actual 1-on-1 copy of what the original element consists of at that specific point in time (and not at the “page is loaded” point, which may be different if the element was altered since).

Why don’t we use Dynamic Mode all the time then? This has to do with the fact that other plugins initialize themselves on page load and may need the full markup (including the cloned element) at that point. In Dynamic Mode, there is no clone available yet on page load, so that could cause an issue if that other plugin is looking for an element that doesn’t exist yet.

(This may all sound terribly confusing. And it is! So, much work was done to fix this nonsense: since v2.0 of the plugin, a whole different method is being used to make elements sticky, and Dynamic Mode is not even an issue anymore.)

Phew!