Add container to nav_menu sub menu

Is there a way I can wrap a div around wp_nav_menu’s ul.sub-menu

So for example the markup would go from

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<ul class="menu">

    <li><a href="/">Item 1</a></li>
    <li>
        <a href="/">Item 2</a>

        <ul class="sub-menu">

            <li><a href="/">Item 1</a></li>
            <li><a href="/">Item 1</a></li>

        </ul>
   </li>
    <li><a href="/">Item 1</a></li>
    <li><a href="/">Item 1</a></li>

</ul>

to this

<ul class="menu">

    <li><a href="/">Item 1</a></li>
    <li>
        <a href="/">Item 2</a>

        <div class="sub-menu-wrap">

            <ul class="sub-menu">

                <li><a href="/">Item 1</a></li>
                <li><a href="/">Item 1</a></li>

            </ul>

        </div>

   </li>

    <li><a href="/">Item 1</a></li>
    <li><a href="/">Item 1</a></li>

</ul>

Where “sub-menu-wrap” is the custom div.

Is this possible?

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2 comments

  1. Use a custom walker, extend the methods start_lvl() and end_lvl.

    Sample code, not tested:

    class WPSE_78121_Sublevel_Walker extends Walker_Nav_Menu
    {
        function start_lvl( &$output, $depth = 0, $args = array() ) {
            $indent = str_repeat("t", $depth);
            $output .= "n$indent<div class='sub-menu-wrap'><ul class='sub-menu'>n";
        }
        function end_lvl( &$output, $depth = 0, $args = array() ) {
            $indent = str_repeat("t", $depth);
            $output .= "$indent</ul></div>n";
        }
    }
    

    Usage in your theme:

    wp_nav_menu(
        array (
            'theme_location' => 'your-theme-location-EDIT-THIS',
            'walker'         => new WPSE_78121_Sublevel_Walker
        )
    );
    
  2. Proposed solution does not play nice with WordPress – WordPress default code and filters are ignored. I am giving here much more elegant solution, which keeps all filters like ‘nav_menu_submenu_css_class’ and other WP default code functioning:

    <?php
    /**
     * Wraps sub-menus in div element
     */
    class My_Menu_Walker extends Walker_Nav_Menu {
    
        public function start_lvl( &$output, $depth = 0, $args = null ) {
            $output .=
            '<div class="wrapper">';
            parent::start_lvl($output, $depth, $args);
        }
    
        public function end_lvl( &$output, $depth = 0, $args = null ) {
            parent::end_lvl($output, $depth, $args);
            $output .= '</div>';
        }
    
    }