sidebar sticking to the top of the page and not the top of the screen

I am new to web development and am currently developing a portfolio website based on django and bootstrap 5.3.3 and I have a problem with my sidebar sticking to the top of the page and not the top of the screen of the user (I need it to be visible to the user no matter where they are on the page). I have tried using the bootstrap class sticky-top, but it seems to not make any changes in its behavior. Here is my code:

<!doctype html>
<html lang="en">
  <head>
    <meta charset="utf-8">
    <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1">
    <title>My Portfolio</title>
    <link href="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/npm/bootstrap@5.3.3/dist/css/bootstrap.min.css" rel="stylesheet" integrity="sha384-QWTKZyjpPEjISv5WaRU9OFeRpok6YctnYmDr5pNlyT2bRjXh0JMhjY6hW+ALEwIH" crossorigin="anonymous">
    <link rel="stylesheet" href="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/npm/bootstrap-icons@1.8.1/font/bootstrap-icons.css">
  </head>
  <body>
    <div class="container-fluid sticky-top" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"> <!--rgb(52, 52, 52)-->
      <div class="row flex-nowrap">
        <!-- Start Navbar -->
          <div class="col-auto col-md-3 col-xl-2 px-sm-2 px-0 bg-dark">
              <div class="d-flex flex-column align-items-center align-items-sm-start px-3 pt-2 text-white min-vh-100">
                  <div class="dropdown pb-4">
                    <a href="#" class="d-flex align-items-center text-white text-decoration-none " id="dropdownUser1" data-bs-toggle="dropdown" aria-expanded="false">
                        <img src="https://github.com/mdo.png" alt="hugenerd" width="30" height="30" class="rounded-circle">
                        {% if user.is_authenticated %}
                        <span class="d-none d-sm-inline mx-1">{{user.username}}</span>
                        {% else %}
                        <span class="d-none d-sm-inline mx-1">Aleksandr Gruzdev</span>
                        {% endif %}
                    </a>
                    <!-- <ul class="dropdown-menu dropdown-menu-dark text-small shadow">
                        <li><a class="dropdown-item" href="#">New project...</a></li>
                        <li><a class="dropdown-item" href="#">Settings</a></li>
                        <li><a class="dropdown-item" href="#">Profile</a></li>
                        <li>
                            <hr class="dropdown-divider">
                        </li>
                        <li><a class="dropdown-item" href="#">Sign out</a></li>
                    </ul> -->
                </div>
                  <ul class="nav nav-pills flex-column mb-sm-auto mb-0 align-items-center align-items-sm-start" id="menu">
                      <li class="nav-item">
                          <a href="/" class="nav-link align-middle px-0">
                            <span class="ms-1 d-none d-sm-inline" style="font-size: x-large; color: rgb(20, 157, 221);"><i class="bi bi-house"></i>  Home</span>
                          </a>
                      </li>
                      <li>
                          <a href="/#about" class="nav-link px-0 align-middle mt-1">
                              <span class="ms-1 d-none d-sm-inline" style="font-size: x-large; color: rgb(20, 157, 221);"><i class="bi bi-person"></i> About</span></a>
                      </li>
                      <li>
                        <a href="#" class="nav-link px-0 align-middle mt-1">
                            <span class="ms-1 d-none d-sm-inline" style="font-size: x-large; color: rgb(20, 157, 221);"><i class="bi bi-images"></i> Resume</span></a>
                      </li>
                      <li>
                        <a href="#" class="nav-link px-0 align-middle mt-1">
                            <span class="ms-1 d-none d-sm-inline" style="font-size: x-large; color: rgb(20, 157, 221);"><i class="bi bi-hdd-stack"></i> Services</span></a>
                      </li>
                      <li>  
                        <a href="#projects" data-bs-toggle="collapse" class="nav-link px-0 align-middle dropdown-toggle mt-1" style="color: rgb(20, 157, 221);">
                            <span class="ms-1 d-none d-sm-inline" style="font-size: x-large; color: rgb(20, 157, 221);"><i class="bi bi-card-list"></i> Projects</span> </a>
                            <ul class="collapse nav flex-column ms-1" id="projects" data-bs-parent="#menu">
                            <li class="w-100">
                                <a href="blogpost" class="nav-link px-0" style="color: rgb(20, 157, 221);"> <span class="d-none d-sm-inline">Blog Post</span> </a>
                            </li>
                            <li>
                                <a href="/lekschat" class="nav-link px-0" style="color: rgb(20, 157, 221);"> <span class="d-none d-sm-inline">LeksChat™</span> </a>
                            </li>
                            <li>  
                              <a href="#game" data-bs-toggle="collapse" class="nav-link px-10 align-right dropdown-toggle" style="color: rgb(20, 157, 221);">
                                  <span class="ms-1 d-none d-sm-inline"><i class="bi bi-card-list"></i> Space Runner Game</span> </a>
                                  <ul class="collapse nav flex-column ms-1" id="game" data-bs-parent="#projects">
                                  <li>
                                      <a href="#" class="nav-link px-0" style="color: rgb(20, 157, 221);"> <span class="d-none d-sm-inline">Game</span> </a>
                                  </li>
                                  <li class="w-100">
                                      <a href="#" class="nav-link px-0" style="color: rgb(20, 157, 221);"> <span class="d-none d-sm-inline">Leaderboard</span> </a>
                                  </li>
                                  <li>
                                      <a href="#" class="nav-link px-0" style="color: rgb(20, 157, 221);"> <span class="d-none d-sm-inline">Personal Best</span> </a>
                                  </li>
                              </ul>
                            </li>
                        </ul>
                      </li>
                      <li>
                        <a href="#" class="nav-link px-0 align-middle mt-1">
                            <span class="ms-1 d-none d-sm-inline" style="font-size: x-large; color: rgb(20, 157, 221);"><i class="bi bi-envelope"></i> Contact</span></a>
                      </li>
                      <li>
                        {% if user.is_authenticated %}
                        <a href="logout" class="nav-link px-0 align-middle mt-1">
                            <span class="ms-1 d-none d-sm-inline" style="font-size: x-large; color: rgb(20, 157, 221);"><i class="bi bi-door-closed"></i> Log out</span></a>
                            {% if user.is_superuser %}
                              <a href="http://127.0.0.1:8000/admin/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" class="nav-link px-0 align-middle mt-1"><span class="ms-1 d-none d-sm-inline" style="font-size: x-large; color: rgb(20, 157, 221);"><i class="bi bi-door-closed"></i> Admin Panel</span></a>
                            {% endif %}
                        {% else %}
                        <a href="register" class="nav-link px-0 align-middle mt-1">
                            <span class="ms-1 d-none d-sm-inline" style="font-size: x-large; color: rgb(20, 157, 221);"><i class="bi bi-box-arrow-in-right"></i> Login or Signup</span></a>
                        {% endif %} 
                      </li>
                  </ul>
                  <hr>
              </div>
          </div>
            <!-- End navbar -->
            <div class="col py-3">
              <main class="main">
                {% block content %}
                {% endblock %}
              </main>
            </div>
        </div>
    </div>

    <script src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/npm/bootstrap@5.3.3/dist/js/bootstrap.bundle.min.js" integrity="sha384-YvpcrYf0tY3lHB60NNkmXc5s9fDVZLESaAA55NDzOxhy9GkcIdslK1eN7N6jIeHz" crossorigin="anonymous"></script>
  </body>
</html>

I have found this question already asked in the past, but the solution did not work for me, as well as the person who asked the question: How to set sidebar sticky in Bootstrap 5.2 ChatGPT also did not help. Other websites had confusing answers.

To make your sidebar sticky using Bootstrap 5.3.3, and ensure that it remains visible as the user scrolls down the page, you can follow these steps:

1. Ensure the Right Placement of sticky-top:

The sticky-top class needs to be applied directly to the element that you want to be sticky. In your case, you should apply sticky-top to the sidebar container (div with class col-auto col-md-3 col-xl-2 px-sm-2 px-0 bg-dark).

2. Adjust HTML Structure:

Make sure the sticky-top class is applied correctly and that the sidebar has a parent element with sufficient height for scrolling.

Here’s how your code should look:

html

Copy code

<!doctype html>
<html lang="en">
  <head>
    <meta charset="utf-8">
    <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1">
    <title>My Portfolio</title>
    <link href="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/npm/bootstrap@5.3.3/dist/css/bootstrap.min.css" rel="stylesheet" integrity="sha384-QWTKZyjpPEjISv5WaRU9OFeRpok6YctnYmDr5pNlyT2bRjXh0JMhjY6hW+ALEwIH" crossorigin="anonymous">
    <link rel="stylesheet" href="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/npm/bootstrap-icons@1.8.1/font/bootstrap-icons.css">
  </head>
  <body>
    <div class="container-fluid"> <!-- Removed sticky-top from here -->
      <div class="row flex-nowrap">
        <!-- Start Navbar -->
          <div class="col-auto col-md-3 col-xl-2 px-sm-2 px-0 bg-dark sticky-top"> <!-- Added sticky-top here -->
              <div class="d-flex flex-column align-items-center align-items-sm-start px-3 pt-2 text-white min-vh-100">
                  <div class="dropdown pb-4">
                    <a href="#" class="d-flex align-items-center text-white text-decoration-none " id="dropdownUser1" data-bs-toggle="dropdown" aria-expanded="false">
                        <img src="https://github.com/mdo.png" alt="hugenerd" width="30" height="30" class="rounded-circle">
                        {% if user.is_authenticated %}
                        <span class="d-none d-sm-inline mx-1">{{user.username}}</span>
                        {% else %}
                        <span class="d-none d-sm-inline mx-1">Aleksandr Gruzdev</span>
                        {% endif %}
                    </a>
                </div>
                  <ul class="nav nav-pills flex-column mb-sm-auto mb-0 align-items-center align-items-sm-start" id="menu">
                      <!-- Your nav items here -->
                  </ul>
                  <hr>
              </div>
          </div>
            <!-- End navbar -->
            <div class="col py-3">
              <main class="main">
                {% block content %}
                {% endblock %}
              </main>
            </div>
        </div>
    </div>

    <script src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/npm/bootstrap@5.3.3/dist/js/bootstrap.bundle.min.js" integrity="sha384-YvpcrYf0tY3lHB60NNkmXc5s9fDVZLESaAA55NDzOxhy9GkcIdslK1eN7N6jIeHz" crossorigin="anonymous"></script>
  </body>
</html>

3. CSS Considerations:

  • Ensure that the min-vh-100 class is applied to the sidebar container to make sure it takes up the full height of the viewport, which is already correctly applied in your code.
  • Double-check that there’s no conflicting CSS that might be affecting the sticky-top behavior.

4. JavaScript (Optional):

If the sticky-top class still does not work as expected, you might have to ensure no JavaScript (e.g., custom scroll handling) is interfering with it.

Summary:

  • Apply sticky-top directly to the sidebar container.
  • Ensure the sidebar’s parent element has enough height for scrolling.
  • Avoid placing sticky-top on the container surrounding the entire layout.

This setup should keep your sidebar fixed to the top of the screen as users scroll down the page.