Showing submenu for an icon button - html

Question

I try to create a navigation menu. Some of the items should get a submenu which will be shown by clicking/hovering the arrow-icon.
But I got some problems to position the submenu correctly
JSFiddle: http://jsfiddle.net/g651mwdu/
<nav>
<div class="nav-button-group"> <span class="nav-button-group-title">Title</span>
<div class="nav-button-container"> <span class='fa fa-plus button-icon'></span>
<span class="button-text">Add</span>
<div class="button-arrow-down"></div>
<div class="submenu">Show some more elements</div>
</div>
<div class="nav-button-container"> <span class='fa fa-cog button-icon'></span>
<span class="button-text">Change</span>
<div class="button-arrow-down"></div>
</div>
<div class="nav-button-container"> <span class='fa fa-link button-icon'></span>
<span class="button-text">Link</span>
</div>
<div class="nav-button-container"> <span class='fa fa-comment-o button-icon'></span>
<span class="button-text">Tooltip</span>
</div>
<div class="nav-button-container"> <span class='fa fa-trash-o button-icon'></span>
<span class="button-text">Remove</span>
</div>
</div>
</nav>
CSS
.nav-button-container {
display: inline-block;
width: 2em;
height: 2.5em;
padding: .25em;
text-align: center;
color: #555;
}
.button-text {
display: block;
font-size: .5em;
margin: .5em 0;
}
.button-icon {
vertical-align: middle;
font-size: 1.3em;
}
.button-arrow-down {
width: 0;
height: 0;
border-left: 5px solid transparent;
border-right: 5px solid transparent;
border-top: 5px solid #B4B4B4;
margin: 0 auto;
}
.line-separator {
display: inline-block;
width: 1em;
}
nav {
background-color: #f2f2f2;
padding: .3em 0;
border-radius: 7px;
}
.nav-button-group {
display: inline-block;
background-color: #fafafa;
padding: .3em;
border-radius: 5px;
}
.nav-button-group-title {
display: block;
font-weight: bold;
font-size: .7em;
color: #555;
padding: 0 .5em;
background-color: #F2F2F2;
border-radius: 4px;
}

Answer 1

Is this what you are trying to achieve (navigation with font awesome icons aligned to the drop-down text)?
You're using buttons to build your menu which isn't necessary (or recommended). Use ul unordered lists and list items li to build your nav. Then inserting icons is pretty straight forward.
<li><i class="fa fa-pencil-square-o fa-fw"></i> Drafts
Example Snippet
.navbar {
border-radius: 0px;
}
.dropdown-submenu {
position: relative;
}
.dropdown-submenu > .dropdown-menu {
top: 0;
left: 100%;
margin-top: -6px;
margin-left: -1px;
-webkit-border-radius: 0px;
-moz-border-radius: 0px 6px 6px 6px;
border-radius: 0px;
}
.dropdown-submenu:hover > .dropdown-menu {
display: block;
}
.dropdown-submenu > a:after {
display: block;
content: " ";
float: right;
width: 0px;
height: 0px;
border-color: transparent;
border-style: solid;
border-width: 5px 0px 5px 5px;
border-left-color: #cccccc;
margin-top: 5px;
margin-right: -10px;
}
.dropdown-submenu:hover > a:after {
border-left-color: #ffffff;
}
.dropdown-submenu.pull-left {
float: none;
}
.dropdown-submenu.pull-left > .dropdown-menu {
left: -100%;
margin-left: 10px;
-webkit-border-radius: 6px 0px 6px 6px;
-moz-border-radius: 6px 0px 6px 6px;
border-radius: 6px 0px 6px 6px;
}
<script src="https://ajax.googleapis.com/ajax/libs/jquery/1.11.1/jquery.min.js"></script>
<script src="https://maxcdn.bootstrapcdn.com/bootstrap/3.3.5/js/bootstrap.min.js"></script>
<link href="https://cdnjs.cloudflare.com/ajax/libs/font-awesome/4.3.0/css/font-awesome.css" rel="stylesheet" />
<link href="https://maxcdn.bootstrapcdn.com/bootstrap/3.3.5/css/bootstrap.min.css" rel="stylesheet" />
<nav role="navigation" class="navbar navbar-inverse">
<!-- Brand and toggle get grouped for better mobile display -->
<div class="navbar-header">
<button type="button" data-target="#navbarCollapse" data-toggle="collapse" class="navbar-toggle"> <span class="sr-only">Toggle navigation</span>
<span class="icon-bar"></span>
<span class="icon-bar"></span>
<span class="icon-bar"></span>
</button> Brand
</div>
<!-- Collection of nav links, forms, and other content for toggling -->
<div id="navbarCollapse" class="collapse navbar-collapse">
<ul class="nav navbar-nav">
<li class="active">Home
</li>
<li>Profile
</li>
<li class="dropdown"> <a data-toggle="dropdown" class="dropdown-toggle" href="#">Messages <b class="caret"></b></a>
<ul role="menu" class="dropdown-menu">
<li><i class="fa fa-envelope-o fa-fw"></i> Inbox
</li>
<li><i class="fa fa-pencil-square-o fa-fw"></i> Drafts
</li>
<li><i class="fa fa-paper-plane-o fa-fw"></i> Sent Items
</li>
<li class="divider"></li>
<li><i class="fa fa-trash-o fa-fw"></i> Trash
</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li>Hello
</li>
<li class="dropdown"> <a data-toggle="dropdown" class="dropdown-toggle" href="#">Things <b class="caret"></b></a>
<ul role="menu" class="dropdown-menu">
<li><i class="fa fa-envelope-o fa-fw"></i> Inbox
</li>
<li><i class="fa fa-pencil-square-o fa-fw"></i> Drafts
</li>
<li><i class="fa fa-paper-plane-o fa-fw"></i> Sent Items
</li>
<li class="divider"></li>
<li><i class="fa fa-trash-o fa-fw"></i> Trash
<li class="dropdown-submenu"> <a tabindex="-1" href="#"><i class="fa fa-hand-o-right fa-fw"></i> Profile</a>
<ul class="dropdown-menu">
<li><a tabindex="-1" href="#"><i class="fa fa-calendar-o fa-fw"></i> Account</a>
</li>
<li><a tabindex="-1" href="#"><i class="fa fa-folder-open-o fa-fw"></i> Users</a>
</li>
<li><a tabindex="-1" href="#"><i class="fa fa-file-o fa-fw"></i> Login</a>
</li>
</ul>
</li>
</li>
</ul>
</li>
</ul>
<ul class="nav navbar-nav navbar-right">
<li>Login
</li>
</ul>
</div>
</nav>