Yes, it is possible… All you need is to write your own Walker class. Here’s a starting point:
class My_Custom_Walker_Nav_Menu extends Walker_Nav_Menu {
public function start_lvl( &$output, $depth = 0, $args = array() ) {
if ( $depth ) {
$output .= '<aside><a href="#" class="custom-class">Sub Menu Trigger</a><div>';
}
}
public function end_lvl( &$output, $depth = 0, $args = array() ) {
if ( $depth ) {
$output .= '</div></aside>';
}
}
public function start_el( &$output, $item, $depth = 0, $args = array(), $id = 0 ) {
$args = apply_filters( 'nav_menu_item_args', $args, $item, $depth );
$atts = array();
$atts['title'] = ! empty( $item->attr_title ) ? $item->attr_title : '';
$atts['target'] = ! empty( $item->target ) ? $item->target : '';
$atts['rel'] = ! empty( $item->xfn ) ? $item->xfn : '';
$atts['href'] = ! empty( $item->url ) ? $item->url : '';
$atts = apply_filters( 'nav_menu_link_attributes', $atts, $item, $args, $depth );
$attributes="";
foreach ( $atts as $attr => $value ) {
if ( ! empty( $value ) ) {
$value = ( 'href' === $attr ) ? esc_url( $value ) : esc_attr( $value );
$attributes .= ' ' . $attr . '="' . $value . '"';
}
}
$title = apply_filters( 'the_title', $item->title, $item->ID );
$title = apply_filters( 'nav_menu_item_title', $title, $item, $args, $depth );
$item_output = $args->before;
$item_output .= '<a'. $attributes .'>';
$item_output .= $args->link_before . $title . $args->link_after;
$item_output .= '</a>';
$item_output .= $args->after;
$output .= apply_filters( 'walker_nav_menu_start_el', $item_output, $item, $depth, $args );
}
public function end_el( &$output, $item, $depth = 0, $args = array() ) {
// don't do anything - elements have no endings
}
}