Topic awaiting preservation: MENUS (im Lost as M-F) (Page 1 of 1)

Ok, i know next to nothing about any of this, So please be patient with me.
What i want to do is set up a complex menu, which i can do, i need no help with that. What i need help with seems simple to me but i have No clue how to do it, or if its possible.

First off, i am using NO frames. I want a menu that i can change with out changing it on every page, so like i want to link the menu with out using frames to all my pages with only adding a small bit of code that tells them to load the doc with my menu code in it, actually i do believe the ultimate menu did this, but i don't know how. i looked at the code tryed to work it with what i had. and got nothing.

Yes i have no spelling grammer..... But if you know what i mean please help. There has to be a way, i want the same menu on over 50 pages that will be changing all the time, i just can't sit down and edit 50 pages when i need to change one small thing. no time for that. but i do want to have a nice drop menu for visitors to navigate with.

Thanks alot for your time.

-Kiluad-

The poster has demanded we remove all his contributions, less he takes legal action.
We have done so.
Now Tyberius Prime expects him to start complaining that we removed his 'free speech' since this message will replace all of his posts, past and future.
Don't follow his example - seek real life help first.

besides coolmenus:
http://milonic.com/menu/
http://brothercake.com/dropdown/

and a nice weird little thing:
http://www.youngpup.net/?request=/components/ypSlideOutMenus.xml

I've seen some very nice ones by Doc that were similr in function to the youngpup version above but as far as I know he's never posted the source anywhere for grabs

Jason

There are several ways to do this depending on what you have access to.

The most reliable way to do it is to use the server to include the menu code on each page before it shows in the browser.

This you can do by placing all your menu code in pne separate file and then include it in all your pages by using SSI (Server Side Includes), PHP (the include() function) ASP, JSP. All depending on what your host provides.

If you are in a situation where you can't use the server for this you can accomplish this with javascript as well.

Take a look here:

SSI: http://www.gurusnetwork.com/tutorials/ssi/ssi1_intro.html
PHP: http://www.gurusnetwork.com/tutorials/php/phptemplate/phptemplate.html
Javascript: http://www.gurusnetwork.com/tutorials/javascript/javascriptssi.html

One of these should point you in the right direction.
/Dan

{cell 260}
-{ a vibration is a movement that doesn't know which way to go }-

My eyes hurt. ::: This might be totally of what you are looking for, but have you tried setting up a generic menu that you would like to use for the entire site and then creating a library item in DW for it? That's if you use DW.

This is kinda a strange idea, but here it goes....

I wrote a M$ VB program that writes all my javascript for me -- once I got the JS running properly I made the program to write all the pages I needed. Used it to write a web site that used a master page and various sub masters (it even makes the thumbnails!), I made a web site of over 1500 images, with thumbnails and about 250 "individual" web pages in less than 2 hours time. So perhaps the way for you to do it is indirectly -- figure out what the javascript needs to do and then automate the process!!

Good luck!

Question related to Ini's and JK's reply -

Does anyone know of any resources for a more simplified version of such drop down menus?

The problem I have is, simply, I don't need or want that much power!
I'm trying to workout a simple single level drop down - one row of links (4 or 5 total), each link having a single drop down menu with maybe 2-5 links in it.

I don't want multiple nested levels, I don't want IE4 or NN4 support, I don't want the javascript to generate my links, or sepcify my CSS or make tables, or anything else. All I want it to do is to toggle the visibility of the div appropriately on mouseover, and leave it visible while the mouse is over the link or the menu (plus a little delay after mouseout).

I tried playing with Mr. Max's wonderful little layers as pages script to make it do what I want, but javascript and I just don't get along very well =)

All my searches turn up these huge elaborate powerful machines that will do just about everything and anything...but they're just far more than I need and it feels akward using a monstrous solution for a small thing like what I'm after.

So, any ideas? Am I asking too much? Or am I simply not seeing an obvious solution?
anu suggestions appreciated...

DL, one Q...
Should it be for a fluid site or a fixed size...?
/Dan

{cell 260}
-{ a vibration is a movement that doesn't know which way to go }-

http://www.youngpup.net/?request=/components/ypSlideOutMenus.xml

this on is single level, very simple, very cusomizeable and has an extremely pleasing animation factor to the slideouts, like Doc O smoove baby.

you can config it to go up down or sideways, text links, graphical, image maps or rollovers mostly just by knowing html, the js is pretty self contained and seperated from the presentation, tho even I was able to follow and tweak the js, and that's sayin something right there

Jason

[edit] oh yeah, I think it meets every criteria you set forth to a T. Holler if you'd like any point in the right direction in beginning to tear into it (no instruction or help on his site, just some good examples), once you figure it out you see how simple and flexible it really is.

[This message has been edited by JKMabry (edited 06-30-2003).]

JK - I'll have to llok through the code on that one again when I get home, but I recall not liking that one either. It is very nice, and the motion is cool, but again - it's just far more than I want or need.

DmS - well, this particualr site that I'll need it for will be a little fo both.

However, ideally, it wouldn't matter - the position is all done with CSS and I don't want this script I use to have any invollvement in that. That's a big part of the reason that I haven't liked any of these premade pacakges. I'm hoping for really barebones here.

I've been tinkering with MrMax's script and have come to verying degrees of "near" success...perhaps I should just keep plugging away at that and hope for the best. Any suggestions on that front?

Anyway, I appreciate the replies.

=)

DL
This page: http://www.dmsproject.com/test/team24/projprocess.html

has basically the same base of code as the one you have been working on, might parts of this be interesting?
/Dan

{cell 260}
-{ a vibration is a movement that doesn't know which way to go }-

Well, I played around a bit more, and realized that - as is often the case - I was overthinking the problem.

With a little help from a script my father wrote (but which unfortunately didn't work in Opera) I made a slight variation to Mr Max's script and came up with this - http://www.in-dented.com/temp/drop_down_menu.html

The CSS can obviously be as simple or as complex as you want, but the .js is nice and simple and unobtrusive.

Very nice and bare man, you done did what you set out to do. That's the smallest I've ever seen, very nice.

Jason

Compliments DL !
Well done and a very nice addition with the timer

And it really looks good.
Works fine and dandy in Opera 7, IE6, Mozilla
(it breaks in NS4 but you probably don't care about, right?)

The script in itself supports NS4 I'm guessing that the prob there is something with NS not recognising the mouseovers.
/Dan

{cell 260}
-{ a vibration is a movement that doesn't know which way to go }-

Thanks, but I don't get any credit for this - I basically just mashed two seperate parts of two paritally working scripts together =)

And yeah, NN4 and IE4 I'm not worried about - though it does work fine in IE 4 (and I know Mr Max coded his script to work in NN4).

The poster has demanded we remove all his contributions, less he takes legal action.
We have done so.
Now Tyberius Prime expects him to start complaining that we removed his 'free speech' since this message will replace all of his posts, past and future.
Don't follow his example - seek real life help first.