Folks:
I'm looking for a bolt-in PHP navigation menu package as follows:
--pure PHP: no JavaScript, etc.
--PHP5 compatible
--vertical menu, sub-leveling indicated by indentation
--css format control, per-level, and to indicate current focus
--arbitrary number of levels -- at least 5
--menu auto-expands (explodes) below node-of-current focus, collapses below others at same level
--text-only; no graphics at all
--menu data in a text file
--easy to add/modify/remove menu data file entries
--optional: site-map generation capability
--optional: data flag that makes a leaf item invisible
--use is free for non-commercial use, or very inexpensive
What I'm basically after is an analog of a printed book's table-of-contents, with the addition of auto-expansion of the node-of-current-focus and collapsing of others below the same level. In case this isn't clear, here's an example, with the current focus on Chapter 3:
Chapter 1 Topic Fee
Chapter 2 Topic Foo
CHAPTER 3 TOPIC FUM
Section 1 Some Fum stuff
Section 2 Some more Fum stuff
Section 3 Yet More Fum Details
Chapter 4 Topic Fie
Chapter 5 Topic Foe
....
Some unique formatting identifies the current focus -- I'm using all-caps here, which wouldn't be
realistic in actual use. If the user now clicks on "Chapter 2" he/she will see something like:
Chapter 1 Topic Fee
CHAPTER 2 TOPIC FOO
Section 1 Some more Foo stuff
Section 2 Still More Foo stuff
Chapter 3 Topic Fum
Chapter 4 Topic Fie
Chapter 5 Topic Foe
....
More about "easy to add/modify/remove entries": The underlying menu data must be maintainable with a text editor, and the data structure should be reasonable -- structural cues would be nice. (Some packages use XML or a CSV-style method.) My content should change quite a bit over time and I don't want to be afraid to make corresponding menu changes for fear of breaking it.
More about "data flag that makes a leaf item invisible": In some cases where the terminal (leaf) entries are very numerous, I'd like the option to set a flag in their entries that signals "never display this entry". This seems like the most sensible way of maintaining consistency and keeping menu size within limits.
Background: I'm a volunteer developing several public-service sites which will be used primarily by older people, who I think need familiar, very simple navigation and prefer minimal glitz. There's only me doing the work, almost no time for testing, so I need an approach that's most likely to work on most modern browsers. On one of my sites I've using the PEAR package HTML_menu, (pear.php.net/package/HTML_Menu) which comes close to meeting all my needs. However, it stores menu data in nested arrays, which I find awkward to maintain and treacherous: one parenthesis too many or too few and everything breaks.
TIA,
Henry
seeking navigation menu code
Moderator: General Moderators
Re: seeking navigation menu code
You will do much better looking at a scripts site than posting in a code forum. Some suggestions:
http://www.scripts.com/php-scripts/
http://php.resourceindex.com/
http://www.hotscripts.com/
http://gscripts.net/
http://www.scripts.com/php-scripts/
http://php.resourceindex.com/
http://www.hotscripts.com/
http://gscripts.net/
Re: seeking navigation menu code
Califdon:
Thanks for your suggestion. I've been through the usual script sites --including most of those you suggested-- and collected a mind-boggling number of "possibles" but very few of them come close to meeting my needs. It's really time-consuming and tedious to evaluate one script after another, especially as I find it necessary to install the (usually supplied) demo to see what the script _actually_ does. I was hoping someone who has been through this before would recognize the issue and suggest what he/she used.
Thanks,
Henry
Thanks for your suggestion. I've been through the usual script sites --including most of those you suggested-- and collected a mind-boggling number of "possibles" but very few of them come close to meeting my needs. It's really time-consuming and tedious to evaluate one script after another, especially as I find it necessary to install the (usually supplied) demo to see what the script _actually_ does. I was hoping someone who has been through this before would recognize the issue and suggest what he/she used.
Thanks,
Henry
- Bill H
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Re: seeking navigation menu code
Well, building websites that meet specific criteria is, by its very nature, time consuming. Short cuts and trying to get others to do the work for you seldom pays off.It's really time-consuming and tedious to evaluate one script after another,