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Menu decision

Posted: Fri Dec 26, 2003 9:53 am
by aquila125
Hi there,


I got a pretty good running website which I build while learning about PHP and webstandards.. ofcourse the entire code is pure crap.. since then I learned a lot and I'm now working on a XHTML version of the site to replace this one...

The site has a lot of information on it. How can I create a good menu that makes navigating easy? I was thinking about using a javascript menu (gonna need about 3 levels) but that would exclude ppl who have (or cannot) use javascript enabled browsers (the website is about a foundation that works in South-America and Africa, so ppl with older pc's should be able to see the entire site)...

Are there still ppl that can't use javascript, or should i just head over to hotscripts.com and grab me a js script? (any know any good ones?)

Posted: Fri Dec 26, 2003 10:35 am
by Nay
If the site isn't too big on content. You might want to look into something like index.php?showmenu=2. That way everyone can see it but it's going to have to refresh before you can see the menu. Or stuff the menu in an iframe =\.

I'm sure most people have Javascript-able browers but there are still doubts since the locations of the places (South Africa -> IE 6 (Windows XP) -> MS -> $$ -> I doubt it).

-Nay

Posted: Fri Dec 26, 2003 1:37 pm
by McGruff
I find js to be pretty useless - people can have it turned off - and there are accessibility issues.

Add a chunk of <noscript> content if you do use js menus.

Posted: Fri Dec 26, 2003 1:43 pm
by aquila125
It still keeps me with the problem of having a lot of information I want to put on the site... I could build a refresh kinda menu, but if it's 3-4 levels deep the users have to click too much to get to it...

Posted: Fri Dec 26, 2003 2:01 pm
by McGruff
Couldn't find this link earlier (CSS menu) http://www.alistapart.com/articles/dropdowns/.

I'm not sure if this is a code issue though: maybe it's more about how to organise your content? Hard to say what to do without knowing more but maybe the site could be split up into different areas or you could create a large hyperlinked index.

Posted: Sat Dec 27, 2003 9:47 am
by aquila125
tnx!

Posted: Sat Dec 27, 2003 3:51 pm
by Fredix
McGruff wrote:(CSS menu)
not really! (as the author himself admits)

There is no pure HTML/CSS menu in the world today, at least none that I know. This is sad but true.

Concerning aquila125's problem:
Probably you will need to generate a static menu as this would meet the condition "old software-compatible & 0% JS"