Newbie: Developing drop down menus for website - where do I start?

[Tester]

Hello there,

In summary:
Any good websites / resources that explain how to develop cross browser
compatible, drop down menus (in JavaScript I assume) for my website.

In detail:

I would like to implement the drop down menus that seem to be getting more
and more popular on websites. Whilst an experienced programmer with basic
experience in JavaScript and DHTML, I am not sure how one would go about
creating drop down menus.

My searched on the internet have got me looking at two options,
1. Buy some package that generates them for me such as:
http://software.xfx.net/utilities/dmbuilder/

2. Learn how to do them myself from scratch using code resources that are
available on the web such as:
http://www.aspandjavascript.co.uk/javascript/drop_down_menu_tutorial_version_2/default.asp

My problem is that I am limited on time and I was beginning to think that
spending time learning how to use the package might take just as long to
find some free code and learn how to implement it myself. But I am at a bit
of a loss with regard to placement of the menus and have so far only
implemented HTML websites with JavaScript for functional purposes (E.g.
verification etc.).

Any help would be greatly appreciated even if you point me to a more
appropriate Newsgroup.

Kind regards,

Dave

 

[msswasstastic]

Find a page that has one and rip the code off.

Just be sure the main links (the top ones you see before the menu
expands down) are clickable to their own pages where those dropdown
menu items will be for those with JS disabled.

I'm personally against these JS menus since they cut down on banner
views on the gateway pages, thus ad revneue.

 

[Tester]

Find a page that has one and rip the code off.

Just be sure the main links (the top ones you see before the menu
expands down) are clickable to their own pages where those dropdown
menu items will be for those with JS disabled.

Hmmm, I did try this but found that the code seemed to access many different
files and so I never had the complete code. Any examples of a page where I
could copy the code and then customise it with my own links.

Regards

Dave

 

[Richard]

Hello there,

In summary:
Any good websites / resources that explain how to develop cross browser
compatible, drop down menus (in JavaScript I assume) for my website.

In detail:

I would like to implement the drop down menus that seem to be getting more
and more popular on websites. Whilst an experienced programmer with basic
experience in JavaScript and DHTML, I am not sure how one would go about
creating drop down menus.

My searched on the internet have got me looking at two options,
1. Buy some package that generates them for me such as:
http://software.xfx.net/utilities/dmbuilder/

2. Learn how to do them myself from scratch using code resources that are
available on the web such as:
http://www.aspandjavascript.co.uk/javascript/drop_down_menu_tutorial_versi
on_2/default.asp

My problem is that I am limited on time and I was beginning to think that
spending time learning how to use the package might take just as long to
find some free code and learn how to implement it myself. But I am at a
bit of a loss with regard to placement of the menus and have so far only
implemented HTML websites with JavaScript for functional purposes (E.g.
verification etc.).

Any help would be greatly appreciated even if you point me to a more
appropriate Newsgroup.

Kind regards,

Dave

www.dynamicdrive.com
www.hotscripts.com

Actually, a good editor will have the "combo box" menu script already to
apply.
The problem is, deciding what exactly it is you want to do with it.

 

[Toby Inkster]

Any good websites / resources that explain how to develop cross browser
compatible, drop down menus (in JavaScript I assume) for my website.

The Netscape DevEdge menus were the best, but DevEdge has closed down.

DevEdge is Dead.

http://web.archive.org/web/20031203...cape.com/viewsource/2003/devedge-redesign-js/

Long live DevEdge!

 

[Alan Cole]

Hello there,

In summary:
Any good websites / resources that explain how to develop cross browser
compatible, drop down menus (in JavaScript I assume) for my website.

In detail:

I would like to implement the drop down menus that seem to be getting more
and more popular on websites. Whilst an experienced programmer with basic
experience in JavaScript and DHTML, I am not sure how one would go about
creating drop down menus.

My searched on the internet have got me looking at two options,
1. Buy some package that generates them for me such as:
http://software.xfx.net/utilities/dmbuilder/

2. Learn how to do them myself from scratch using code resources that are
available on the web such as:
http://www.aspandjavascript.co.uk/javascript/drop_down_menu_tutorial_version_2
/default.asp

My problem is that I am limited on time and I was beginning to think that
spending time learning how to use the package might take just as long to
find some free code and learn how to implement it myself. But I am at a bit
of a loss with regard to placement of the menus and have so far only
implemented HTML websites with JavaScript for functional purposes (E.g.
verification etc.).

Any help would be greatly appreciated even if you point me to a more
appropriate Newsgroup.

Kind regards,

Dave

http://javascript.cooldev.com/scripts/coolmenu/

Al.

 

[aakaab]

one more javascript menu to consider
http://www.codethat.com/javascript-menu.html

 

[Michael Winter]

[snip]

www.dynamicdrive.com

Unless things have changed since I looked a few months ago, the menu
scripts there shouldn't be used on the Web. None of them provides adequate
degradation if scripting or CSS isn't available.

www.hotscripts.com

There are too many to check there but from what I saw of the first few, I
don't hold out much hope.

Actually, a good editor will have the "combo box" menu script already to
apply.

What's an editor got to do with that?

[snip]

Mike


Please trim your quotations.

 

[Michael Winter]

one more javascript menu to consider
http://www.codethat.com/javascript-menu.html

From what I can see, it's useless without scripting support so it's
suitability for the Web is in question.

[snip]

Mike


Please don't top post, and trim your quotations.

 

[(Pete Cresswell)]

RE/

dequate
degradation if scripting or CSS isn't available.

CSS not available?!!!!

That sure got my attention as a noob developer.

I had been going on the assumptin that CSS was the good-right-and-holy path and
that everything possible sb pushed up to a .CSS file.

Am I on the wrong track?

 

[Neal]

RE/

CSS not available?!!!!

That sure got my attention as a noob developer.

I had been going on the assumptin that CSS was the good-right-and-holy
path and
that everything possible sb pushed up to a .CSS file.

Am I on the wrong track?

Not necessarily.

Most users will see HTML and CSS. Some users, however, do not get any of
the CSS, just the HTML. These users include search engine bots, UAs which
do not do CSS at all, or UAs from which you've hidden the CSS to avoid
unfixable bugs.

This is why it's important to provide well-structured valid HTML first and
foremost. Everything else is optional for the user.

I look at it this way: if I were to turn off image loading, CSS,
Javascript, and any other plugin, and view just the HTML, I should be left
with a visually spartan but fully functioning page.

 

[Barbara de Zoete]

RE/

CSS not available?!!!!

That sure got my attention as a noob developer.

CSS is not available to text browsers (like Lynx), to speech browsers or
braille browsers, to the Googlebot ;-)

Just examples. Style with CSS but don't make the functionality of anything on
your site or of the site itself depend on it. Like with client side scripts et
cetera. Much the same.

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[Hywel Jenkins]

Hello there,

In summary:
Any good websites / resources that explain how to develop cross browser
compatible, drop down menus (in JavaScript I assume) for my website.

In detail:

I would like to implement the drop down menus that seem to be getting more
and more popular on websites. Whilst an experienced programmer with basic
experience in JavaScript and DHTML, I am not sure how one would go about
creating drop down menus.

My searched on the internet have got me looking at two options,
1. Buy some package that generates them for me such as:
http://software.xfx.net/utilities/dmbuilder/

Buy it. It's excellent, but when you implement your menus make sure you
have a non-JavaScript method of navigation, too.

 

[Hywel Jenkins]

RE/

CSS not available?!!!!

That sure got my attention as a noob developer.

I had been going on the assumptin that CSS was the good-right-and-holy path and
that everything possible sb pushed up to a .CSS file.

Am I on the wrong track?

May be. Ignore anything and everything that Richard (the Stupid,
[email protected]) says and you'll soon be back on it.

 

[Michael Winter]

[MW:]

[...] scripting or CSS isn't available.

CSS not available?!!!!

That sure got my attention as a noob developer.

I had been going on the assumptin that CSS was the good-right-and-holy
path and that everything possible sb pushed up to a .CSS file.

Perhaps that was phrased badly, however your page shouldn't become
unusable just because someone overrode your stylesheet or some styles
weren't applied for whatever reason.

I'm not saying such circumstances will be common amongst your users; it's
(relatively) rare just like the lack of client-side scripting support.
However, a well-written document should be able to cope with this
situation. After all, both client-side scripting and CSS are optional.

[snip]

Mike