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[OM] Re: recommendations for tree menus

Subject: [OM] Re: recommendations for tree menus
From: Dawid Loubser <dawidl@xxxxxxxxxxx>
Date: Thu, 2 Oct 2008 10:32:45 +0200
Of course, "free" as in speech, not as in beer :-) Myself, and our
establishment, are massive supporters of open-source, also to the
point of publishing our commercial training under an open-source license
for the benefit of the community.

cheerio (we really need to take this off-topic topic off-list now :-)


On 02 Oct 2008, at 9:56 AM, Fabio Fiorellato wrote:

>
> Dawid, your analysis is quite complete and precise.
>
> The solution I suggested to John starts just from the assumption  
> that the
> menu can be modeled as a simple HTML list, with a tad of Javascript  
> to apply
> the hide / show effect on each node and store the node state via  
> cookies if
> needed.
>
> Your proposal of using CSS to show / hide menu nodes by using the  
> li:hover
> rule is definitely neat, but clashes with indecent browser (the  
> Internet
> Explorer family, expecially the older ones) not properly managing  
> the rule
> itself. See http://www.quirksmode.org/css/contents.html in the  
> *:hover*section.
>
> Anyhow, depending on John needs, both solutions (yours and the one I
> suggested early) can be easy to implement and maintain (not to  
> mention that
> they can be made - almost - totally browser independent).
>
> The PHP (or, more generally, server side) solution, instead, relies on
> writing a bunch of code to be executed on the web server, in order  
> to serve
> the new menu state to the client. Given the computing power of current
> clients (home PC etc.), I still am confident that it's better  
> leaving the
> hide / show management of menu nodes on the client side (i.e. using
> Javascript / CSS to achieve the proper effect) rather than the  
> server one.
>
> In conclusion, John has a lot of alternatives to chose from: the  
> best one
> will depend on how much browser compatibility he wants to assure to  
> the
> final page, on the management complexity of the menu itself (should  
> it store
> its state through subsequent client requests?) and on the  
> capabilities of
> the server that will host its web pages.
>
> Just a final statement (not intended to be polemic): the JavaScript
> libraries I pointed John to (and to which I am in no way affiliated,
> although I use them with satisfaction) are indeed free, but they're  
> open
> source as well, which means a lot more things than 'free' alone :)
>
> Sorry again for this huge OT :)
>
> Ciao!
>
> Fabio
>
> On Wed, Oct 1, 2008 at 1:52 PM, Dawid Loubser <dawidl@xxxxxxxxxxx>  
> wrote:
>
>>
>> Sorry list, I know this is off-topic:
>>
>> John/Fabio,
>>
>> What I always recommend, is to shy away *completely* from
>> JavaScript-driven menus, do it with plain (X)HTML and CSS, so that
>> your site
>> will continue to work on mobile phones, voice browsers, etc. without
>> the need
>> to add in transformation gateways / portals etc. when you need it.
>>
>> A tree menu can be effected by simply using an HTML list:
>>
>>> <ul class="menu">
>>>  <li>
>>>    Menu 1
>>>    <ul>
>>>      <li>Option 1.1</li>
>>>      <li>Option 1.2</li>
>>>      <li>
>>>        Option 1.3
>>>        <ul>
>>>          <li>Option 1.3.1</li>
>>>          <li>Option 1.3.1</li>
>>>        </ul>
>>>      </li>
>>>    </ul>
>>>  </li>
>>
>> .. you get the idea. No scripting or other junk. Then, a couple of
>> simple rules in CSS could be attached to provide correct tree/drop-
>> down menu
>> behaviour. For example, rules like:
>>
>>> /* Hide sub-menus... */
>>> ul.menu li ul
>>> {
>>>  display: none;
>>> }
>>>
>>> /* ... Unless the user's mouse hovers over the sub-menu item */
>>> ul.menu li:hover ul
>>> {
>>>  display: block;
>>> }
>>
>> etc. Works like a charm for us - simple, configurable, non evil
>> JavaScript.
>> You really don't need any 'product' - commercial or free, to make  
>> this
>> work
>> better than most of those 'products' in anyway.
>>
>> regards,
>> Dawid
>>
>>
>> On 01 Oct 2008, at 1:16 PM, Fabio Fiorellato wrote:
>>
>>>
>>> John, how complex is the tree you do need on your website?
>>>
>>> Consider that designing a simple (yet customizable) tree to embed in
>>> a Web
>>> site is a matter of minutes nowadays, with a total cost of 0$ in
>>> software
>>> licences.
>>>
>>> Take a look, for instance, at:
>> http://jquery.bassistance.de/treeview/demo/
>>>
>>> If you need further help / clarification, feel free to drop me a
>>> mail...
>>>
>>> Ciao!
>>>
>>> Fabio
>>>
>>> On Wed, Oct 1, 2008 at 12:42 PM, John Hudson <OM4T@xxxxxxxxxxx>  
>>> wrote:
>>>
>>>>
>>>> I am looking for a tree menu system that can be used on one's web
>>>> site.
>>>>
>>>> A google search brings up Sothink ........
>>>> www.sothink.com .......... on
>>>> numerous occasions. There is a 30 day free review period after
>>>> which it
>>>> costs $59.95 for a licence.
>>>>
>>>> Are there any recommendations about sothink or other tree menu
>>>> systems that
>>>> are available?
>>>>
>>>> John Hudson
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
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>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> --
>>> The definitive answer to the meaning of life, universe and
>>> everything else
>>> is: 42.
>>>
>>>
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>>
>>
>>
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>
>
>
> -- 
> The definitive answer to the meaning of life, universe and  
> everything else
> is: 42.
>
>
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> ==============================================



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