Would like drop-down/ flyout menus on templates with horizontal nav bars

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Last post 03-30-2010, 4:41 PM by Chief_Apricot. 14 replies.


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06-04-2009, 11:20 AM 12915

Katie
Joined about 2 years ago
Posts 1

Would like drop-down/ flyout menus on templates with horizontal nav bars

My members have a hard time finding pages deep in the site, and would like to have a flyout menu on the horizontal nav bar so they can see what pages are in that category;

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06-04-2009, 12:36 PM 12917 in reply to 12915

Chief_Apricot
Joined about 5 years ago
Toronto
Posts 4,184

Re: Would like drop-down/ flyout menus on templates with horizontal nav bars

This is on our to-do list and we might even be able to include it in the next release (3.1)

Dmitry Buterin, Chief Apricot

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06-20-2009, 12:43 PM 13185 in reply to 12917

savvy1
Joined about 2 years ago
Posts 17

Re: Would like drop-down/ flyout menus on templates with horizontal nav bars

Hello Dimitry,

I own a small web design firm and we're very impressed with your platform, ongoing updates, and your methods for soliciting user input. Please keep up the great work!

We have one project in progress with WA and would like to do more because of the feature set. We're getting feedback from our clients that lack of design options for proper dropdown menu is a major concern. The alternative left navigation with slideouts may be functional, but many think it is "old school".

This matter is a significant barrier to us doing more projects with WA. In fact, it's become a major issue with our current project and we are trying to utilize the most recent templates with horizontal menu and drop down. Glad to see that you recently made a few available.

Specifically, we are now trying to modify the Keynote and Aurora templates. With Keynote, the appearance of default navigation viewed on the home page is OK, but when clicking on one of the dropdown links and going to that page, we see the second horizontal bar with those links for that section. For the short term, is that second dark horizontal bar something we can simply turn off through CSS? This will enable us some work around options in the near term. Same comment applies to the Aurora template.

We also like the idea behind the Aurora hybrid template, which shows the links on left side of the page, for those pages in that section. More flexibility with options like above would be most helpful for us to satisfy the needs for new projects.

We're also very happy to see that we can now easily change the design templates on the fly.

Thanks.

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06-20-2009, 12:48 PM 13186 in reply to 13185

savvy1
Joined about 2 years ago
Posts 17

Re: Would like drop-down/ flyout menus on templates with horizontal nav bars

One more thing. It would be very nice to have a modification to Aurora hybrid which would actually show the dropdown links on rollover for main horizontal navigation bar (as the Keynote does) plus retain the left side dynamic links for pages in a particular section.

Regards.

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06-22-2009, 10:01 AM 13207 in reply to 13185

Chief_Apricot
Joined about 5 years ago
Toronto
Posts 4,184

Re: Would like drop-down/ flyout menus on templates with horizontal nav bars

Re your CSS question - I think this should be possible, email the question (ideally with a screenshot) to tech support team. Though I am not sure how people would navigate on second level if that is turned off.

Dmitry Buterin, Chief Apricot

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07-30-2009, 6:42 PM 13722 in reply to 13207

savvy1
Joined about 2 years ago
Posts 17

Re: Would like drop-down/ flyout menus on templates with horizontal nav bars

Hello Dmitry,

Thanks for your reply. We have implemented an interim fix for Keynote template by turning off the second navigation bar, so we get nice drop-downs. Unfortunately, as you noted this solution leaves no drop-downs showing on rollover for the section you are in. If you are on a page under a top level menu item named PRODUCTS, you can see the drop-downs on rollover for all other sections, except for PRODUCTS.

Our work around has been to create a narrow left column and to MANUALLY place links to all 2nd level pages under each section e.g. PRODUCTS. It works, but is not dynamically updated, of course...and gets complicated for larger sites.

When do you expect you might have a solution which has suitable drop-downs like Keynote, but with regular drop-downs for the current section as described above, instead of the horizontal second level bar? We were hoping you may have been able to work that into the latest update.

Thanks!

PS: It great to see the ongoing updates. Several of the new features in this weeks update will be helpful to us!

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08-04-2009, 3:36 PM 13758 in reply to 13722

Chief_Apricot
Joined about 5 years ago
Toronto
Posts 4,184

Re: Would like drop-down/ flyout menus on templates with horizontal nav bars

Here's how Keynote theme works:

Menu is at the top for all levels. It shows current page and its siblings and pages above it if any.

On rollover it has a drop-down menu which shows children pages for each item if any.

Can you reconfirm - what do you mean by "regular drop-downs for the current section as described above, instead of the horizontal second level bar"

My guess is you are talking about creating a theme which design-wise is like Keynote and functionality-wise is like Aurora Hybrid, which has first level menu on top and second and third level menu on the left.

Correct?

Dmitry Buterin, Chief Apricot

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08-04-2009, 6:48 PM 13760 in reply to 13758

savvy1
Joined about 2 years ago
Posts 17

Re: Would like drop-down/ flyout menus on templates with horizontal nav bars

Hello Dmitry,

Thanks for your comments.

Yes, we like the basic Keynote design with top navigation and dropdowns on rollover. The problem with Keynote is when you click on any page except for the HOME page and go to that page, the second level horizontal menu bar stretches across the page under main menu. This is not very common or attractive.

The dropdowns are just fine when you rollover any of the top menu buttons, except for the page you are on. Let's say you are on the SERVICES page, which is level 1. We would like to see the second and third level navigation for the SERVICES page on the LEFT side, not horizontally across the top.

Yes, the way the Aurora Hybrid treats the second and third level navigation is nice, as seen from any page (except home.) The way the full second and third level navigation is shown on the left side is nice, when you are on the SERVICES page. Add this to the Keynote theme. (Call it Keynote Hybrid?)

Here's an alternative to showing the 2nd and 3rd level navigation on left for the page you are on. When you are on SERVICES page just show the vertical dropdown menu when you rollover SERVICES to look like the dropdown when you rollover the other top level navigation buttons.

Here's a couple of examples of sites we built doing something similar. www.maxlinear.com www.qsic.com Of course, they were designed in Dreamweaver and we created custom page templates to control the left side menu. (These weren't very large sites, so we didn't show third level on left, but we suggest that your themes show 2nd and 3rd level on left side.)

I'm also emailing you a file illustrating these points.

Which brings up another option that would be really sweet...to have more than one page template for certain advanced themes. One template for home page and a second one suitable for subpages, for example. ...but I digress.

PS- The other main limitation of Aurora is that you must CLICK to reveal 2nd level navigation. Rollovers are so mush easier. : )

Hope that answers your question. Many thanks for your interest and support. Either one of the above Keynote modifications for 2nd and 3rd level navigation would be a big improvement. Perhaps whichever one is easier could be worked into the next upgrade? We'll be going live with a project in September and would love to use it.

Regards.

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08-05-2009, 7:51 AM 13772 in reply to 13760

Chief_Apricot
Joined about 5 years ago
Toronto
Posts 4,184

Re: Would like drop-down/ flyout menus on templates with horizontal nav bars

OK, thanks, understood.

Dmitry Buterin, Chief Apricot

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11-07-2009, 1:40 PM 15018 in reply to 12917

Meagan
Joined about 2 years ago
Posts 79

Re: Would like drop-down/ flyout menus on templates with horizontal nav bars

Are you still planning on this update?

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11-09-2009, 3:04 PM 15040 in reply to 15018

Chief_Apricot
Joined about 5 years ago
Toronto
Posts 4,184

Re: Would like drop-down/ flyout menus on templates with horizontal nav bars

I will check the status with my team and post an update here.

Dmitry Buterin, Chief Apricot

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02-12-2010, 3:27 PM 16878 in reply to 15040

Kyle
Joined about 2 years ago
Vancouver
Posts 42

Re: Would like drop-down/ flyout menus on templates with horizontal nav bars

Any updates on when/if this will be completed? Maybe in 2010?

I agree that functionality wise Aurora Hybrid is probably the best theme available but design-wise it is lacking due to no roll-over functionality.

As described above in other posts, what I would like to see is the following:

-All top level menus have a fly-out menu upon roll-over revealing level 2 (and level 3 pages if you further roll-over a level 2 item).

-If I click on a top-level menu link or any level 2 or level 3 child page links, I am taken to the corresponding page AND the entire menu hierarchy (level 1, level 2 and and level 3) is shown on the left-side with the page I am currently on highlighted in some way (e.g. bolded, colored).

This type of menu navigation gives the best of both worlds - it lets people quickly assess what level 2 pages are under each top-level without having to click, but also provides an efficient way of finding those deep level 3 pages from the left-side menu once on a level 2 page. Obviously, if the visitor wants to navigate directly to the level 3 from the roll-over at the top they can do that too.

We are an environmental non-profit so want to have quick easy navigation to interactive elements like Donating, Joining, Seeing Who We Are but also provide comprehensive education materials in the Level 3 hierachy.

Thanks

Kyle Mitchell | www.spec.bc.ca