Thread

Hi,

How would a non technical end user add menu items in an hierarchie? How can they set the order of the menu items?

Thanks, Joep

Greetings, Joeph -

This really depends on your site setup and templates.  If you use weblog entries for your data, then you can output a list of items using one of several tags for categories, or individual entries, or even tags using a third-party module.  There are also two third-party modules: Reeorder and Select and Order, for re-ordering weblog entries.

I believe Cocoaholic also have a Navigation module which you could use.

So there are many ways you could handle this. =)

Thanks for your quick reply!
Could you provide some links because I cannot find further info on your site.

Thanks, Joep

Sorry about that, Joeph - you can find an unofficial list of third party modules here - you’re looking for the Navigator Module, Reeorder, and Selected Items.

Those are just modules that handle this, it is also entirely possible to handle it with a variety of weblog entries tags for outputting categories lists as well as entry lists, or other things.

Thanks, it looks that might help.
I wonder though why there is no core functionality to generate menu’s.

There is core functionality to create menus - it’s the weblog entry and category tags Lisa mentioned.

I think the difficulty lies in the fact that EE is not a “page-based” CMS, but rather a “post-based” CMS wherein a post can comprise any portion of a page or the entire page depending on how you set it up.

I’d suggest digging in and playing around a bit being concerned over functionality you might think is missing on first blush.

After searching the forums and the docs and a core installation I got a feeling that the menu system is not so easy to do.

For example:
Let’s assume that one of your non technical webeditors wants to create a new page Documents and place that page as a submenu-item on you Downloads main menu item. How would he do that? Does he need to call for technical assistance to have the templates changed?

Even on your site I get easily lost due to the fact that there is no hierarchy in the menu nor in the breadcrumbs.

For example: as a newbee I had a look at the knowledgebase:
http://expressionengine.com/knowledge_base/

Then I clicked ExpressionEngine Basics:
ExpressionEngine Basics

So far so good:
Breadcrumbs are showing where I am and the current menu-item is highlighted.

Then I clicked Are there any tutorials?:
http://expressionengine.com/knowledge_base/article/are_there_any_tutorials/

Now I am lost!
The breadcrumbs are missing the parent link ExpressionEngine Basics and the menu item is no longer highlighted. I would have expected a submenu item beneath ExpressionEngine Basics but unfortunately there isn’t one.

Thanks, Joep

Try this.

Thanks Michael for your quick respond.
Although I really appreciate your efforts for writing that tutorial, I am even more convinced that it menus are just not in the system. That is really a pity!!!

Any ideas if there are plans for future versions?

Thanks, Joep

Joeph - if none of the multitude of possibilties we offered suit, then you can always explore developing a custom module for your menus that would tap into EE’s system.  There is in depth development documentation.

Should you wish to hire a professional to assist you with this, please feel free to contact one of our wonderful Professional Network members:

http://expressionengine.com/professionals/

or post on our Job Board:

http://ellislab.com/forums/viewforum/47/

❓

I guess I don’t understand what you mean by a menu then.  While the ones on my tutorial are simple text, they don’t need to be - style them as you wish with CSS.  Styling and presentation aside, the navigation gets updated when a new weblog entry is posted - simple as that.

Here’s an example of taking EE’s output and styling it with with a 3rd-party menu script.  Same idea - new weblog post == updated menu.

Thanks Michael. I had already looked at that site (nice one BTW) and I do understand the concept shown in your tutorials. The thing is that menu items cannot be created by the end user editor: I want this page to be on that menu on the third position.
I am just not used that a CMS cannot do this in backend.:down:

Thanks Michael. I had already looked at that site (nice one BTW) and I do understand the concept shown in your tutorials. The thing is that menu items cannot be created by the end user editor: I want this page to be on that menu on the third position.
I am just not used that a CMS cannot do this in backend.:down:

I’ll try saying this once more I guess.

Yes, the menu items can be created by the end user.

Yes, the end user can specify where the menu item appears.

But - I wonder if you expect the user to approach the system with “I’m going to to edit that menu and stick a new page in the 3rd position”.  EE doesn’t work that way - it separates the content (the stuff being navigated to) from the presentation (the menu as you see it).  It’s not a WYSIWYG or “page-based” CMS.

With EE the end user would publish a new post in the weblog that generates the menu.  The weblog:entries tag creates the menu from the posts that are in the weblog.  There are any number of ways to define the sort order, most common is by date - choose a date for the new post that is in between the current 2nd and 4th items and publish the new post - refresh the page - and you now have your new 3rd menu item.

It’s not that EE is incapable of letting end users affect the navigation—it’s just that it, somehow, isn’t working the way you understand or expect it to.

You can be sure EE would not be as popular as it is if it didn’t have the capabilities you’re after—I wouldn’t use it myself.

And with that - I’m done…;)

Boyink, that’s a superb tutorial and a nice way of doing things. Thanks!

Thanks Michael for your explanations and your patience. I really appreciate it!
Once again, I do understand the concept you are explaining.

It is just not as straight forward as I am used to (Drupal).
The editor would need to create the category item first. He needs to be authorized to edit categories which in most situations is not desirable for non admins. Then he has to fool around with the publish date (!) to change the order.
Sure, it will work this way, but it is not very straight forward and it is more like a workaround.

I really hope that there will be true menu functionality implemented into the core system next to categories etc.

Thanks again!

Joep