Standard Menu

How to

1. Set the menu type to Standard
2. Set Menu Styles
   • Menu Styles
   • Sub Level Menu
3. Understand the difference between Depth and Expanding Sub-Levels
4. Create a Concertina / Accordian type menu

Setting the Menu type to Standard

To create a standard type menu you will need to select 'HTML (Simple)' when setting the initial menu options. See Menu for more information on creating a menu.

Please remember that this is not a drop down menu. If you have sub pages and have entered a depth greater than one (1) in the Menu Details, then sub pages within that depth will appear on this menu at all times. To do this, the Depth text box, enter the number of sub page levels that you intend the menu to show. Alternativelly you may wish to use the 'Expand Sub-Levels' option when setting the styles for your menu. Please refer to Depth and Expanding Sub-Levels at the bottom of this page to learn more about the difference between these two features.

The 'Root ID' field may be left blank - doing this will select the first page listed in your Page Manager (unless that page's menu status has been set to 'disabled'). See Menu/Creating a Menu for more information on the Root ID field.

If you have created a menu previously and wish to change it to a standard type menu at a later time, in the Menu Manager you will first need to select the radio button next to the ID number for that menu before clicking on 'Edit Type' from the Manager Options Menu. Click Save when this option has been selected.

Standard Menu Settings Screen - Setting Menu Styles

The next step in creating a Standard Menu is determining a look and feel for it. To do this, in the Menu Manager select the radio button next to the ID number of the object you are editing. Next select the 'Customise Look' link from the Manager Options Menu. You will be presented with a screen similar to that shown in the image below.

The main menu style is governed by the first section of this screen - Menu Styles. Styles for sub pages within your site, that are displayed on this menu, are managed by the second section - Sub Level Menu.

First level items are those menu items that are immediately visible, or main page links within the menu you have created. They are the 'top level' pages of your website or of the 'Root ID' (if one has been chosen). Each of these menu items may contain their own second-level (sub) menus. These second level menu items will either be shown or hidden from view. See Sub Level Menu below for more information.

In the image to the right there is a subtle distinction made between what is a first level menu item and what is a second level menu item. In this case the only difference is that the second level items have padding on the left (or have been indented). It is in your best interest, when designing your site, to make sure that second level menu items stand out from first level, whether this is with padding to the side or a different colour scheme. If you are changing colour schemes it is important to note that first level items need a 'stronger' feel to them so that the user immediately understands your menu hierarchy.

Menu Styles

The main Menu style, if required to override the page or section style, is set here. As explained in Applying Styles To Menu's on the Menu page of this manual, editing these styles is much the method used in the Style Manager. In the Menu Styles section (see the above image) click 'Edit' next to the Style you wish to change. This will load the style options screen. See Style Manager if you need more information on the style editor.

Below is a description of each section of Menu Styles:

• Item Style: The main over-ridding style for the menu. Leaving any style attribute blank in this style will cause the menu you are editing to adopt the style of the page or page section upon which the menu has been placed. This section's primary use is for text fonts, sizes and colouring.
• Item Rollover Style: The rollover is activated when a user's mouse hovers over an individual link in a menu. You may for example wish to change the text in a menu link from Black to RED when the mouse cursor is above it. The black text colour would either be governed by the Item Style (above) or from the style adopted from the page or section. The RED text colour (if that is what you wish to use) should be set here, in Item Rollover Style.
• Item Active Style: Active refers to the page the user is currently on - within your website. If that page exists on a menu on that page, styles set in Item Active Style will be activated. This option is only available for the Standard Menu type.

Sub Level Menu

To display sub pages on your menu you must have either a depth (set in the initial menu options) or select the Expand Sub-Levels tickbox.

Documents on the Internet are usually accessed using menus. If the menu only listed every item on the site, without any hierarchy, then visitors to the page may have difficulty locating which part of your site they actually want to view. Secondary page items are 'children' of first level menu/page items ('parents'). Indenting the secondary level menu items is one way by which the user can better differentiate between the child pages and the main parent pages.

The settings screen in the example (right) shows that there is a margin of 12px on the left for the Item Style for the Sub Level Menu. Simple style changes like this are ideal ways to differentiate between the main and sub level pages.

• Always Expanded Sub-Levels: When this box has been ticked, all sub level pages directly below the current visible page will be displayed. This is explained in greater detail below in Depth and Expanding Sub-Levels.
• Columns per each row: The default display method for the standard menu is simply one menu item below another, in the order by which pages are sorted in the Page Manager. Selecting a number from the drop down list for this option will alter this view to instead show these menu items side by side, up to the number selected. Additional menu items will appear on a new line.

Menu default display	Menu display after selecting
This display, while being the default, is also achieved if one 'column per each row' is selected.	Two 'columns per each row'. The Menu items are displayed in two columns. After two columns are used, an additional line is required for any extra menu items.	Three 'columns per each row'.

Please Note: The 'Columns per each row' feature may over-ride any 'Depth' or 'Expand Sub-Levels' options you have chosen.

Depth and Expanding Sub-Levels

The images below show the difference between menus with a set Depth and when the Expand Sub-Levels box has been ticked.

Create a Concertina / Accordian type menu

A Concertina or Accordian type menu will reveal subpages only when a user is currently viewing pages within that section of the website. The images above show how such a menu might appear.

Please Note: when viewing such a menu, you will only see the true effect whilst on one of the sub pages. 
This menu type does not change in appearence when a mouse is hovering above.

In order to create such a menu, you should first propogate the Page Manager with the required pages.

Create the Standard Menu as described above, and place it onto a Page or Masterpage within your site. Next, tick the ALWAYS EXPAND SUB-LEVELS (FOR CURRENT PAGE) option. This ensures the 'open' / 'shut' effect.