Navigation / Menu Bar Improvement Suggestion

Gene_S wrote on 11/21/2019, 11:19 AM

Please "follow" this post if you support this idea. Add comments if you see problems or improvements.

The navigation / Menu Bar is not user friendly when the website has child pages (i.e.: tree structure): everything has to be set up manually. I'm trying to drum up support to upgrade / automate the navigation bar. If you only have a few pages, it works well. If you have a lot of pages, it becomes a chore. I'll "only" have about 80 pages on my website, but others on this site have indicated that they have 200 or more. I can't imagine handling setting up and/or making changes on those sites.

My background is programming in numerous languages for factory automation and doesn't include html programming, but I believe the changes would be fairly simple:

1) The root / level-1 pages would be grouped together at the top of the Page Gallery. The groups of child pages would follow the group of root / level-1 pages. (level-1 pages) (Page "X" level-2 pages) (Page "X" level-3 pages) (Page "Y" level-2 pages) (Page "Y" level-3 pages) (Page "Z" level-2 pages) (Page "Z" level-3 pages), etc. No programming changes are required at this point, it's just the user organizing/grouping the pages.

2) In the open space on the bottom of the "Link" tab of the "Web Page Properties" box, 2 items would be added

A) A pull-down box that show the list of all of the pages on the website. If a page has a sub-menu, the user would use this to select the first page of the group to be shown in that sub-menu. A child page can also use this if it has child pages of it's own, allowing one to have as many sub-sub levels as they want (limited by screen space, page name lengths, etc.)

B) A check-box labeled "End of Sub-Menu: Return", or something to that effect. The user would check this box to indicate the end of ALL menu groups, including the Main / Root menu. Ideally this would also turn on a red line, or other indicator, at the bottom of the page in the Page Gallery.

3) The menu compiler would have to be modified such that whenever it compiles a page with a page name shown in the item "A)" box above, it would branch out to that page / group of pages. When it reaches a file with the check-box in item "B)" above, it would return to it's parent level. If, before reaching a page with the check-box checked, it reaches another page with a page name shown in the item "A)" box above, it would branch out to that page / group of pages.

4) In the case of a hamburger (mobile) menu, since a page with a sub-menu has to be pressed to show the sub-menu, the compiler could be modified as followed: if "Page-2" in the root has child pages, automatically add ">>" to the name and place "Page-2 >>" in the root menu to show that there is a sub-menu, and show "Page-2" in the sub-menu.

5) To make this even more flexible, add the ability to select the starting point for the menu: if your on a level-2 page and want a menu on that page to show a level-3 menu for that page, you can select another group of pages,rather than the main/root pages.

The above suggestions could be a modification to the existing menu, or another menu that could be used in addition / in place of the existing menu.

I currently have 5 website development programs on my computer, and after going back and forth between all of the programs, have finally (currently?) decided on using Designer Pro X because it has so many good features. The current menu system, by far, takes the most time and work to set up and maintain. If the menu system were better, I wouldn't even consider using any other program.

Please "follow" this post if you support this idea. Add comments if you see problems or improvements.

If there's enough interest, I may add documentation, illustrations, etc.

Thank you.

Comments

browj2 wrote on 11/21/2019, 9:55 PM

Hi,

Did you also post this on the TalkGraphics Forum where most of the Xara users reside?

John CB

Gene_S wrote on 11/22/2019, 10:40 AM

Hi John,

I wasn't aware of that forum. I signed up on it about an hour ago, but still waiting for an email to activate my account (delay may be due to time zones if the email needs approval before it's sent). Right now I can log-in, but not post. Trying to decide if I should post under "Dear Xara" or "Xara web design chat" or both. Different forums have different personalities, so I'm not sure what would be appropriate.

Thanks for the heads-up!

browj2 wrote on 11/22/2019, 2:15 PM

@Gene_S

Hi Gene,

I think that something is wrong with the site as there have been no new or updated threads for a few hours. That is unusual.

I suggest that you post under Web Design. Put your info in your signature and/or profile, including which version of Xara that you are using.

You may also want to make it a bit clearer at the beginning. I'm assuming that you're talking about the design of the program itself in point 1, not navbar capabilities. Is this the case?

Maybe a couple of illustrations would help.

You'll find threads about users having more than a hundred pages and their difficulties and solutions, so you'll be in good company.

Good luck!

John CB

Gene_S wrote on 11/22/2019, 2:50 PM

Hi John,

Thanks for the information. I'll see if I can post tomorrow. If not I may try to set up a new profile.

Point 1 just refers to how the user would have to organize their pages. I think you're right: illustrations would help.

The changes I'm suggesting are intended mainly for the larger sites, but would even make it easier for those with smaller sites if they have sub-menus / multiple levels, not just just during the initial design but also if they add or delete pages in the future.

Thanks again,

Gene

Gene_S wrote on 11/23/2019, 5:44 PM

While I'm waiting to gain access to the TalkGraphics Forum to post it, I thought I'd post this illustration on this site to see if I get any preliminary feedback. I thought about adding some simplified generic code to it, but then I figured that anyone who does much programming would be able to figure it out pretty easily, and those who don't program wouldn't understand it anyway. Besides, every programmer (including myself) has their own programming technique that they feel is better than anyone else's. 😄

I think / hope this is understandable to most people, but I'm never sure. I've always been a bit of a geek. 🙂

Any feedback, positive or negative, is appreciated.

Thanks,

Gene

That didn't work very well. I planned to upload it as a PDF, but the site won't take it. I uploaded it as a png, but the site reduces the resolution. I'll have to come up with another way to do it.