Non-Pro - Using DHTML Menus

Posted by Alex on June 17, 2009, 1:15 pm

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I need some very basic advice on using DHTML menus. I am not a professional
web designer, but build sites for friends using Expressions Web and
FrontPage (pause here for giggles to subside.) I use the free Coffee Cup
DHTML editor, which quite easily builds horizontal and vertical menus.

My problem is that I cannot figure out how to insert the menu files into the
page code so they show up in the correct position on the page. For example,
see www.correnden.com.

Obviously I am doing something remarkably dumb, but I cannot figure out
what. I have tried other DHTML editors, all of which work, but all seem to
assume that the user is bright enough to know where to put the resulting
code.

I'd be grateful for any advice. (If anyone especially likes another DTHML
editor, I'd appreciate that info as well.)

Alex

Posted by Adrienne Boswell on June 17, 2009, 2:04 pm

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Gazing into my crystal ball I observed "Alex"

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I would stay away from DHTML menus, a lot of times they can be buggy, and
will not work for users without javascript. Unless you have alternative
content, those users and search engines might not be able to access links
in the site.

Most of what you want to do with a DHTML menu can be produced faster and
better with pure CSS. There are plenty of menus available, just Google
for CSS menus. Occasionally, depending on the style chosen, you might
need to add a tiny bit of javascript to accomodate IE6.

You would be better off getting a good stylesheet editor, a plain text
HTML editor, and learn a little server side scripting, at least enough to
use a server side include.

--
Adrienne Boswell at Home
Arbpen Web Site Design Services
http://www.cavalcade-of-coding.info
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