Technical Answers
My menu works fine when viewed locally but does not
appear when viewed on the server. What have I done
wrong?
You have forgotten to upload the associated awmData-menuname
folder or the awmmenupath.gif file along with
the compiled menu or you have uploaded it in the wrong
directory.
When compiling a menu into a menuname.js file, an
awmData-menuname folder is also created under the
same directory. This awmData-menuname folder contains
the necessary javascript library and the images of
the compiled menu (if any). Therefore, it is critical
that you don't forget to upload this folder and the
awmmenupath.gif file along with the menuname.js file!
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I have an older version of AllWebMenus. How do I upgrade
my installation to take advantage of the new features,
the improved script and the different menu generation
process of version 3?
- Download and install the latest distribution.
- Open your *.awm file (eg: mymenu.awm) and re-compile
it (eg mymenu.js).
- Link the compiled mymenu.js file to your
web pages.
- Upload the following elements to your web
site:
- the mymenu.js file
- the awmData-mymenu directory and the awmmenupath.gif
file (which should be located and uploaded at the
same directory with the mymenu.js file)
- all web pages processed in step 3 and therefore
contain a link to the compiled menu (the link should
only be 3 lines of code instead of the whole menu
definition)
If you upgrade from a version
1.2 installation, please read the following:
The older versions created a menu entity (i.e. the
awmData subdirectory) in every directory where
the pages were located. Therefore, there was no actual
difference between "document-relative" links and "menu-relative"
links in the URL property (eg: "../info.html").
The new version creates a single compiled menu
for all pages, regardless of where these pages are
located inside the site's directory structure. Therefore,
all relative links are now related to the directory
where the compiled menu is located. In that manner,
the old "../info.html" value may not link to the proper
page now and it may have to be changed to "info.html"
(or whatever needed).
Obviously, you will not need to do any changes
if you have been using absolute paths inside
the URL property (eg: http://www.likno.com).
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How can I optimize my menu design to get the best
possible menu building speed?
- You can increase the menu building speed by deactivating
the "Mouse Click" state, at the Tools->Options
selection. For example, If you don't really need
to change the appearance of a highlighted selection
when clicking on it, then just deactivate the "Mouse
Click" state and you may achieve an increase in
speed of about 30%! Afterall, most mouse clicks
open a new page on the same window and therefore
it may be a good idea to gain 30% in speed instead
of viewing the clicked item changing its appearance.
Of course, if you have medium-sized menus that appear
very quickly, you may not want to lose the flexibility
of a 3d state. There is a performance vs. features
tradeoff here and you are now able to choose what
fits you best.
- As a general rule, prefer to create more submenus
that contain less items (up to 10 or 12) than create
very few submenus that contain plenty of items.
This is good both in design and technical terms.
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What is inside the awmData-menuname directory?
When compiling a menu as menuname.js, an awmData-menuname
folder is also created under the same directory. This
awmData-menuname folder contains the necessary javascript
library and the images of the compiled menu (if any):
The awmData-menuname directory is created under the
directory where the compiled menu resides and this
is where it should also be uploaded on the server.
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What is the awmmenupath.gif image?
Due to older browser inefficiencies (such as Netscape
4.x), menus compiled with versions 1.3.358 and below
cannot function properly in the following cases:
- The menu is linked into a Frontpage Shared Border
and the web site uses several directories.
- The menu is linked into a Dreamweaver Template or
Library and the web site uses several directories.
- The menu is linked into a page and this page has
been moved into a different directory.
These problems have been identified and solved since
version 1.3.360 with the introduction of a transparent,
1x1, dummy image, called awmmenupath.gif. This
image is created upon compilation inside the directory
where the compiled menu resides. The awmmenupath.gif
is also referenced inside the AllWebMenus section
that is inserted into the web pages during the Linking
process.
Therefore:
If your menu was compiled with version 1.3.358
or below, you need to re-compile it and upload
it to the server along with the newly created awmmenupath.gif
file.
Similarly, if the menu is linked to a Shared Border,
Template or Library and the link was created with
version 1.3.358 or below, it is recommended that you
re-link it to your pages to avoid problems
with the different directories.
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I have two different menus for different html pages.
How do I properly use the different compiled menus
and their associated awmData-menuname directories?
Let's assume the following file structure:
c:\mysite\pageA.html
c:\mysite\pageB.html
c:\mysite\pageC.html
c:\mysite\pageD.html
(the c:\mysite directory is the root
of the site)
and the following designed menus:
menu1.awm (to be used by pageA and pageB)
menu2.awm (to be used by pageC and pageD)
1. We compile menu1.awm
into the menu1.js file.
This action creates the following elements into the
c:\mysite\ folder:
-the menu1.js file
-the awmmenupath.gif file
-the awmData-menu1 directory which contains
the javascript library and all images used by menu1
(if any)
2. We compile menu2.awm
into the menu2.js file.
-the menu2.js file
-the awmmenupath.gif file
-the awmData-menu2 directory which contains
the javascript library and all images used by menu2
(if any)
3. We link the menu1.js file to pageA and pageB
4. We link the menu2.js file to pageC and pageD
5. We upload the following elements to the root of
our web site:
-the menu1.js file
-the awmData-menu1 directory
-the menu2.js file
-the awmData-menu2 directory
-the awmmenupath.gif file (which is
common for both menus)
-the pageA.html file
-the pageB.html file
-the pageC.html file
-the pageD.html file
6. This completes the process for all menus and pages.
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Can I use HTML tags inside the Items and Titles?
Yes, you can use any HTML tag you like inside the
Item Name and Submenu Title properties.
This is very useful when you want to break an Item
Name into several lines. As the menu in our web site
shows, the "Frequently Asked Questions"
item is broken into three lines by assigning the value
"Frequently <br> Asked <br> Questions"
to the Item Name property.
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What do I gain by sharing my themes in your On-line
themes Gallery?
- Other web authors, designers and surfers can see
and appreciate your designs.
- Your name and info is displayed next to your themes
so that interested parties may contact you.
- A link to your web site is created.
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You say that AllWebMenus creates cross-browser menus,
but what about older browsers that don't support DHTML?
AllWebMenus creates dynamic menus compatible with
the Dynamic HTML of both Internet Explorer and Netscape
Navigator of versions 4.0 or later.
For the small portion of users with browsers older
than the ones mentioned above, AllWebMenus lets you
specify an Alternative URL where the user is automatically
redirected. This page may simply be the original web
page without the menu but with additional links to
account for the lack of the menu's navigation easiness.
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Can a menu item link to a paragraph within a web page?
Yes, just enter http://www.mysite.com/info.html#anchor
in the URL property of the items and the menu can
be used to navigate inside the info.html web
page.
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How can I set the width of the submenu items to a
fixed size?
To preserve the cross-browser functionality this
is not possible. One of the first priorities of AllWebMenus
is to ensure that a menu will be displayed properly
in both I.E. and Netscape, PC or Macintosh version.
Having this in mind, it can be easily realized that
there are different renderings of the same menu in
different browser settings. The same menu may be rendered
50 pixels wide in one setting while 75 pixels wide
in another. This is why the use of a "fixed width
size" property could lead to menus working fine
in some settings (the ones you really test) while
looking bad in other settings (the ones you can't
test). Concluding, the submenu's width is not fixed
but rather gets calculated on-the-fly so that every
item is displayed properly given the user's browser
settings.
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The border is very close to the submenu's text. How
can I change this?
As noted above, the submenu width is determined on-the-fly
based on the widest submenu item. Therefore, if you
want some "breathing" space between the
text and the border, you may just add a space (or
more) at the beginning and the end of the widest item.
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Where can I get some ideas for my menu design?
In our Examples page.
In our themes page.
In Customer web sites.
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