Improve Navigability with Split Menus & Joomla 1.5

Sunday, 16 November 2008 20:47

During episode 7 I focused on how to use split menus to better setup multiple menus in Joomla. Ben wrote in and wondered if I could be a bit more specific on how to set this up, so I'm doing him one better by giving you all the first video tutorial on how to use split menus.

If you have any sort of top menu navigation system, and you want to show a menu on the left or right only after a visitor clicks on one of your top menu items, you need to use split menus. Here's why:

• Bread crumbs are better preserved
• URLS are better preserved

Plus, if your template supports it, when a menu item is clicked on the side, the top menu item will keep its indicator status.

I think I've said enough. On with the show:

Let me know if you have any questions in the comments.

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Comments (25)

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written by markowe , December 21, 2008

Thanks for this, useful just for clarifying this (excellent) feature of Joomla 1.5. One thing I couldn't figure out was how you made a "default" page for a submenu - I was creating the default page and adding it as an item to the submenu, but in fact the way it's intended to work means that isn't necessary. You just have to create a static page for the "top" menu item, and that is opened by default, but you don't add it to the submenu, else you get a weird duplication (in the URL) and the item doesn't get highlighted until you click it again. If you had this problem, you will know what I was talking about! Anyway, I realised from your video how it's done, so thanks.

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written by Mike B. , December 26, 2008

Glad you got something out of the video. It is tricky to understand but really helpful.

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written by Tribocka , January 01, 2009

Hello,

I change the pssword three times, but I can't get my control panel of the Spiritual Centre of Biksere. The computer show me the same information: Incorrect Username, password, or Access Level. Please try again!


I couldn't put a new information about Biksere on the web page. I need your help please...

Nessecary informations: www.biksere.be
and www.biksere.be/administrator

Sencerely your,
Sandra Tribocka

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written by Mike B. , January 07, 2009

Hi Sandra,

You'll need to use a tool like phpMyAdmin to reset your password. Use it to visit the users table, then reset your password with the MD5 hash. Check this link out:

http://kb.siteground.com/article/How_to_reset_my_Joomla_administrator_password.html

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written by Kurt Boden , January 12, 2009

Hi,
I just tried to follow your instructions for creating a split menu. It was very helpfull, but probably due to low base knowledge, two questions have been left.
1. Top menu and submenu items appear within a single row, even after limiting top menu end level to 1. My template has no pull down menus. Menu style has been set to legacy horizontal. Are there any prerequisites required? Or what may I did wrong?
2. my additional question is related to a second and additional submenu sets. Is an additional submenu module required for each submenu which should appear individualy on the lefthand side when the related menu item of the top menu is pressed?
Many thanks in advance for your help.
Best regards,
Kurt

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written by Kurt Boden , January 12, 2009

Last request was solved by meantime. Missing extended-menu-module was the required prerequisite.
Kurt

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written by Mike B. , January 21, 2009

glad you got it figured out!

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written by eiramave , February 16, 2009

Hi.I just want to ask how to create a page for the submenu.Example..Products>Women..if i click women,a page will load..I don't know how to create a page for that sub menu..plz help me..tnx!!!!

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written by Mike B. , February 20, 2009

@eiramave: Generally this is done with the Parent Item option when creating a menu item. So in your example, you'd create a menu item called Products. Then create a menu item called Women, with the Parent Item being Products.

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written by MikeR , February 24, 2009

Thanks for your video, I have a problem though. I have a split menu set up and working but I lose the active highlight on the parent menu when an item from the submenu is selected. Any ideas what I might have missed ? Thanks again.

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written by Mike B. , February 26, 2009

@MikeR: Hmm...Not sure. I wonder if it has to do with the template you're using? If the site is still in development, have you tried a different template to see if that's the issue?

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written by MikeR , February 28, 2009

Hi It's the same with all templates I've tried. There's something odd going on somewhere. I can achieve it with extended menu but it strikes me that that's overcomplicating the issue unnecessarily, I'll get to the bottom of it eventually.

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written by Mauso , March 28, 2009

One minor issue with the video: when creating the sub-menu module ("More info"), it is not necessary to limit the pages on which it is displayed. You can set this to "all". It will automatically display on the correct pages only, because of the hierarchical structure you created back on the menu setup page.

If you add more pages/menu items in the future, you would continually have to go back to the "more info" module and edit the pages/menus on which it is displayed. It is easier to "set and forget" using the "all" option.

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written by mike b , March 30, 2009

@Mauso--I never knew that! Good tip!

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written by Winston Baccus , March 31, 2009

Thanks for this tutorial and the podcast. I'm getting ready to migrate to 1.5 and learning this technique is definitely something I wish I'd known a lot earlier.

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written by Leigh , April 21, 2009

Hi!
Thanks for this tutorial. I've successfully implemented a 2-level navigation system that seems to work. (ie - submenu items show up and url displays correctly) However, my parent item and sub menu link do not highlight properly. Could this be due to a CSS issue? My website is: http://koehnsculptors.com/

Thanks!

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written by Leigh , April 21, 2009

Hi!
Thanks for this tutorial. I've successfully implemented a 2-level navigation system that seems to work. (ie - submenu items show up and url displays correctly) However, my parent item and sub menu link do not highlight properly. Could this be due to a CSS issue? My website is: http://koehnsculptors.com/

Thanks!

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written by mikeP_ , April 22, 2009

Thank you so much -- I hope you do more of these extremely clear and helpful videos!

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written by mike b , April 30, 2009

@Legih: let me know if you figured it out. I believe it probably is a CSS issue.

@mikeP: thanks!

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written by ak , May 06, 2009

Hi!
I have one problem here. I did everything step-by-step but in the end I get "Support" shown in topmenu and in submenu. What did I do wrong?

Thanks!

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written by mike b , May 09, 2009

@ak: dunno. Have you tried it with a different template? Double check the start and end levels too.

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written by ak , May 11, 2009

I`ve tried and nothnig helps. Really don`t know how to solve this.

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written by ak , May 13, 2009

I solved the problem. In Top Menu I didn`t have "List" selected.

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written by Karen , June 21, 2009

Thanks so much for your video. This is exactly what I need and envisioned for the site that I am developing. I really had no idea how to go about it and this answers my questions that I had.

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written by BoneJP , January 25, 2010

Thank you very much for this demonstration. It really helped me to build my site! Much appriciated, even from Belgium!

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