HTML common menus

Question

Hi,
I have a html website which is growing and it's now becoming
increasingly difficult to amend the menu which obviously appears on
every page, every time a new page is added/deleted.
Currently I have to add/delete/amend the link on one page and
then copy/paste the menu to all over pages (50+). What I would like
is to create a file called topmenu.html which links to all pages
within the website. When this single file is updated, it in turn
updates all other pages.
A few things to consider.
1. Does it cause problems if I have html pages within sub
folders.
2. Can the solution work with two menus on each page. The
first is a text based menu which runs vertically down the page. The
second is a Spray drop down-menu along the top of the page.
Can this be done? If so, go easy on me, I'm only a novice web
designer.
Thanks you.

Answer 1

> 1. Does it cause problems if I have html pages within
sub folders.
Not if you understand how to use root relative links. Since a
root relative
link directs the browser to a path that begins at the root of
the site, it
doesn't matter where the page containing the link is located
within the
site, the path will be correct.
> 2. Can the solution work with two menus on each page.
The first is a text
> based menu which runs vertically down the page. The
second is a Spray drop
> down-menu along the top of the page.
I assume you mean "Spry" and yes, server-side includes (that
would be how to
solve your problem) can work with anything you are clever
enough to build).
To read more about server-side includes, use DW's F1 Help,
and Google.
When you use server-side includes, there are at least two
files involved:
1. The parent file
2. The include file
The parent file (the one RECEIVING the included file's code)
must be named
with a file extension that triggers a server parse to find
the include
directives (e.g., *.shtm(l), *.asp, *.php, etc.). Of course,
the extension
would have to match the server models supported by a) your
site definition,
and b) the hosting server. The include file (the code
fragment file) may be
named with any extension you desire (we joke here about
naming them with the
'monkeybutt' extension, since that extension name is
irrelevant to the
function of the file itself). HOWEVER, if the include file is
named with an
extension that DW doesn't recognize, then you will not get a
Design view
option when the file is opened.
For this reason, it's best to just name your include files
with the *.htm(l)
extension. Alternatively, if you *really* like
'*.monkeybutt', you can add
this extension to the list of file extensions that DW
recognizes -
http://kb.adobe.com/selfservice/viewContent.do?externalId=tn_16410&sliceId=1
Murray --- ICQ 71997575
Adobe Community Expert
(If you *MUST* email me, don't LAUGH when you do so!)
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"Mr_Gareth" <[email protected]> wrote in
message
news:[email protected]...
> Hi,
>
> I have a html website which is growing and it's now
becoming increasingly
> difficult to amend the menu which obviously appears on
every page, every
> time a
> new page is added/deleted.
> Currently I have to add/delete/amend the link on one
page and then
> copy/paste
> the menu to all over pages (50+). What I would like is
to create a file
> called
> topmenu.html which links to all pages within the
website. When this single
> file
> is updated, it in turn updates all other pages.
>
> A few things to consider.
> 1. Does it cause problems if I have html pages within
sub folders.
> 2. Can the solution work with two menus on each page.
The first is a text
> based menu which runs vertically down the page. The
second is a Spray drop
> down-menu along the top of the page.
>
> Can this be done? If so, go easy on me, I'm only a
novice web designer.
> Thanks you.
>