[WEB4LIB] Drop down menus for library home page

[Andrew Mutch]

Gerald,

What I think you are trying to do can be done using Javascript or using CGI.  Fortunately, you don't need to be a Javascript expert to add this functionality.  Webreference provides a tool that will automatically create the necessary code that you can then add into your page.  See:

http://www.webreference.com/js/menus/

Webreference is also a great place to get acquanited with Javascript, DHTML, and other new web concepts through their excellent on-going series of tutorials.

Now the standard word-of-caution:
Relying exclusively on Javascript to provide these menus may cause problems for your users.  Some browsers may not support Javascript, some users may have it disable, etc.  To avoid blocking out your users, you may want to provide a link to an alternative page that provides these links in a text format.

Andrew Mutch
Library Systems Technician
Waterford Township Public Library
Waterford, MI


Gerald Bohnet wrote:

> A while ago I came across a web site in which the various buttons would light up as you passed your cursor over them.  While that looked very nice, it was the drop down menu that really interested me. As your mouse passed over a button, you would see a drop down menu for that heading (anywhere from 2-6 items).  By passing your mouse down that list and clicking with the mouse you would be taken to that particular library site.  I thought I had bookmarked the webpage but can't find it for looking.
>
> My question now is, how can I replicate the drop-down menu that will contain active links to our library site.  I can use a forms page to create it but I can't get the highlighted item to be an active link.
> Is it possible with out worrying about scripting.   I'm worried that the real solution may be the use of Java scripting (which I can't do).  If anyone can offer a suggestion or point me to a web site that offers help I would appreciate it.
>
> You can see what I'm playing around with at:
>
>   http://library.byuh.edu/bottom3.htm
>
> If you view the page source you can see what I've been trying to do by using other page samples - and of course they aren't working for me. This is my "work page" so I know there's lots of mistakes on it.
>
> Mahalo.