[WEB4LIB] Javascript or CSS question?

[Thomas Dowling]

> I have been upgrading our library webpages to use CSS and have also
added a
> "quicklinks" pull down menu form to allow those who know where they want
to
> got to do so more quickly.  Is there any way other than SSI or such to
get a
> pull down menu that I can modify from just one file that will either be
> called by a script in the pull down menu or via CSS?  I am thinking
along
> the lines of arrays but can't find a good example to work from.  I want
to
> be able to add new links to one file and have it appear from all the
pages.

A couple of thoughts.

As with *far* too many drop-down menus used for navigation, this one is
absolutely unusable with no submit button when JavaScript is disabled (I
don't think Bobby approves any more).

To answer your question, this is a textbook example of something SSI does
well. CSS is not about inserting content into your page; it's about
formatting the content that's there.  If SSI isn't an option, you'll need
some other server-side scripting technology like PHP, or you'll need to
commit to global search/replace operations whenever you change the form.

Thomas Dowling
OhioLINK - Ohio Library and Information Network
tdowling at ohiolink.edu