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Re: Linktree and Dropmenu arrows..

Reply #45 –

Definitely like the logout like that. Not so sure about your menu arrangement like Spuds said. :)
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Re: Linktree and Dropmenu arrows..

Reply #46 –

Yep, better this way. :)

Whats the arrow below my messages in second thumb suppose to be?

Re: Linktree and Dropmenu arrows..

Reply #47 –

The arrow is the indicator that the top level tab has a drop menu. Perhaps not so important with hover menus, but I think worth having with the click menu option, particularly for people who are new to the site in question. I don't think it's worth extra code for conditional stuffz, so might as well just run the indicators by default, IMO. :)


Quote from: Spuds – Thats a nice improvement to be sure  :)  ..... I think we should consider another title than 'help" for the new combined menu.
Something basic, like "General", or "Community"? I did think of just putting them under the Home tab, but if we're going to have a front page as a default option I'm not sure what will happen with the home tab.

ETA: Having thought about several options, I think it should just be titled "General" for now. It's obvious, and covers everything, without tying it down to irrelevant meanings.

I'd still make the top level link to the Help page by default, just so it does something if somebody clicks it.
Last Edit: July 11, 2013, 06:46:37 pm by Antechinus
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Re: Linktree and Dropmenu arrows..

Reply #48 –

Oh here ya go: new linktree. All css of course. Seems stable. Looks cool. Hey ho.
Master of Expletives: Now with improved family f@&king friendliness! :D

Sources code: making easy front end changes difficult since 1873. :P

Re: Linktree and Dropmenu arrows..

Reply #49 –

Quote from: Antechinus – The arrow is the indicator that the top level tab has a drop menu. Perhaps not so important with hover menus, but I think worth having with the click menu option, particularly for people who are new to the site in question. I don't think it's worth extra code for conditional stuffz, so might as well just run the indicators by default, IMO. :)


Oh, lol, I thought it was showing a preview of personal messages or something. It reminded me alot of a speech bubble there...so I looked underneath to find whatever was being "said". :D Or who "said" the menu so to speak, since the arrow points down to a possible speaker. Wild.

Re: Linktree and Dropmenu arrows..

Reply #50 –

Rofl. Well you know gui stuff: no matter what you implement or how much you think about it, somebody, somewhere, sometime is bound to do a double take. I think it'll be clear enough in practice. I probably should have used another button for the example, since the combo of droppy indicator and new PM indicator may not have been the best for a static screenshot. :D
Master of Expletives: Now with improved family f@&king friendliness! :D

Sources code: making easy front end changes difficult since 1873. :P

Re: Linktree and Dropmenu arrows..

Reply #51 –

Here, try this. :D

Oh and before anyone asks, the reason the indicator isn't centered under the tab is because I found I tend to aim for the middle with the cursor. So, having the indicator offset to the right means it's more likely to be visible when the cursor is sort of over the button (since it will never be exact).
Master of Expletives: Now with improved family f@&king friendliness! :D

Sources code: making easy front end changes difficult since 1873. :P

Re: Linktree and Dropmenu arrows..

Reply #52 –

Hey here's an idea for menu stuffz.

I'm pretty much convinced that having no separate "Home" button is the right way to go. Even when using the click menus (prevent default on the top level links) there are still three ways to get to the home page: h1/banner, right click > open in new tab on Home button, or the linktree/breadcrumbs. Even if someone is using click menus and doesn't know about right click tricks, they still have the linktree at the top and bottom of most pages.

OTOH, starting with a button labelled "General" would be a bit off-putting IMO. So re-label the Home button as "Community" and stick most stuff under it (Help, Search, blah blah blah). That's welcoming and gets rid of a whole lot of stuff.

Could extend this idea further.

Profile isn't visited that often, in my experience. It tends to be set and forget. So, we could have another button labelled "Personal" that does PM's first, with profile stuffz linked from its droppy.

We could even have a "Staff" tab to handle both admin and moderation links. That could, if anyone feels like it, include a top level link to an actual staff page/list, which might be a handy feature for a lot of sites.

So that would cut the menu down to Community, Staff, Personal, Unread posts and New Replies, with logout over at the far right by itself. That should leave heaps of space for mods to mindlessly spew out a pile of tabs and clutter it all up again. :D

Speaking of which, it would be possible to not spew out top level tabs for all mods, and put a hook in the Community droppy yes? ;)
Master of Expletives: Now with improved family f@&king friendliness! :D

Sources code: making easy front end changes difficult since 1873. :P

Re: Linktree and Dropmenu arrows..

Reply #53 –

That last point, of course it would be possible, just that most mods don't because it's kind of a hassle even when using hooks to do so (since visibility of a lower item doesn't magically cascade back upwards, as I found with SimpleDesk - a user could be a helpdesk admin and thus entitled to be able to visit some of the admin panel but the admin menu would otherwise be hidden to them)

Re: Linktree and Dropmenu arrows..

Reply #54 –

Yeah but that's just because nobody bothers to edit the top level permissions, which should be perfectly possible. Anyway, it wouldn't apply to the Community tab, since that would be visible to all. So, that one should be a safe place to add anything.
Master of Expletives: Now with improved family f@&king friendliness! :D

Sources code: making easy front end changes difficult since 1873. :P

Re: Linktree and Dropmenu arrows..

Reply #55 –

Well... I did bother to deal with it ;) But yeah, in general I agree with what you're saying.

The only concern about having a menu like that is that I kind of see it like the Mod Settings page in the admin panel: you have two places you're encouraging people to add stuff, one little container for small stuff and one much larger container for bigger stuff but no-one will do it the way you expect, and the containers you do have won't necessarily be suitable for as many people as you think.

Most of the mods out there currently that add menu items, how many of them really would move to a very generic menu that's likely to grow enormous?

Re: Linktree and Dropmenu arrows..

Reply #56 –

Is it likely to grow enormous though? That would depend on the site I think. For a lot of sites, it should be perfectly adequate. But, there's no reason why this couldn't be an additional hook, rather than the only one. So call the one you want, and put your links there.

Now admittedly, most mod authors will want their willy waving in the breeze where everyone can see it, so they aint all that likely to use a droppy when they have the option of getting in people's faces. It could still be an option though.

If a full-on menu editor is not on the cards for Elk 1.0 (probably aint) then having mods coded so you can pick link location on installation would be rather nifty, and should be possible.
Master of Expletives: Now with improved family f@&king friendliness! :D

Sources code: making easy front end changes difficult since 1873. :P

Re: Linktree and Dropmenu arrows..

Reply #57 –

Just thinking about this idea of basic division into Community, Staff and Personal. It should be easy to arrange, and has a nice logic to it IMO. Take the moderation/admin stuff. At the moment it has this:

Code: [Select]
			'moderate' => array(
				'title' => $txt['moderate'],
				'href' => $scripturl . '?action=moderate',
				'show' => $context['allow_moderation_center'],
				'sub_buttons' => array(

So I can't see why we couldn't do something like this:

Code: [Select]
			'staff' => array(
				'title' => $txt['staff'],
				'href' => $context['allow_admin'] ? $scripturl . '?action=admin : $scripturl . '?action=moderate',
				'show' => $context['allow_moderation_center'],
				'sub_buttons' => array(

With stuff under it to suit (probably admin stuff on top for admins).
Master of Expletives: Now with improved family f@&king friendliness! :D

Sources code: making easy front end changes difficult since 1873. :P

Re: Linktree and Dropmenu arrows..

Reply #58 –

Just tried it. I like. Space for another four buttons on a 1024 screen, at default 90% theme width setting. Good scope there for more mods, and/or non-standard font size in browser preferences, and/or smaller screens. I could live with this.
Master of Expletives: Now with improved family f@&king friendliness! :D

Sources code: making easy front end changes difficult since 1873. :P

Re: Linktree and Dropmenu arrows..

Reply #59 –

Theres a solution to the problem where mods add themselves to a crowded "community" area: let the admin decide which goes where, even into other submenus if need be. :) Its one of the things people always ask for, how to change the menu. If you make such a feature, even if a mod decided to hardcode its placement, admins will complain to that particular mod that doesn't follow the routines, thus keeping things in line.

Of course, admins can also make a total mess out of it..but thats on them then. One could additionally set some boundaries in the template, like over 10 items you get a scrollbar etc.