Building your navigation menu
The Menu Editor web-based tool helps you create the navigation menu (representing the information architecture or site map) for your website. It is easiest to use this tool once you have created all or most of your webpages in the new templates.
Copy and paste this URL for the menu editor tool into your web browser and replace 'SITENAMEHERE' with your website name - http://www.newdev.unisa.edu.au/menueditor/editor.asp?path=/SITENAMEHERE
- Menu hierarchy explained
- Accessing the tool
- Menu Editor features
- Linking your pages to the navigation menu
- Publishing the updated menu
Menu hierarchy explained
There are four main levels of headings in the new corporate style
- levels 1-3 are represented by the left hand navigation menu in a
hierarchy from main heading down (the left menu template will show these)
- level 1 is the main heading (eg School of ...). There can only be one level 1 heading
- level 2 is a submenu heading. You can only have one level 2 heading open at a time. Try to create less than ten level 2 headings
- level 3 headings show when you click on a level 2 heading
- level 4 can only be represented in the right hand side of the webpage, ie in your template page, and may be a hyperlinked contents list to show what is further down that page
Accessing the tool
Access to the Menu Editor navigation tool will be provided after you have received training and developed your webpages in the templates. Contact the corporate web team. When you add your site's file name extension to the URL of the Menu Editor tool, the folders and files you have created for your site will appear in the 'Folders and files in web' box in the Menu Editor window.
When using the tool, it is a good idea to have both the Menu Editor window and your browser window open so you can see how the navigation menu looks as you create it. (See Testing your menu navigation.)
Menu Editor features
The Menu Editor window contains three boxes
- Folders and files in web
- Menu hierarchy
- Properties
Folders and files in web
Your site's folders and files will be listed here
- Refresh files button: this is useful if you change your file structure in FrontPage eg create a new file
Menu hierarchy
You will already see some headings in this box. These represent level 1 (far left), level 2 (next in from left) and level 3 (furthest right) headings. The navigation menu is not designed to have level 4 headings. You can use contents or index headings in the template page to create level 4 headings. If you have a long list of level 4 headings, you can use the no_left_menu template for each contents (level 4) heading.
- Up, Down, Left, Right buttons: move your headings to where you want in the hierarchy
- New external button: used for introducing links that are outside the webpages you are creating eg if you are linking to UniSAnet. Note that if you make this a level 2 heading, you cannot have a level 3 heading below it (ie it is a stand alone heading). You don’t need to create a file in FrontPage to create this heading in Menu Editor; click on this button and [new item] appears
- Delete button: this will delete a heading in the hierarchy if you have it highlighted. If you delete a heading and it has subheadings these will be deleted too
Properties
- Title text box: the current title of your file (ie *.asp) will automatically appear here as well as in the Menu hierarchy box once you have selected it from the Folders and files in web box. This is the title that will appear in your web browser, so you will want to change it. Try to keep headings as short as possible (no more than two lines in the browser)
- URL text box: the URL for your file will automatically appear here and you are unlikely to want to change it. Note that it is a relative URL (ie a file extension within a folder). Make sure that the right file name is represented
Other buttons
- Save, Save & Close: you must save your changes if you want them to appear in the browser once you refresh it
- Cancel: you can cancel your changes providing you haven't saved them
Linking your pages to the navigation menu
In Menu Editor, all files in your site will be visible in the 'Folders and files in web' box. You will use the level 1 (far left) heading for your home page (default.asp) which may be called School of… You can only have one level 1 heading. Level 2 headings will be the folders/files you have created for your submenu headings (eg Prospective students, Current students, Contact the School).
Adding and moving your files in the menu
- Select any one of your files in the Folders and files in web box to add it to the Menu hierarchy box
- To move the menu items within your menu select the item in the Menu hierarchy box and use the Up, Down, Left, Right buttons*
- In the Properties box, highlight the file title in the Title text box and change it to how you want it to appear in the webpage eg about.asp becomes About the School
- In the Properties box, check the URL text box to make sure the correct file is there (this is particularly important when you have more than one file with the same name eg default)
- Click on the Save button
- Repeat the above steps for all your files
- Go to the Internet Explorer window displaying your website
- Click Refresh to see the changes to your menu
*You cannot move an item up or down if it is lower in the hierarchy than the files above (if wanting to move it up) or below it (if wanting to move it down), so you may have to temporarily change the level to move it.
Example
About the School
Prospective students
Current students
Resources
Specialisations
Research
If you want to move Specialisations to below Research first you will have to move it Left and then Down.
You will need to accustom yourself to working with the Menu Editor. When you do any step, particularly using the Up, Down, Left, Right buttons, check to see what happens in the Menu hierarchy box. The file you wanted to move may not be the one that is highlighted after your action, and you may have to look for where it is in the hierarchy. However even if you make a mistake and have to delete files in your hierarchy, they will still remain in your Folders and files in web box.
Level 1 heading
Make sure you only have one level 1 heading, your home page. You must always have a level 1 heading (as far left as you can put it) at the top of the Menu hierarchy box. You won't be able to move your level 1 heading down the hierarchy unless you have another level 1 heading to replace it with. This other level 1 heading will automatically move to the top of the hierarchy.
Testing your menu navigation
To view your menu in the browser
- Open your www.newdev.unisa.edu.au/* site
- Click the Refresh button (after you have saved your menu hierarchy)
Test your website to see if your heading structure works for the user. Remember to use the Refresh button on your browser each time you make an adjustment to your menu hierarchy.
Publishing the updated menu
If you update the menu after the site has been published for the first time you will need to publish the menu to reflect the updates. This is a matter of publishing one file.
Access the publishing tool as per normal, and select the Only files and folders option for the website you need to publish the menu for.
Select the _menu folder and publish the menu.xml file as shown in the diagram below.
