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Extended Menu, by Daniel Ecer - Joomla Extension Directory

Introduction

Menu Systems

This menu module offers almost all features of the mainmenu module plus many many more.... Like:
- CSS- Menu with Sub-Menues
- patTemplate support
- split the menu up (e.g. sub-navigation on the side)
- navigate through sections, categories, content items (you can even make it expand regular section/category link menu items)
- plugin support (load menu items from a custom database table or create complex views)
- use one of the available menu templates (mainly based on other great resources like the suckerfish CSS menu, an accessible dTree menu, mountain-top rounded corners...) or create/modify your own menu template (you may want to make this one then available to others).


(please see the homepage for more details)

Just an additional note as some may misunderstand some things about this module:
- it main emphases is not to make it simpler than the built in mainmenu but add some more possibilities and sacrifices some simplicity for flexibility (separate sub modules could probably be created to overcome this)...
- those are mainly focused on giving the web developer/designer the possibility to create standard based web sites (menu wise)
- that is to be able to separate structure (HTML) from design (CSS)
- for integration, design and other reasons this is not a component but just a module with it's limitation
- (a required step may not be required for a later Joomla version)

This may help your decision:
- don't use this module if you don't need/want any of it's additional features
- don't use it if you are not sure what HTML/CSS is and you actually don't care about web standards (accessibility etc.)
- if you desperately want JavaScript/Flash effects other menu modules may suit you better (even though possible there is not a lot effort put into making such easier)
- otherwise just check it out.. it depends on your knowledge, preferences and what you actually want to archive

Note: Unfortunately I can't reply to comments. If you believe there is a bug or it is not working as advertised then please do contact me or raise an issue in the bug tracker.
e.g. this module is compatible with Joomla 1.7 since the snapshot version 2011-11-10.
(1.0.6 on the other hand was not compatible)

I really like Extended Menu! But.....

I'm already preparing to upgrade to joomla 1.5 so I won't have too much work left when the stable version is released.



Extended Menu is not (yet) compatible with Joomla 1.5 :-(



Question for the developer: when will it be??
Compared to many open source projects, Daniel has done fine job on documentation. Some coding knowledge is required to get maximum benefit from this tool but once you master the fine points this module will give you unmatched power and flexibility.

rawkin and simple



Posted on 08 May 2007
dig. all i wanted was a menu module that orders the items as nested list items. this did as much and nothing more, which is awesome. i love having the leeway to set up the design and markup my way and, though it has features i never use, this certainly allows for that.



now if i could figure out how to create multiple instances of it.

Great work



Posted on 07 May 2007
Use this menu when you need to customize your menu in any way at all. Took some time to get an understanding on PatTemplate, but it really is customizability to the max!



My thanks to the developer

Editors pick? how? why?



Posted on 14 March 2007
I really needed to extend the functions of the Joomla menu system. I've recently taken over a site with a dhtml menu system and it was driving the users crazy, they hate it. I currently have three sites and was looking for a solution that would fit all three. This seemed to be the answer to my problems. I downloaded it, the install went perfect, then i went to work on the set up. That is where the problems began. is there such a thing as to many

features? This module has settings for everything but the kitchen sink. that would not normally be a bad thing, most are very useful, and many were exactually what i need. but the implementation of them is way to complex. even after hours of working with the menus i still could not get a simple menu to fit into any of my templates. so far i have yet to achieve even one of the effects that are shown on the demo site. at this point i don't believe i ever will either, simply because at one point the menu simply disappeared and i cant seem to find it. its just gone. no matter how many times i move it,publish, unpublish, and redo the settings its just hiding somewhere.

while i would not recommend this to anyone it has great potential, it looks like a huge amount of work has been done, and im looking forward to a stable release. this one is most definitely not stable.

one thing that does have me both confused and amused at the same time is the fact that in selection box for the menu type it says "horizontal(not recommended)" "vertical(not recommended)" and there is another option that is not recommended. lets see, if the developer doesn't recommend these options, what does he recommend? all my other menus use one of those options. perhaps im missing out on a new fad, disappearing diagonal menus. :)

whats more confusing then the module is the fact that this is an editors pick. how? why?

Excellent for my needs



Posted on 15 February 2007
I was simply looking for a way to style my menu items individually without having to wade through confusing admin interfaces and javascript settings of many DHTML menus out there. This module allowed me to do just that with the click of a button. Obviously I am not using any of the more advanced features, but for my needs, this was what I needed. Thanks!

If ever I decide not to use this in the future, my original menus will remain in tact as they are simply being referenced by this code.

Great work by Daniel



Posted on 06 February 2007
Daniel has created a stable, well thought out package for designers with the Extended Menu system. Apart from the obvious usability and accessibility benefits that this menu system brings, it is a breeze to set up and customise.

Orrible



Posted on 14 January 2007
I wonder how this product can be hot.



It's so difficult to understand its parameters that you can use it just if you apply its default settings.



If you just change 1 setting you mess up the whole site.



This product is really orrible and I keep it in my installation because I purchased a template that use extended menu.
It needs more documentations to exploit all features but It dose what I needed with basic configuration.



I have a main navigation menu that displays the my sections and I wanted a secondary navigation menu to show, as a title, the active category and links to my content items but only content items on that category.



Because I have some sections with 3 levels and some with 2 levels I have two instances of this module running with diferent configurations and any new content (and even category) added to my site automatically displays on the menus.



With traditional menu I could have similar funtion using Table-Content Category Items on the main menu, but I needed the content items of the selected category displayed as an other menu, not in the content`s place.



As you can see my English it's not really good but I wanted to rate this module.
Trying to make dtree work has been a nightmare! In the end I just went with another option.



The author has put a lot of effort in this plugin, but unfortunatelly it seriously lacks in documentation, if you try to understand what the info boxes tell you inside the configuration options of the module then I suggest you try your abilities at MENSA!



And if I am not mistaken the only help desk resides at a very long thread in this site's forums.



It really needs better documentation.

Extended Menu

Version:
1.3.1
Developer:
Daniel Ecer
Last updated:
Oct 12 2023
1 year ago
Date added:
Mar 05 2006
License:
GPLv2 or later
Type:
Free download
Includes:
m
Compatibility:
J3 J4
Download

Uses Joomla! Update System