looking for menu--navigation code

[henry]

Folks:

I've custom-built a text-only chapter-section menu in PHP (see below). It
does everything I want...

But it is really quite difficult even for me to edit, add, and subtract
entries. If I get run over by a truck, my successor will be very unhappy!

I want to replace my "brilliant" work with code that reads the data from an
easily-edited array or external tagged-text file --NOT a database-- and it
would be great to have the option to go as deep as 3 levels. A
you-are-here indicator would be nice. That's all. Really.

My implementation displays something like this in the site's left column:

Chapter 1 Name
Chapter 2 Name
Section 2.1 Name*
Section 2.2 Name*
Section 2.3 Name*
...
Chapter 3 Name
Chapter 4 Name
Chapter 5 Name
...

Probably obvious, but worth mentioning: Entries marked with '*' are links.
Only one set of Sections are visible at a time.

To repeat, I'm looking for easily configurable/maintainable code that does
this.

I've done some php archive-searching and come up about 20+ candidates, all
freeware or GPL or similar, but I realize I need to get on with site
content, not spend a lot of time evaluating these. (I spent quite a bit of
time on a promising candidate and discovered: 1. It didn't work, and 2. The
design required adding a tag to target files, both deal-breakers.)

So, it would be great to hear from someone who has been through this before
and can say, "The code you want to use is <here>".

Worth a try, right?

TIA

Henry

(remove z-z-z)

[Paul Lautman]

henry wrote:

Folks:

I've custom-built a text-only chapter-section menu in PHP (see
below). It does everything I want...

But it is really quite difficult even for me to edit, add, and
subtract entries. If I get run over by a truck, my successor will be
very unhappy!

I want to replace my "brilliant" work with code that reads the data
from an easily-edited array or external tagged-text file --NOT a
database-- and it would be great to have the option to go as deep as
3 levels. A you-are-here indicator would be nice. That's all.
Really.

My implementation displays something like this in the site's left
column:

Chapter 1 Name
Chapter 2 Name
Section 2.1 Name*
Section 2.2 Name*
Section 2.3 Name*
...
Chapter 3 Name
Chapter 4 Name
Chapter 5 Name
...

Probably obvious, but worth mentioning: Entries marked with '*' are
links. Only one set of Sections are visible at a time.

To repeat, I'm looking for easily configurable/maintainable code
that does this.

I've done some php archive-searching and come up about 20+
candidates, all freeware or GPL or similar, but I realize I need to
get on with site content, not spend a lot of time evaluating these.
(I spent quite a bit of time on a promising candidate and discovered:
1. It didn't work, and 2. The design required adding a tag to target
files, both deal-breakers.)

So, it would be great to hear from someone who has been through this
before and can say, "The code you want to use is <here>".

When I started out doing web pages, I went through the stage of thinking
about writing something like this. Then I thought to myself that someone
must have done something like this before. Then I found that what I was
looking for was a CMS. I now use Mambo/Joomla as the basis of most of the
sites I do, because I can concentrate on getting good content and not having
to worry about the mechanics.

I do write custom applications to run under these CMSs, but I see no point
in reinventing the category/menu/user management/login &c. stuff.

[henry]

Paul Lautman:

Thanks for your response:

in article 6b************* @mid.individual .net, Paul Lautman at
pa**********@bt internet.com wrote on 6/10/08 2:38 PM:

henry wrote:

>Folks:

I've custom-built a text-only chapter-section menu in PHP (see
below). It does everything I want...

<snip>

>>
I want to replace my "brilliant" work with code that reads the data
from an easily-edited array or external tagged-text file --NOT a
database-- and it would be great to have the option to go as deep as
3 levels. A you-are-here indicator would be nice. That's all.
Really.

<snip>

>
When I started out doing web pages, I went through the stage of thinking
about writing something like this. Then I thought to myself that someone
must have done something like this before. Then I found that what I was
looking for was a CMS. I now use Mambo/Joomla as the basis of most of the
sites I do, because I can concentrate on getting good content and not having
to worry about the mechanics.

Sure, that makes sense.

I've used Joomla for a collaborative project, but on some customizations
issues I found the learning curve too steep.

When I needed to manage a bunch of photos for another collaborative project,
I installed Coppermine Photo Gallery. It did everything I wanted, except
it just wouldn't support logical linkages between images -- something so
basic I didn't think to check for it when I compared all the alternatives.
Now the project is stalled because this vital tool is missing.

>
I do write custom applications to run under these CMSs, but I see no point
in reinventing the category/menu/user management/login &c. stuff.

I think it is up to each of us to decide for each project how much we are
willing to develop custom mechanics versus how much we're willing to put up
with the learning curves and potential inflexibilities of a standard CMS or
quasi-CMS package. Seems to me, my threshold is simply two or three
notches towards towards custom coding, compared to yours.

Thanks for sharing your philosophy and preference.

Henry

>

[C. (http://symcbean.blogspot.com/)]

On Jun 10, 7:44 pm, henry <henry.zzzab... @gmail.comwrote :

Folks:

I've custom-built a text-only chapter-section menu in PHP (see below). It
does everything I want...

But it is really quite difficult even for me to edit, add, and subtract
entries. If I get run over by a truck, my successor will be very unhappy!

I want to replace my "brilliant" work with code that reads the data from an
easily-edited array or external tagged-text file --NOT a database-- and it
would be great to have the option to go as deep as 3 levels. A
you-are-here indicator would be nice. That's all. Really.

My implementation displays something like this in the site's left column:

Chapter 1 Name
Chapter 2 Name
Section 2.1 Name*
Section 2.2 Name*
Section 2.3 Name*
...
Chapter 3 Name
Chapter 4 Name
Chapter 5 Name
...

Probably obvious, but worth mentioning: Entries marked with '*' are links.
Only one set of Sections are visible at a time.

To repeat, I'm looking for easily configurable/maintainable code that does
this.

I've done some php archive-searching and come up about 20+ candidates, all
freeware or GPL or similar, but I realize I need to get on with site
content, not spend a lot of time evaluating these. (I spent quite a bit of
time on a promising candidate and discovered: 1. It didn't work, and 2. The
design required adding a tag to target files, both deal-breakers.)

So, it would be great to hear from someone who has been through this before
and can say, "The code you want to use is <here>".

Worth a try, right?

TIA

Henry

(remove z-z-z)

I'd recommend PHP Layers menu - or look for a PHP Docbook parser.

C.