Usually all css listmenu tutorials that don’t require the use of specific styles on each menu item can be used with dropmenu.
This may be true - in principle. But "in principle" does not mean in practice:
1. There’s a conceptual mismatch between how CSS and how the dynamic DropMenu works: You can have indefinite levels of ul, li, ul, li .... sequences created by DropMenu, but in practice this would mean to define a
definite CSS definition cascade of ul, li, ul, li covering this virtually indefinite structure. DropMenu will drill down easily - CSS will not.
2. with the class "here" DropMenu intermixes the hierachical ul/li structure with the position of a page within that structure. DropMenu does not apply an ID to the current page - I had to tweak the source to get the current page styled with "id="currPage" but here my point comes out again: this id spans over all sub-uls and sub-ul-li elements, so it’s still a challenge to create the most common behaviour of navigation systems: hilighting the current page -
without all subsequent segments (chapters, pages, whatever you name it).
You’ll easily end up - as described in the well written tutorial - with a quite complex structure of ul li ul, li.here ul li ... declarations that are
really difficult to handle and to maintain. And this is not a matter of theory - it’s a matter of practice. And practice counts.
(Maybe a DropMenu which created a decimal-classification of levels (class "1", class "1_1", class "2_1_3") would be far easier to handle. Within all that sequences of "ul li ul li.here ul li" it’s nearly impossible NOT to get lost.)
MODX Staff
