X3Photo Gallery Forums

Thanks for starting this post - We don't mind getting some ideas for a new dedicated horizontal menu. In fact, I would suggest not comparing it to the existing horizontal menu at all, as this was just a fix from the vertical menu. Let's make a new one ...

I have a few comments:

#1 We are considering doing the new horizontal menu in jQuery/Html/CSS. Why? Because it can look just as nice as a flash menu, more flexible with css styling, can integrate properly floating over the flash, can be ported as menu navigation in a main website where Imagevue is only a module, may support improved SEO and also can double-up in our plans for future Html galleries with different templates.

#2 I don't believe the menu should be or would be limited to 3 levels. It should probably go further, although personally I prefer horizontal menus with no levels at all (this is when they work best), or 1 level looks ok. Most likely though the menu would be virtually unlimited like the current imagevue vertical menu (was that a confusing comment?)

#3 Most likely, you will have the choice to use BOTH the horizontal menu and the vertical menu at the same time. What would be the point of this? For example, you may want to keep the vertical menu for portfolio, and then simply use the horizontal menu with a few links for "about", "contact", and perhaps "blog" or any external page.

mjau-mjau wrote:#3 Most likely, you will have the choice to use BOTH the horizontal menu and the vertical menu at the same time.

I would like to have the horizontal menu to display my main-categories so that when one is clicked a vertical menu is shown with the sub-categories.
So, clicking on a horizontal menu-item should trigger a specific vertical menu. Clicking on another horizontal menu-item should trigger another vertical menu.
In my case the horizontal menu would only have one level, the vertical menu would have more.

mabro wrote:I would like to have the horizontal menu to display my main-categories so that when one is clicked a vertical menu is shown with the sub-categories.
So, clicking on a horizontal menu-item should trigger a specific vertical menu. Clicking on another horizontal menu-item should trigger another vertical menu.
In my case the horizontal menu would only have one level, the vertical menu would have more.

Sorry, let me just clarify something here - What you are talking about here is still considered a "horizontal menu", because its main layout (unlike the current Imagevue vertical menu), is horizontal. The submenus will pop-out vertically yes, but this entire menu would still be classified as a "horizontal menu".

My point of having both horizontal and vertical, would be that you can keep the existing vertical menu in imagevue effectively giving you two menus. The optional benefit of this being that you could use one menu simply like a footer or with basic links, while the other menu could have a compact but complex structure as to contain entire gallery structure.

mjau-mjau wrote:What you are talking about here is still considered a "horizontal menu", because its main layout (unlike the current Imagevue vertical menu), is horizontal. The submenus will pop-out vertically yes, but this entire menu would still be classified as a "horizontal menu".

Ah.. I wasn't clear enough... what I meant was that clicking on the basic onelevel horizontal menu would trigger a manylevel vertical menu on the left side of the screen, just like the vertical one we have now.
So, horizontal menu-items would trigger there own left-sided vertical menu.

Hmm, this seems to me a little unconventional ... sounds more like you are "loading" a separate menu, when clicking an item in the horizontal menu. Not sure if its feasible to actually "build them together" like you are suggesting ...

mjau-mjau wrote:Hmm, this seems to me a little unconventional ... sounds more like you are "loading" a separate menu, when clicking an item in the horizontal menu. Not sure if its feasible to actually "build them together" like you are suggesting ...

Just a thought... if it can't be done, it can't...
But it could prevent long vertical menu's and also the expanding of multilevel horizontal menus on top of images...

Our main goal is to integrate a well-designed horizontal menu with sub menus. Usually, sub-menus will appear on mouse-hover and disappear on mouse-out, so it would only overlay images when the visitor is actively using the menu. This is in any case a compromise of being able to use a multi-level horizontal menu, and just like on any other website, the submenu(s) will overlay the web page content as long as the user is selecting items in the menu, but then disappear after click, or on mouse-out.

mjau-mjau wrote:Our main goal is to integrate a well-designed horizontal menu with sub menus.

I get your point... Having both a vertical and a horizontal would be great... even if they are acting seperate from each other.

It's very good goal to create separate menus and I completely support the opinion of mabro.
If we have a vertical submenu (on the left) of any horizontal menu category, the visitors should not have to click twice: first click to open an category of main vertical menu and second click to choose a submenu item.
If create a non clickable first level of main menu, which will opens on mouseover, the site will seems very floating and jumpy and many users especially elderly people will be irritated.
It's more convenient to have a ready to click vertical submenu on the left side which will contains items of choosed horizontal main menu.

Nick85 wrote:It's very good goal to create separate menus and I completely support the opinion of mabro.
If we have a vertical submenu (on the left) of any horizontal menu category, the visitors should not have to click twice: first click to open an category of main vertical menu and second click to choose a submenu item.
If create a non clickable first level of main menu, which will opens on mouseover, the site will seems very floating and jumpy and many users especially elderly people will be irritated.
It's more convenient to have a ready to click vertical submenu on the left side which will contains items of choosed horizontal main menu.

Are you saying that When I click an item in the horizontal menu, then the vertical menu (which is often quite far away) should be recreated from some entirely new structure? Nobody is suggesting here should be an identical vertical and horizontal menu ... The suggestion was to have menus with different content. I have never in my life seen one menu that triggers another like this ... then it is not "a" menu ... It is some kinda navigation system, and it sounds incredibly tedious. The user will not "click" twice in a horizontal menu, because submenus expand on rollover. They click when they find an item they want to view.

Let me get you right, but you are suggesting this: When a visitor clicks an item in the horizontal menu, nothing happens, except a NEW vertical menu appears on the left? ... and does that mean we can't have submenus in the horizontal menu? At best, you are describing a system that is not only one brand new expandable horizontal menu with sublevels, but it is a system that integrates two separate menus where accessing one triggers the other ...

There are loads of galleries out there with horizontal menus, most of them with a single level. Many have sublevels also, but luckily they expand on rollover so I can select menu items directly fro the same menu, instead of having multiple menus created.

winph wrote:is it possible to have an option for the 2nd level onward to be also in horizontal menu?

Yes, the Horizontal menu would definitely have multiple levels, just like the vertical one has today. It would simply reflect the folder structure from its root folder node.

mjau-mjau wrote:... then it is not "a" menu ... It is some kinda navigation system, and it sounds incredibly tedious.

Yes.. on second thought I must agree that it is a bit cumbersome to click first in the (horizontal)main menu AND then again in the (vertical)sub menu.
I withdraw my suggestions