Joomla Template Menu Options

Most templates have various menu types that you can choose from. These are more advanced and sophisticated than the default Joomla! menu module. Some are powered by javascript but most are a combination of javascript, php, html and css. Below is a list of menu types used by RocketTheme and other template developers:

1. RokMooMenu - a vertical dropdown menu with javascript based transitional effects
2. Suckerfish - a standard vertical dropdown menu with no transitional effects
3. Supersucker - a horizontal dropdown menu with no transitional effects
4. Transmenu - a fully javascript powered vertical dropdown menu
5. Slide Menu - a horizontal/vertical menu with a wave-effect transitions
6. Splitmenu - a standard but versatile submenu menu system

Selecting your Menu

In most situations, you choose which menu type you wish to use in your site in the template's index.php file. Sometimes, you may have a file in the template's root called templateConfig.inc.php which would be used instead.

Below is a snippet from Replicant's index.php

$menu_type = "moomenu";	// moomenu | splitmenu | module

$menu_type is the prefix that is used by RocketTheme in its configuration that signifies the type of menu system but may be different from other template developers, however, it should have a similar name. The name between the ""tags such as, "moomenu"is defined by the descriptions to the right of it which in this case is // moomenu | splitmenu | module. The structure should be the same in all configuration options for menu type just with slightly different names.

Another setting that you shall find is the ability to choose which Joomla! menu loads in the inbuilt menu structure. For example, you may want to create a menu called moomenu which is assigned to RokMooMenu. This is normally seen in the snippet below

$menu_name = "mainmenu";	// mainmenu by default, can be any Joomla menu name

$menu_name is the prefix that is used by RocketTheme in its configuration that signifies which menu name is used, but may be different from other template developers, however, it should have a similar name. The name between the ""tags such as, "mainmeu"is defined by the descriptions to the right of it which in this case is // mainmenu by default, can be any Joomla menu name. The structure should be the same in all configuration options for menu name just with slightly different names.

Using Menu DropDowns

Assigning Parent Items to Create Your Drop-Downs

To have specific menu items appear as sub items, you must assign them to the specific navigation item in which they will originate from. The following tutorial will show you how simple it is to create your ideal menu system.

• Navigating to the Menu area
  Once you have logged into the Joomla! Administration Area, you must navigate to the Menu area. Hover over the Menu item in the taskbar to show the dropdown menu. For this example, we are going into the mainmenu but the technique is exactly the same for all menus in the Administrative area.
• The Menu Manager
  You will then be transported to the Menu Manager for mainmenu. At this point, you can do 2 things. The first is to edit an existing menu item, which we will be doing in this tutorial or create a New menu item to be subordinate to an existing item. Click on the item you want to be part of the dropdown menu.
• Assigning the Parent item
  Now that you are in the editor for the individual content item, you can then assign it to the mainmenu item in which you want the dropdown menu with your intended item to be place. Identify the "Parent Item" section of the manager. You will select the item in which you wish to be the parent and the source of the dropdown menu. In this example, we have selected "Home".