Jquery menus for DW CC

[bradm44645584]

So Spry is gone in DW CC. Spry of course made deploying menus very quick and easy. Does anyone have any suggestions for an equivalent tool for menus using Jquery?

Thanks

[LoisReed]

actually, I just tested the spry menu on the ipod and it no longer works with touch technology, meaning the drop-downs are not showing ... this is something to consider and would certainly make the cc dreamweaver worth it if a drop-down for touch technology were offered

[ALsp]

Adobe is an application developer - they are not set up to develop and

manage JavaScript widgets. Every time they've tried, they've failed -

with Spry being the most recent failure. The strength of Dreamweaver is

its extensibility. Without the founding extension developers from 1998,

Dreamweaver never would have taken off. The answer to your question is

to fill out Adobe's wishlist and ask for a jQuery UI menu feature. That

takes care of the entry-level users. For folks who want more features

and more hand-holding, there are commercial extensions - you just have

to no where to look. Long-time Dreamweaver users know the drill.

--

Al Sparber - PVII

http://www.projectseven.com

The Finest Dreamweaver Menus | Galleries | Widgets

Since 1998

[LoisReed]

they also charge a lot of money. Sure, I can build anything by hand. DW is a tool to expedite the process ... for the money, I expect more

[ALsp]

Based on past history, I'm afraid you are expecting too much: -)

Pure CSS menus, by the way, will not work well on a touch device. They

will be rudimentary at best and unusable at worst.

--

Al Sparber - PVII

http://www.projectseven.com

The Finest Dreamweaver Menus | Galleries | Widgets

Since 1998

[ajatix_com]

"Pure CSS menus, by the way, will  not work well on a touch device."

Why wouldn't they?

There is a lot of different kind of pure CSS menus that do:

http://www.cssplay.co.uk/menus/

[ALsp]

Hi Ajatix,

Simple menus will work fine. A multi-level menu will not. For a simple

menu, only the greenest of beginners would need a widget. The trick is

making multi-level menus respond to touch in a usable way.

--

Al Sparber - PVII

http://www.projectseven.com

The Finest Dreamweaver Menus | Galleries | Widgets

Since 1998

[ALsp]

Simple menus will work fine. A multi-level menu will not. For a simple

menu, only the greenest of beginners would need a widget. The trick is

making multi-level menus respond to touch in a usable way.

To further clarify:

1. Sgnificantly higher than 90% of all non-robot user agents today have JavaScript enabled.
2. Nearly 100% of mobile devices have script enabled.
3. Professionally programmed menu systems are designed to fall back to pure CSS when script is disabled. Simply view one of our menu examples in your browser with script disabled:
   http://www.projectseven.com/products/menusystems/pmm3/demos/index.htm
4. Popular pure CSS and even some scripted menus are fatally flawed when it comes to multi-levels in a responsive, mixed device application.
5. Good design has it that top-level links in a hierarchical menu be real links for optimum accessibility. This is the area where most pure CSS menus fail miserably.

To summarize, fear and loathing of JavaScript is no longer relevant. The bottom line is that Adobe should have a basic and modern menu tool available for hobbyists and beginners. The high end remains the domain of those Dreamweaver users capable of writing their own menu systems or of the top-tier extension developer community.

Best,

Al Sparber

[ajatix_com]

Al, Your menu falls back to pure CSS. Our commercial menus are based on pure CSS and use JavaScript for progressive enhancement (animations, delays, 'you are here' markers, etc.). Don't you think we are talking about same thing here. The core is CSS, the JavaScript builds up on it. My point was good drop down menus are not as much about JavaScript frameworks as about correct HTML semantic + CSS design. Is it important the menu should be jQuery based?

Alex

[ALsp]

Our menus are built with CSS first and then we use JavaScript to enhance

them - which includes getting it to work usably in a multi-level format

on touch devices. As for jQuery, we never use it. We write all our

scripts from scratch so that they do ONLY what they need to do for the

task. I mentioned jQuery before because Adobe is kind of stuck with it.

There are no programmers around anymore that write dedicated scripts -

except for us and a few other souls.

--

Al Sparber - PVII

http://www.projectseven.com

The Finest Dreamweaver Menus | Galleries | Widgets

Since 1998

[VermiciousKnid]

I am confused. Which is better for dropdown menus, jQuery or CSS? The argument about that earlier on this thread didn't seem to be resolved. I generally just want one level of dropdowns, but they need to work on mobile devices.

I actually just realized today that my Dreamweaver CS5 even has Spry dropdown menus, but it sounds like maybe I shouldn't bother with them at all. But what should I substitute?

I find JavaScript very difficult to work with, btw.

[Nancy OShea]

Which is better for dropdown menus, jQuery or CSS? The argument about that earlier on this thread didn't seem to be resolved. I generally just want one level of dropdowns, but they need to work on mobile devices.

Don't use Spry.  They are not touch screen friendly.  Use jQuery drop-menus or a commercial responsive menu extension from Project Seven like Pop-Menu Magic 3.

Nancy O.

[VermiciousKnid]

thanks for the input!

[Jon Fritz]

The vast majority of systems billed as "jQuery menus" are just "CSS menus" that get some extra effects from the jQuery library. If you find one you like by doing a search in Google, test how it reacts with javascript disabled in your browser to see what it actually gets from jQuery.

Usually the menu will still function correctly, it just won't have the nifty transition effects and what-not.

Spry, at least the version included in DW CS5, should be avoided.

[VermiciousKnid]

Thanks! I appreciate the insight.

[bradm44645584]

Al,

I read your response, and I find it funny you call Spry a 'failure' and knock the question on why a jquery widget is missing. And yet you sell widgets. I am a long time user of DW, and I am not a beginner. Using widgets saves time and works well for my business. I find knocking the people who use widgets when you sell widgets a very strange marketing strategy.

[Dennis48755]

Also, since Adobe has included many of the jQuery UI Widgets, if they also included the Menu widget, DreamWeaver users could utilize the same styles, themes and probably many of the same jQuery resources.

Dennis

[ALsp]

I have absolutely no idea what are talking about Madweblc. do you?

Anyone who understands JavaScript knows Spry was a failure. Adobe needs

a free menu tool for the folks (many of whom post here) do not have a

budget or simply do not want to spend money for tools - for which there

are many valid reasons.

I knocked Spry. That's all. Sorry you were confused.

--

Al Sparber - PVII

http://www.projectseven.com

The Finest Dreamweaver Menus | Galleries | Widgets

Since 1998

[bradm44645584]

Al,

Play coy if you must . It just seems that threads like this has at least one person who implies Adobe shouldn't have to cater to 'beginers'. As if your business needs are the only ones that matters. As for extensions, they are not all that great.  Ajatix failed at first, and some plug ins are quite dated.

But to bring this whole thread back to its orgional point. All I wonder is why if DW is going to have a great set of jquery, why of all ones they wouldn't include would be menu? It just doesn't make sense.

[ALsp]

I am neither playing nor being coy. Dreamweaver has to cater to

beginners because it is their largest remaining market - and it's a

market that has changed over the years.

An experience web developer does not need a Dreamweaver menu or a canned

jQuery one. He can write his own or go directly to a quality source to

ensure he is using something that is relevant and up-to-date. I'm sure

you realize there are quite a few folks out there using Dreamweaver CS5

or 6 and oblivious to the fact that they are using a menu (Spry) that is

out of date. Actually, it was pretty bad even when it was in date.

I have no idea how long you have been part of the Dreamweaver community,

but it would seem not for very long or you would know there are a few

high-quality extension developers around. Since Adobe took over, the

Exchange has become a dumping ground for many folks who simply copy open

source plugins and give them a Dreamweaver interface - or who simply

write poor code. That's why we have had no part of the Exchange for the

past 8 years.

If you think about what it takes to manage these kinds of features, it

should become apparent that Adobe is not equipped to do it. There is

historical precedent.

It's threads like this that inspire Adobe to stick third-party code in

Dreamweaver to make marketing bullet points and appease the masses. It

is a hollow appeasement. Very hollow.

[Preran]

Hi all,

Thank you for a very interesting discussion.

About the query on why we did not introduce jQuery menu widgets in CC (version 13.0), it was because the jQuery menu module (specification) wasn't quite complete at that time.

We definitely have a plan to integrate jQuery menu widget in Dreamweaver, but we are still working on a date for this one.

Thanks,

Preran

[chifang1]

So I'm having the same questions here regarding why DW CC 2014 doesn't have menu included in the supported jQuery UI widgets. I saw you response to this was on Jul 24, 2013, that you definitely have a plan to integrate jQuery menu widget into Dreamweaver. Now we are at Oct 7, 2014, how is the situation now? I'm using a DW CC 2014, apparently still no support for jQuery menu. Please help!

[Thelads]

I just downloaded the latest release 2014.1 and not my Ajatix Advanced CSS Menu extension no longer works!!!! I get the following error message:-

TypeError: AJXCSSMenu.Start is not a function

PS: I am using the latest menu version too 4.02 any ideas??

[LoisReed]

I am neither playing nor being coy either. I work on several websites at one time and like functions that streamline my work. Dreamweaver is NOT FREE, it is quite expensive, and with free sources like wordpress, I would say YES, I do expect a lot for my hard earned money that I am paying to Adobe. Thank you.

[ALsp]

You usually get what you pay for Like I said, Adobe (and Macromedia

before it) has a very quantifiable history of being a great

CSS/Code/Content editor, while being absolutely horrible at client-side

tools (behaviors, widgets, menu systems, et al).

Forewarned is forearmed.

Good luck to you.

[bradm44645584]

Still waiting on an answer on this.