Download DDRMenu from www.dnndoneright.com
I'm delighted to announce the release of DDRMenu, the new free templated menu provider for DotNetNuke. Depending on your needs, there are essentially 3 ways you can use DDRMenu, covering the full spectrum from simply improving your existing skin through plugging in a pre-built jQuery / CSS menu to building a completely new menu style using the powerful templating engine:
1. Drop-in upgrade for SolPartMenu and DNNMenu
Does your DotNetNuke skin use the standard DNN menu or SolPart menu? Then install DDRMenu, make a trivial edit to your skin's ASCX file, and hey presto! You've got the same menu you had before but with these improvements:
- True hyperlinks, including right-click and middle-click support
- More pleasant user experience
- Greater SEO friendliness
- Improved browser support
- Better accessibility
See an upgraded DNN menu in action
2. Pre-built templated menus
If you need something a bit different, then I’ve made some example templates to demonstrate how to bring jQuery / CSS menus to your DotNetNuke site:
I've also started work on a Mega-menu template, which shows all your pages in a single dropdown and works well for multi-level page hierarchies.
3. DIY templated menus
HTML and CSS gurus can build their own menu templates, and are free to redistribute DDRMenu with their skins at no charge. The templating system is optimised for jQuery-based menus, but will work with any framework.
Common Features
Some of the features that DDRMenu brings to any DotNetNuke menu are:
- It can display a subset of pages, e.g. top-level only, children of current page, etc
- It can be used as either a module or a skin object
- It supports Apollo page localisation
- It allows you to plug in custom code to alter (or completely replace) the menu structure
What’s coming next?
Now that the core templating engine is stable, I’ll be working on the actual templates. Initially, this will involve improving the mega-menu and completing a new template that provides a simple, easily-stylable dropdown menu with full cross-browser compatibility and some optional effects such as LavaLamp. However, I’ll be happy to listen to any requests, so do head off to the forums and leave your suggestions (and be sure to sign up for updates while you’re there)!