[RESOLVED] Site-Navigation as PHP Include - Yay or nay?

[ATS16805]

i've kind of painted myself into a corner here. result of poor planning, i'm sure! but, perhaps my current setup is yet salvageable w/out too much strain on my productivity.

i'm working on a site which has a navigation menu which i've designed to stay on the left, as in a typical Framed site-- however, i'm using CSS divs to get my columns instead of frames-- so, as i usually do w/ this type of setup, common to my more simple designs, i started off by creating a "template" or index page complete w/ the navigation to hit all of the other pages. in this manner, i can build the other pages from this template, and the navigation div will already be populated w/ the correct URL's . it's fast, relatively simple, and results in pages which have an identical appearance to the functional / navigation/ and basic structure elements.

due to the depth of sublevels in this menu, this is the first i've encountered this particular issue-- hence my lack of preparedness. the attached image shows the <ul> sublevels outline which comprise the collapsible nav list.

as i created this vast, collapsible sub-menu navigation list, i decided to build this folder based structure-- using sub-folders and files to mirror each of the list items-- a structure which, while nice and neatly organized on disc, as a matter of course has also imposed itself into the URL path. the URL paths which extend into the sub-directories would be fine if i only wanted to use the nav i've built on the top level of the heirarchy, but if i were to copy/ paste that code into one of the sub-documents deeper in the structure, or anywhere else in the structure for that matter-- the URL paths will no longer be correct.

instead of nixing the idea of the sub-folder heirarchy, i decided that i could use PHP includes for that navigation list-- having the nav only in a file, and then reference it from anywhere w/ an include. however, again-- the heirarchy imposes the identical problem as copy/ paste-- a sub-file can not use the same URL paths, obviously.

i can think of the obvious solution, which would be to tear apart the heirarchy and have everything in root-- but i'd rather not go that route just yet.

what would you do? please keep in mind that i don't want to use frames as it would eliminate my ability to use this CSS div based layout (if you happen to view it, it's currently undergoing a revision... to explain the bg mis-match). i'm drawing a blank for a quick fix, but maybe i just need to step back from it for a while.

thanks for reading! i look forward to reading your reply.

the collapsible navigation list is based on a CSS design by Eric Meyer.

[Drakla]

I think I did exactly the same thing as you've done - and I got around it this way, in each subdirectory, and in the root I have a file called xroot-offset.php that defines the path to the root

define ('ROOT_OFFSET', '../');

Then define my nav menu heirarchy as offsets as if they were all from the root, EDIT - this is just one section of the array that defines the heirarchy

	'subsites' => array (
		'clearance'		=> 1,
		'links' => array(
			'affiliate scripts' => 'admin/subsites/aff-scripts-edit.php',
			'list active'	=> 'admin/subsites/subs-active.php',
			'list inactive' => 'admin/subsites/subs-inactive.php',
		)			
	),

then when displaying the appropriate line is...

		foreach ($subCats['links'] as $name => $link )
		{
			echo '<a class="navSub" href="'.ROOT_OFFSET.$link.'">'.$name.'</a>'."\n";
		}

I actually define some other paths and start sessions in xroot-offset.php and include it first on every page.

[ATS16805]

Drakla, hey-- i don't know how i missed this reply!

anyway-- very cool idea-- and i am sort of following you, but at the same time i'm having difficulty grasping what you actually DID-- how you actually implemented this into your pages and called it to make it work, etc.

would it be possible for you to provide a little bit more specific info-- or even just a view of the piece of code from the html (php) so i can see where you inserted the references, etc.

so, you're not using an include, correct?
bear in mind my files are currently .htm, which i can easily change of course.

thanks again for your help!

EDIT:
is this an "object"? i see "class" in there-- i haven't yet worked w/ or made any objects-- so, maybe that's why i'm confused? or is that CSS? ugh! brain no worka today!

[Drakla]

Yeah, that's css.

I've included a little demo of some simple type things with a directory heirarchy.

I know a lot of people might just think why don't you just give the links absolute paths? Well this method makes it portable and you can use it in a directory a few deep from the off without any modifications.

Each page is exactly the same, just named differently.

I'm still officially trying to give this place up for a bit so I finish my project quicker, but will have one more peek tonight or tomorrow in case my code is a mess.

EDIT: Actually that's an old version of show menu, this one opens on the correct page much better, and allows scripts of the same name in different directories (like index.php) and will open on the right one

/**
*	Displays menu heirarchy
*/

function show_nav_menu($menuItems)
{		// find this page so appropriate block is automatically open
	$currPage = $_SERVER['SCRIPT_NAME'];

$currBlock = 1;

foreach ($menuItems as $mainCat => $subCats)
{
	echo '<a class="navMain" href="#" onClick="swap_view(\'Block'.$currBlock.'\'); return false;">'.$mainCat.'</a>';
	echo '<div name="dispDiv" id="Block'.$currBlock.'" style="display:';

	$links = '';
	$blockOpen = false;

	foreach ($subCats as $name => $link)
	{
		$links .= '<a class="navSub" href="'.ROOT_OFFSET.$link.'">'.$name.'</a>'."\n";
			// annoying strrpos only takes CHARS
	//	if (0 == strcasecmp(substr($link, -strlen($thisPage)), $thisPage))
		if (0 == strcasecmp(substr($currPage, -strlen($link)), $link))
			$blockOpen = true;
	}

	echo $blockOpen ? 'block' : 'none';

	echo ';">',	$links, "</div>\n\n";

	$currBlock++;		
}

echo '<a class="navMain" id="expandAll" href="#" onClick="expand_all(); return false">Expand All Categories</a>';
}

[ATS16805]

Drakla,

First of all, thank you very much for your generous contribution to my learning. This bit you've shared w/ me may seem insignificant to you, but there is SO much for me to learn here; so much for me to take from this!

For one thing, believe it or not, i know very little to no javascript. Once I find the time (or by default i guess it will happen eventually) to learn the javascript behind what's going on in your bad-ass menu, and i come back to examine IT in particular w/ that knowledge, i'm sure that i'll learn even more still from you at that point! very cool.

regarding the PHP functionality, and the actual practical use of this in my own situation, i have a lot of questions! But i don't want to bug the hell out of you! i guess the best thing for me to do at this point is to go ahead and ask, accepting of course that you'll decide if you have the time or energy to continue w/ me on this.

just so that i have it straight, the way you wanted me to digest this-- i was supposed to copy/paste the code above from your post over-top of your code which i received in the show-menu.inc.php file (.zip) yes? -- well, i did that, but i didn't notice any real difference in the performance of the menu. maybe that was insignificant to the PHP/ practical navigation of the require_once() part?

okay:
please, just a little more patience, and bear w/ me as I'm going to list what i'm seeing, and perhaps you can suggest what i do w/ this knowledge

• As you've stated, each file (leve0.php, level1.php, level2.php) are identical. i see that. cool! that will work for me because, also as you recognized, i am essentially doing the same thing, except the critical difference is that i'm referencing the stylesheet w/ hard-coded path, and you're using the require_once() thing. so, i see what to do there (i think)

• the files, xroot-offset.php are nearly identical, and placed in each subdirectory w/ each respective file as mentioned in the line just above. the key factor being that the "path" offset is accounting for the sub-directory distance from the root, dependant upon their own location in the hierarchy -- so the target is accurate.

• although i'm aware of the increasing directory offset present in each different of these lines, i'm unsure of what is actually going on with this code: define('ROOT_OFFSET', '../');

• having only just now referenced define() at php.net, i see that it is a way of defining a "constant", which appears to me to be much like would be a string variable $constant = "string", as far as i can tell... hmm... but why have you used this approach? ... (my rusty brain-gears noisily creak as they begin to turn)

• this is a way of using a "variable" w/out worrying about declaring "globals"? is that the purpose behind define()? i think i'm getting that part now! 😉

• the other "real magic" is happening inside of show-menu.inc.php -- which is where i tend to get lost because of the javascript. however!-- i'm guessing at this point that i could go ahead and use my existing menu, sans your javascript, but implementing only my newly acquired knowledge of how to use define('ROOT_OFFSET', '../');!!

i'm going to give it a try! again, my profuse thanks for your generous, thoughtful help. it is much appreciated. i'm assuming it's cool w/ you that i use this method? i'm happy to credit you in a comment if you PM me and tell me how best to do so. this is a charity job for a local Educational instituation of high-regard. i'd be delighted to mention that you helped me to solve this problem. i realize that may not interest you, but the offer is there.
😉

now, let's hope i can get this!
😃

[ATS16805]

at least i'm making some progress, which is exciting!

i've got my sub-levels, my sub-pages, my x-root- compensation pages w/ the define() script in there-- all working perfectly -- pulling up my stylesheet from the submenus, etc-- very AWESOME!!!

however, i realize that i completely overlooked the whole array thing which must take care of the actual navigation compensation... i think is going on in... oh geez...
i was mistaken about the show-menu.inc.php containing the .js...

EDIT:
I see now! -- this is what you were calling the new version of "Show Menu". yes? the function i've thus far left out? the most critical component!

now i see!!!
i have to put my page titles into those arrays! it's beginning to make sense and become clear now! woohoo!!
🙂

EDIT2:
Yikes! not sure if you happened to notice the complexity of the nav menu thing i made to work w/ that Eric Meyer CSS collapsible menu-- if not, take a look here now -- for the up-to-date menu:
and look for:

<div id="navcontainer"><!-- BEGIN NAVCONTAINER LEVEL 2.1 -->

not that it's extraordinarily complex or anything-- but this is going to require little bit more work on my part w/ these arrays. the up-side is that once i do it here, it will be done!
yay!
🙂

this is a VERY USEFUL little script, drakla-- i'm so grateful that you showed me!
(still not there yet of course, but at least now, i think i can see where i'm headed!)

[Drakla]

Hi again. Well I wrote that ages ago when I first found out that if you set a div's display property to block it shows whatever is within it, set it to none and it essentially disappears. All the loop in the showmenu does is starts a running counter and creates divs with those ids, and puts the same id as the argument to the the javascript swap_view function. You can then find the div with javascript with

var theDiv = document.getElementById('theDivsID');

Then you just set its display property with

theDiv.style.display = 'block'; // or none

Each div is also given the name 'dispDiv' which lets you then find all of them easily with document.getElementsByName('name'); which returns an array which you can just loop through and set all to block or none if you want to expand or collapse them all.

You'll notice the code is tiny when compared to most things like it, but that's because it doesn't take into account what browsers are using it. I use it for the admin areas in sites where I know that people are using IE or Firefox, it's also out there in a site that has with 280,000 members and been there over a year and the owner hasn't said he's had any complaints about it so you could still feel pretty safe about it.

The new show menu gets over the problem of having

subdir1/index.php
and
subdir2/index.php

Both being automatically opened which the first script could cause. When I first wrote it there was only one directory level so it wasn't an issue, and the mods I made only came about a few months ago with the subdirectory stuff.

Yeah, use it. I might PM you, but it would be just to put a comment in one of the javascript files and not publically viewable.

Ok, better get some work done.

[krotkruton]

What I'm about to say doesn't really apply to the interesting discussion the two of you are having, but it is related to your initial post.

Just in case you haven't tried it yet, you might want to give includes a try. I used to use a template that I made as a starting point for each page, but since I didn't plan well and changed the links or names of pages a lot, the template became outdated quickly and so did all the pages created with the template. Then I realized I could include a php file to generate all the things I made in my template. This has made much life so much easier. I also use .css files and have a three column layout. I use my included php page to generate everything up to the center column. The start of it looks like this:

<?php //menus.php
if (!isset($menu)) {
  $menu = $_SESSION['menu'];
  }
echo "<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC \"-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01//EN\"
  \"HTTP://www.w3.org/TR/html4/strict.dtd\">
  <html>
  <head>
  <link rel=\"stylesheet\" type=\"text/css\" href=\"";
  if ($menu == "basic") {
    echo "outby9_basic.css\" />";
    }
  else {
    echo "outby9_standard.css\"/>";
    }
echo "<title>outby9.com</title>
  <meta http-equiv=\"Content-Type\" content=\"test/html' charset=iso-8859-1\">
  </head>
  <body id=\"OutBody\">
  <div id=\"container\">
  .
  .
  .

Again, this has made my life so much easier. If I need to change a link on my menu, I only need to do it inside this file. If I decide I need a new .css file for a certain section of the site, I add in another if clause at the beginning. If I decide my site needs an extra <div> to make my style more manageable, I can add that in as well without having to change every single page.
On each page that I have, instead of starting with <html>, I start with 'include "menus.php"; ?>' and it works great. Also, I'm pretty sure that you will be able to apply all of the changes suggested Drakla as well.

[ATS16805]

krotkruton wrote:

Just in case you haven't tried it yet, you might want to give includes a try.

Actually, and i didn't realize it at first either, but Drakla's contribution does use includes... well, it's in the form of require_once(), which is essentially an include which prevents the script from moving forward if it encounters an error. (i think!)

Krotkruton-- i really like your idea though-- i should have got into that mindset myself after seeing Drakla's stuff, but it didn't occur to me to use this type of thing globally. but, to do as you've said, and generate all of that stuff dynamically-- heck, that WILL take a heck of a lot of work out of the entire web site development process!

i'm very excited to try both techniques in my next project!!
🙂

yay, today is a happy day! heehee.

re: Drakla, i see you've explained the javascript stuff (i think that's what it is upon first glance!)-- it is going to take me some time to chew on it, but i should be able to get it down eventually and digest it! i realize you must be quite the busy man-- but i sure do wish i could ask you a few questions here and there. 😉
oh well, i guess that's why we have the forums! so we can help each other when time allows.
🙂

thanks to both of you for your generous help. once faced w/ what i preceived was going to be a huge problem, i now only have a matter of figuring out how to get Drakla's (or krotkruton's) stuff to work in my pages. now that's the kind of learning that makes me feel like i'm making progress-- and once again, i have faith in my fellow humans! very cool!

[ATS16805]

for any other passers by who happened to take up an interest in this scenario, i'd like to say that Drakla's solution did prove to be viable. It took me a while to figure out how to apply it all to my own work-- i guess in the end, i'm not using the javascript stuff at all-- which D. is using to essentially generate dynamically his navigation structure, and if you looked at the files, also the cool collapsibile menu thing he's got going on there (with the CSS code:

div {display:block;}
vs
div {display:none;}

i was initially confused by all of that, and thought that until i understood how to implement it ALL into my own page, i'd fail at using his solution but what i really needed to do was simply apply his ingenious <?php echo ROOT_OFFSET; ?>.

i didn't realize that, because i had already approached the whole thing from a different angle, (using hard-coded nav links vs his PHP arrays) the actual solution, the ROOT_OFFSET was still workable into my own code. instead of trying to use his javascript menu generator, i simply needed to add <?php echo ROOT_OFFSET; ?> into all of my hard-coded <a href="#">link</a> code (where Drakla was instead making his links by way of a PHP array, less work from the beginning had i known to do it that way, i'm sure)

here's a small example of the way i got the code to work on my own navigation component. anyone else who happens upon this thread, feel free to contact me if you have any questions.

/* the following is from a file i've called 
wwwroot/include/nav.php */

<div id="navcontainer"><!-- BEGIN NAVCONTAINER -->
<div id="navlist">

<ul class="nohover level1"> <!-- TOP -->

<li id="active"><a href="<?php echo ROOT_OFFSET; ?>index.php" id="current">Home</a></li> <!-- # 1.1 # --> 
<!-- ** NO SUBS **-->


<li class="submenu"><a href="<?php echo ROOT_OFFSET; ?>pages/a_bboard/index.php" title="bulletin board">Bulletin Board</a> <!-- # 1.2 # -->
<!-- ** 3 SUBS ENDING AT 2.3 ** -->

		<ul class="level2">													
			<li><a href="<?php echo ROOT_OFFSET; ?>pages/a_bboard/pages/news.php" class="bboardlist1">News &amp; Current</a></li>	<!-- ## 2.1 ## -->
			<li><a href="<?php echo ROOT_OFFSET; ?>pages/a_bboard/pages/calendar.php" class="bboardlist">Calendar</a></li>  <!-- ## 2.2 ## -->
			<li><a href="<?php echo ROOT_OFFSET; ?>pages/a_bboard/pages/thanks.php" class="bboardlist">Our Sponsors</a></li>  <!-- ## 2.3 ## -->
		</ul>
<-- SNIP -->
</div> <-- END NAVLIST -->
</div> <-- END NAVCONTAINER -->

enjoy! i know i'll enjoy the possibilities presented from assimilating this concept into my future designs! thanks!!