Dreamweaver - jump menu

Author

jump menu

spaceagle

2005-03-30, 7:37 am

i have a list on a page, and i want to use a jump menu to jump to different
parts on the page, like a back to top button, except in a jump to menu, how
would i do this, what would be the code i put in the value section in the jump
menu options. i tried somthing like this <a href='#C' class='text'> but that
wont work, what would you suggest:

Adrian Stock

2005-03-30, 7:37 am

spaceagle wrote:

> i have a list on a page, and i want to use a jump menu to jump to different
> parts on the page, like a back to top button, except in a jump to menu, how
> would i do this, what would be the code i put in the value section in the jump
> menu options. i tried somthing like this <a href='#C' class='text'> but that
> wont work, what would you suggest:
>

How to create a jump menu

Let's call the entries in the jump menu 'source', and the lines to which
you want to jump 'targets'.

Place an 'anchor' in front of each target; thus:
type: alt-control a
enter an anchor name into the window which opens.

Use only lower case letters and the underscore if needed; use no
spacebar. To make it easy for myself to remember the anchor for the
next 15 minutes, I always chose the first significant word as the anchor
name (not "the", but "group", and whatever). I do not use the most
significant word in the line; requires too much thinking.

Once each target has an anchor, I copy and paste each target line
(without the anchor icon: golden shield) to the top of the page (where
you want the jump menu to be) - in the order in which you want them to
be up there.

Now you have all the source lines in position.

Select each source line, click on Link (in Property Inspector) and type
the anchor name you have given to that target, preceded by the hash # key.

E.g. If the target line reads "How much do I have to pay", and you have
given it the anchor name "much", then the link must be

#much

When you have given links to each source line, go into the browser and
test each link.

If a link does not work, the following reasons are likely:

1 Your link in jump menu and anchor name do not match
2 Two targets have the same anchor name (in which case neither will work)
3 You have missed out the # in the link.

Fix them. Then test again.

You may find it useful during testing (and so will your visitors while
using your site) to have a jumplink going from each target to the top of
your page, i.e. back to the jumplinks menu.

Put an anchor called "top" to the very top left of the page. Get
yourself a suitable icon (or the words "go to top") and attach a
jumplink ( #top ) to it.

-----------------

Once your jumplinks menu works, you might want to work on its appearance.

Here are some suggestions.
Consider fonts. Not too large and clumsy. Perhaps smaller than 'normal'.

If the jumplinks menu is large you may not want it to cover the whole
screen. So eliminate wasted space.

A dead simple layout for the jumplink menu (if consisting of fairly
short items) is:

| item | item | item | item | item | item | item |

To save space you could create a two-column table and evenly arrange the
menu in there.

If it is a large jump-links menu (like the table of contents for a book
or an essay), you can use an indented layout (hierarchy) with the help
of bulleted lists.

Good luck.

Adrian