[wp-trac] [WordPress Trac] #11817: Better Site Menu Management

[WordPress Trac]

#11817: Better Site Menu Management
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 Reporter:  scribu          |       Owner:  scribu   
     Type:  task (blessed)  |      Status:  accepted 
 Priority:  normal          |   Milestone:  3.0      
Component:  General         |     Version:           
 Severity:  normal          |    Keywords:  has-patch
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Comment(by simonsharks):

 Hi, this is my first submission.

 My own method of creating reorderable menus is to create a "Menu Item"
 widget. This is dragged on to a sidebar where there is the option to
 choose a page from a drop down list and enter a title which becomes the
 anchor text.

 Here is a screen shot:
 [http://core.trac.wordpress.org/attachment/ticket/11817/Screen%20shot%202010-01-29%20at%2013.44.57.png
 Screenshot of Menu Item widgets]

 And here is the source code of the widget:
 [http://core.trac.wordpress.org/attachment/ticket/11817/Menu%20Item%20Widget%20Class.php
 Menu Item Widget Class.php]

 I believe the same approach should be used for the Menu UI. The user is
 presented with various types of menu item widgets e.g. Page, Post,
 Category, Tag, Url etc, which can be dragged onto a "Menu" which is the
 equivalent of a sidebar. The user can enter a title and select the link
 destination from a drop down list.

 scribu said that dragging and dropping is slow. I disagree because as it
 currently works in the video, new menu items are added to the bottom of
 the menu, if I want it to be in any other location I have to drag and move
 it. Thus it is just as quick to drag the menu item directly to the
 preferred location - both approaches require two actions.

 Editing is also kept in one place, at present you choose the link from the
 left and edit the title on the right, you affect the functionality of the
 menu item in two separate locations. The widget UI is already familiar to
 users so it makes sense to emulate it.

 As for nesting of menu items to create submenus, my idea is to allow the
 user to drag a menu item inwards, creating an indented effect just like
 bulleted lists.

 Here is a mockup:
 [http://core.trac.wordpress.org/attachment/ticket/11817/Possible%20Menu%20UI%20with%20Submenus.png
 Possible Menu UI with Submenus.png]

 Each indented menu item is created by clicking and holding the heading and
 instead of dragging up and down to reorder, you drag inwards (to the
 right). If there is a submenu (1 indent) directly above you are allowed to
 indent a 2nd time creating a third tier. When dragging inwards the menu
 item automatically shrinks horizontally.

 This approach is the same as the Mac application by Circus Ponies called
 Notebook. When in outline view you can drag bullets inwards in the same
 way I describe.

 A further refinement would be to move the children of a submenu when it's
 parent is dragged i.e. as in my mockup if I where to move the "MP3
 Players" menu item above "Notebooks" the child item "iPod Nano" would
 stick to the parent and be moved at the same time.

 The page layout could have the menu items on the left of the screen which
 are dragged to a menu on the right of the screen. Menus could be
 collapsable so that the menu you are editing can take up the maximum
 screen real estate.

 Just like how widgets and sidebars work.

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Ticket URL: <http://core.trac.wordpress.org/ticket/11817#comment:70>
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