History of NexusPackage
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Nexus is a ((Package)) that works closely with the ((LibertyPackage)) and makes it is easy to create ((menu))s pointing to any content in bitweaver, or any external URL. Nexus works with other tools in bitweaver to help users ((navigate)) the site, including the ((wiki book)) feature, ((breadcrumbs)), ((categories)), ((backlinks)), and other special ((modules))
__Find nexus at:__ http://yoursitename.com/nexus/menus.php
Nexus will create functional links to all internal and external content; all you have to do is enter the correct content id, structure id or path. External links are rendered with a special class (.external) which makes it easy to control their appearance with a particular ((CSS)) style.
^__Help revise this package__ Nexus is still under development. If after testing nexus you have some feedback on the usability or the features please don't hesitate to add them to the end of the page or leave a comment.^
!!Three menu types
Nexus supports three types of menus, which can variously appear in the ((top bar)) or in ((modules)) in the left or right columns.
*__Suckerfish menus:__ These CSS driven dropdown menus change to keep up with the various themes in use within the site.
*__Formelement menus:__ This is a menu that resides in a dropdown box and upon selecting a given option, it takes you to that page.
*__TikiWiki menus:__ Allows you to create collapsible menus reminiscent of ((tikiwiki)) style. The main difference is, that you can create a menu as many levels deep as you desire.
!!Create a horizontal menu in the top bar.
A customized horizontal "menu bar" whose look and feel is controlled by the site's CSS can be created with or without dropdowns. Only the suckerfish style menu can be used horizontally.
Steps to create a custom horizontal menu.
1. Ensure that the theme you are using supports a horizontal menu in the top bar.
!!Menu Plugins
nexus supports plugins for various different menus. this means that if you would like to use a different style of menu, you can add the approppriate plugin.
!!Flexible interface
nexus provides you with an easy to use interface to structurise your menus. they can be any number of levels deep, giving you unlimited freedom when it comes to menu creation and content accessibility.
!!Menu design
Menu look is determined exclusively through CSS. this means that changing the look of the menu only requires some knowlegde of CSS.
!ToDo
!!Insert code into various packages
currenlty only the wiki has the required code to insert items into a menu while editing the page.
!!Icons
would be nice to allow the usage of icons.
!!Structures
would be good to allow the conversion of a structure to a nexus compatible menu (import is working appart from position assignment of items). might be good to read the structure straight from the db to ensure that the menu is updated automatically.
Note: this is now possible, but the structure menu isn't automatically updated yet. this might not be possible for ReleaseOne due to the way that structures work.
!!Use NexusPackage as default menu system
nexus caches __everything__ and therefore doesn't require a singe db access after generation. This would allow us to create menus that can be altered by users instead of using the template based menus used at the moment.
!!Add a package specific parameter
enable the display of a given package only while a user is browsing a particular package. this would allow for large menus that only show relevant pacakge specific links when required.
!!Allow users to create their own menus
this will require some work and is currently not very high on my priority list.
!!CoolMenus
would be good to have a plugin that supports [http://www.dhtmlcentral.com/coolmenus/examples/withoutframes/|coolmenu] menus
!!Greater plugin customisability
it should be possible to allow users to specify more criteria for a given plugin.
!!Better positioning
we need to implement the positioning of nexus based menus in the top bar as well as in the side columns.
Nexus is a ((Package)) that works closely with the ((LibertyPackage)) and makes it is easy to create ((menu))s pointing to any content in bitweaver, or any external URL. Nexus works with other tools in bitweaver to help users ((navigate)) the site, including the ((wiki book)) feature, ((breadcrumbs)), ((categories)), ((backlinks)), and other special ((modules))
__Find nexus at:__ http://yoursitename.com/nexus/menus.php
Nexus will create functional links to all internal and external content; all you have to do is enter the correct content id, structure id or path. External links are rendered with a special class (.external) which makes it easy to control their appearance with a particular ((CSS)) style.
^__Help revise this package__ Nexus is still under development. If after testing nexus you have some feedback on the usability or the features please don't hesitate to add them to the end of the page or leave a comment.^
!!Three menu types
Nexus supports three types of menus, which can variously appear in the ((top bar)) or in ((modules)) in the left or right columns.
*__Suckerfish menus:__ These CSS driven dropdown menus change to keep up with the various themes in use within the site.
*__Formelement menus:__ This is a menu that resides in a dropdown box and upon selecting a given option, it takes you to that page.
*__TikiWiki menus:__ Allows you to create collapsible menus reminiscent of ((tikiwiki)) style. The main difference is, that you can create a menu as many levels deep as you desire.
!!Create a horizontal menu in the top bar.
A customized horizontal "menu bar" whose look and feel is controlled by the site's CSS can be created with or without dropdowns. Only the suckerfish style menu can be used horizontally.
Steps to create a custom horizontal menu.
1. Ensure that the theme you are using supports a horizontal menu in the top bar.
!!Menu Plugins
nexus supports plugins for various different menus. this means that if you would like to use a different style of menu, you can add the approppriate plugin.
!!Flexible interface
nexus provides you with an easy to use interface to structurise your menus. they can be any number of levels deep, giving you unlimited freedom when it comes to menu creation and content accessibility.
!!Menu design
Menu look is determined exclusively through CSS. this means that changing the look of the menu only requires some knowlegde of CSS.
!ToDo
!!Insert code into various packages
currenlty only the wiki has the required code to insert items into a menu while editing the page.
!!Icons
would be nice to allow the usage of icons.
!!Structures
would be good to allow the conversion of a structure to a nexus compatible menu (import is working appart from position assignment of items). might be good to read the structure straight from the db to ensure that the menu is updated automatically.
Note: this is now possible, but the structure menu isn't automatically updated yet. this might not be possible for ReleaseOne due to the way that structures work.
!!Use NexusPackage as default menu system
nexus caches __everything__ and therefore doesn't require a singe db access after generation. This would allow us to create menus that can be altered by users instead of using the template based menus used at the moment.
!!Add a package specific parameter
enable the display of a given package only while a user is browsing a particular package. this would allow for large menus that only show relevant pacakge specific links when required.
!!Allow users to create their own menus
this will require some work and is currently not very high on my priority list.
!!CoolMenus
would be good to have a plugin that supports [http://www.dhtmlcentral.com/coolmenus/examples/withoutframes/|coolmenu] menus
!!Greater plugin customisability
it should be possible to allow users to specify more criteria for a given plugin.
!!Better positioning
we need to implement the positioning of nexus based menus in the top bar as well as in the side columns.