Editing double-click menus

For some of our AlbanyWeb websites, all our menu items are clickable, even those with submenus.  This means that your visitors will have to double-click sometimes to open your top level menu items.

Touchscreen menu behaviour

In order for our websites to operate smoothly with a touchscreen, you have to click to open a submenu, and then click again to select any menu item within that submenu.  There are two ways to manage the top level menu item in this case.   Do the following check to make sure you are reading the correct set of instructions.

To find out what kind of menu you have (if you can't remember):

  • If you double click on a top menu item and nothing happens, you have a placeholder menu system, and you should follow the instructions on editing placeholder menus.
  • If you double click on a top menu item and it opens, you have a double-click menu system, and you should follow the instructions on this page.

Adding a new double-click menu item

To add a new double-click menu item, all you have to do is add a new menu item in the same way that you add any menu item.

Adding submenu items to a menu item

You may either use the drag and drop interface to move existing menu items underneath another menu item, or you can add new submenu items by clicking 'add link' next to the menu item.

You may also add new pages to any menu/submenu from the edit form for your page.

Special considerations when you use double-click menus

In terms of your own site maintenance, the double-click menu system is a lot of easier to maintain because you are not dealing with special menu types at all.  However, it is a little bit less obvious for your site visitors, as some menu items require two clicks to open and others only one. 

To overcome this obstacle, you should always aim to have overview style content at the top level of any submenu, so that important information is also repeated in submenu pages.  That way your visitors do not lose out on information that they need just because they have not properly negotiated your menu.  Repeating key information on several pages (and in slightly different ways) is always a good content-writing technique, to ensure that your important messages get across no matter how your visitor goes through your website.

Converting to a different menu system

If you find you are expanding your website and adding many submenus, you might find that you would prefer to use the placeholder menu system instead of a double-click system.  If you are by this point a confident editor on your website, you can do the conversion yourself by following the instructions on editing placeholder menus, (with special emphasis on converting existing menu items to placeholders).

However, for an hour's worth of support, we can manage the conversion for you and completely rearrange your menu to better meet the expanded needs of your website.  Please contact us to discuss what you would like to do.

 

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