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About HierMenus

HierMenus provides DHTML-based cross-browser navigation of your Web site through drop down and pop-up menus.

No need to spend hours learning DHTML or JavaScript. HierMenus has everything you need.

Instructions for including the script in your Web pages can be found right here at HierMenusCentral.com. Let our DHTML HierMenus enhance the functionality as well as the look and feel of your Web site.

Overview

Drop down menus are, perhaps, the single most common element of all computer applications. Whether you are writing documents, crunching spreadsheets, or even playing games, drop down (or pop up) menus provide you with additional choices, new tasks, or helpful information allowing you to reach your goals with ease and efficiency. And, because they do not appear until you want them to, your desktop display remains clear and uncluttered.

HierMenus allows you to provide drop down or pop up menus on your Web site, and therefore offer the same convenience--and familiarity--to your site's visitors that they have become accustomed to with their other computer applications. And, perhaps best of all, you don't have to be a DHTML master or JavaScript guru to use them.

HierMenus Features^*:

• HierMenus works on the Web's most popular browser platforms, including the latest versions of Internet Explorer, Mozilla, Firefox, and Opera (IE support on Windows only). Site visitors needn't specifically download and/or install special applets or programs to view the menus; everything they need is already within their browsers. See our Compatibility page for more details.

• You control the display of the Dynamic HTML menus on your Web site. Display pop up or drop down menus horizontally, vertically, or both. Allow menus to pop up or drop down automatically when the user rolls their mouse over a menu link, or leave the menu hidden until the link is clicked. Cascade menus to the left or to the right. The menus in the top left corner of this page are but one example of an actual HierMenus display; see our HierMenus Samples to see a variety of working menus in multiple shapes and flavors.

• Font settings, colors, rollover colors and menu sizes can be controlled on a site wide, page specific, or menu level. Menus can be displayed with a fixed width, or set to automatically expand or contract to the width of the largest menu item.

• HierMenus 6 offers a wealth of new menu design possibilities, by supporting nearly all configuration parameters on a menu-specific level. No longer is a designer limited to child menus which all look exactly like their parents, as each individual menu contains a full set of configuration parameters that are applied specifically to that menu; including colors, fonts, and widths (menu, border, and separator widths).

• HierMenus version 6 provides many new menu styling options for the first time. Among the newer offerings are text alignment (menu text can now be aligned to the left (the default), right, or center), menu padding and background colors, independent menu border widths, font settings, selected colors, separator styles, variable width minimums, menu and item titles and image alternate text.

• New menu positioning options in HierMenus 6 provide site designers with increased control over the exact location at which individual menus are displayed.

• HierMenus 6 offers support for transition and filter settings in IE5.5 and IE6. Filters and transitions can be used to add creative, unique display and show/hide effects to individual menus, such as menu fades or wipes.

• Background images can be applied to both menus and menu items. In addition to the image URLs themselves, users can optionally provide additional background CSS properties.

• To facilitate integration with site wide style sheets, HierMenus 6 supports the direct application of CSS (Cascading Style Sheet) class names both to menus and to items.

• HierMenus includes support for menu item "buttons," separate containers within each menu item that can be styled via class names in the same manner as menus and items as described above.

• HTML support within menu text means that individual menu items can contain images, specially formatted text, and tables. Most things that you can display using standard HTML tags can also be displayed in menu labels.

• Support for JavaScript expressions within parameter settings allow for menu customization by in-house developers without requiring direct modifications to the HierMenus script. Support for JavaScript URLs in menu links allows for the direct launching of custom JavaScript functions from within the menus. And Menu Event Hooks--a new feature for HierMenus 6--allows developer to create menu methods that are automatically executed by HierMenus at key points, such as when an item is hilited or a menu rolled over.

• Cross-frames support allows you to create links in a navigation frame that, when rolled over or clicked (you choose) pop up menus within your content frame.

• Standard and Space-Optimized Code Sets enable Webmasters to choose which code set to deploy to their sites: the standard verbose code, which is easier for developers to navigate and enhance; or the space-optimized code that requires only about 60% of the bytes of the standard code and can thus be downloaded to the user's browser faster.

HierMenus Benefits:

• Save screen real estate: Condense multiple site links into a single menu or collection of menus, freeing valuable screen space for your site visitors.

• Familiar interface: Make your visitors feel "right at home" on your site by providing them with a navigation interface they are already familiar with.

• Centralized management: Menu definitions and configuration parameters can be fully contained within two centralized files, providing both consistency and manageability to site authors.

* Not all features available in all browsers. See our Browser Compatibility Chart for details.