Chapter 8: Working with the Menu System 161 Editing and deleting menus Existing menus can be edited from the Menu Manager. To edit a menu, either click the menu name in the Menu Manager or select the menu and then click the Edit icon on the Menu Manager tool- bar. Regardless of which method you use, the system opens the Edit Menu dialogue. The Edit Menu dialogue is identical to the New Menu dialogue, with the same fields and require- ments as discussed in the preceding section. To make changes to a menu, simply alter the desired fields in the Edit Menu dialogue, and then click the Save or Apply icon on the toolbar. Any changes you have made will be applied immediately. Complete menu deletion can be achieved through the Menu Manager. Deletion from the Menu Manager bypasses the Trash Manager and deletes all the elements immediately. Deleting a menu results in the removal of the menu itself, the items assigned the menu, and also the menu’s module. Note While it is possible to delete a menu module without deleting the related menu, it is not possible to delete a menu without deleting the associated module. To delete a menu, follow these steps: 1. Open the Menu Manager. 2. Select the menu you want to delete. 3. Click the Delete icon on the top right toolbar. The Delete Menu dialogue opens. 4. Review the list of items to be deleted and then click the Delete icon on the toolbar. The system deletes the menu, the menu items, and the related menu module and then returns you to the Menu Manager. Caution Deleting a menu also deletes the menu items associated with that menu and the related menu module. Note that the menu items are not moved to the Trash — rather, they are deleted completely! Caution Do not delete the menu containing your site’s default menu item! In the standard configuration, that is the Main menu, which includes the home page. In the default configuration, the home page link is the default menu item. If you delete the menu containing the default menu item, your site will not function. Introducing the Menu Item Manager Where Joomla!’s Menu Manager is designed for handling the menus, the Menu Item Manager provides the interface for managing the individual items on each of the menus, as shown in Part II: Working with Content and Users 162 Figure 8.4. Unlike the Menu Manager, there is no link on the administrator menus to a choice labeled Menu Item Manager. Because there are individual Menu Item Managers for each of the menus, you access this feature by clicking on the name of the menu you want to edit. The list appears under the menu labeled Menus on the admin interface main navigation bar. FIGURE 8.4 The Joomla! 1.5.x Menu Item Manager interface, showing the Main menu. The toolbar at the top of the Menu Item Manager provides quick access to the following functions: l Menus: Click this icon to jump to the Menu Manager. l Default: Select of the items from the list and then click this icon to set this item as the site’s default (home) page. l Publish: Select one or more menu items from the list and then click this icon to publish them. l Unpublish: Select one or more menu items from the list and then click this icon to unpublish them. l Move: Select one or more menu items from the list and then click this icon to move the items to a different menu. Chapter 8: Working with the Menu System 163 l Copy: Select one or more menu items from the list and then click this icon to makes cop- ies of them. l Trash: Select one or more menu items from the list and then click this icon to move the items to the Menu Trash. l Edit: Select a menu item from the list and then click this icon to edit the menu item details. l New: Click to add a new menu item. l Help: Click to access the online Help files related to the active screen. Below the toolbar and above the list of menus are three sorting and searching tools to help you manage long lists of menus: l The Filter field on the left works like a search box. Type a word or phrase into the field and then click Go. The page reloads and displays the results of the search. To clear the screen and return to a full listing, click the Reset button. l The Max Levels filter field is located on the right, next to the Select State filter. Select a value from this list to limit the view to menu items that contain no more levels than the value selected. In this context, levels is used to mean sub navigation choices, or to put it another way, those parent items with a certain number of children items. After you select the value, the page will reload and display the items that match the criteria. l The Select State filter on the far right allows you to filter and display the menus accord- ing to whether they are published or unpublished. This provides an easy way to identify all menus that are currently active on the site. To reset this filter, change the combo box back to the default setting. The main content area of the screen contains a list of all the menu items in this particular menu. The columns provided are: l #: An indexing number assigned by Joomla! This cannot be changed. l Checkbox (no label): Click in a checkbox to select a menu; this is needed if you want to use several of the toolbar options. l Menu Item: This field displays the full name of the menu item. This is the name as it will appear on the menu— the label that will be visible to your site visitors. Click the name to edit the item’s details. l Default: A yellow star in the column indicates that the item is the site’s default page (home page). There can only be one default item on the site. l Published: A green checkmark in this column indicates that the menu item is active. The field will show a red X if the menu item is disabled. Note that this is only one of several settings that are needed for a menu item to be visible. The item must be published, but so also must the menu itself and the related menu module. Administrators can toggle between enabled and disabled by clicking the icon shown. Part II: Working with Content and Users 164 l Order: The order of appearance of the items on the menu. You can change the ordering either by clicking the up and down arrows or by typing numerical values into the text field, and then clicking the Save icon. l Access Level: Indicates the access level associated with this menu item. The options are Public, Registered, and Special. Administrators can toggle between the three levels by clicking on the word. l Type: Indicates the menu item type assigned to the menu item. This can be changed by editing the menu item. l ID: The system-generated user ID number. This cannot be changed. Note The order in which the menu items appear can also be controlled from the menu item’s Advanced parameters. The choices made on the parameters option will override any ordering choices made from the Menu Item Manager screen. Finally, at the bottom of the screen, below the content area, is the Display # option. Change the value in the combo box control to alter the number of menus that are displayed on the page. The default value can be altered by changing the List Length option on the Global Configuration Manager. Joomla 1.6 The Menu Item Manager has been revised in Joomla! 1.6, but the changes are largely cosmetic and intended to enhance the usability of the interface. The functionality is essentially the same. Creating and Managing Menu Items From the perspective of your site visitors, menu items simply provide the choices seen listed on the menus. For the site administrator, however, menu items are far more important. The decisions made during the process of creating menu items have implications for the way the resulting page is shown on the screen. New items are created from within the Menu Item Manager. Existing items are edited from the same location, either by clicking on the name of the menu item or by selecting Edit from the Menu Item Manager toolbar. The Menu Item Manager also provides controls to copy items or to move them to the trash for later deletion. Creating new menu items The Menu Item Manager includes a wizard-type process for the creation of new menu items. The wizard is initiated by clicking the New icon on the top right toolbar. During the process of creating a new item, you must select a menu item type, specify the name and target of the item, and config- ure the various parameter options. Chapter 8: Working with the Menu System 165 There are numerous menu item types included in the Joomla! system. The various options are detailed in the following list. Adding other extensions into your Joomla! installation may result in more menu item types being available to you. Note Take a moment to become fluent in the various menu item types as they vary widely according to the content and functionality with which they are associated. Remember that the choice to use one type over another will have significant impact on the layout of the resulting page. To create a new menu item, follow these steps: 1. Under the admin menu option labeled Menus, select the name of the menu to which you want too add a new item. The Menu Item Manager opens. 2. Select the New icon from the top-right toolbar. The first page of the New Menu Item wizard opens in your browser. Figure 8.5 shows the first page of the wizard. FIGURE 8.5 The first page of the Joomla! 1.5.x New Menu Item wizard. Part II: Working with Content and Users 166 3. Select the desired menu item type. The second page of the New Menu Item wizard opens in your browser. Figure 8.6 shows the second page of the wizard. FIGURE 8.6 The second page of the Joomla! 1.5.x New Menu Item wizard, showing a typical workspace. 4. Type a title for the menu item. This field is required and provides the label that appears on the menu. 5. Complete the other fields as needed, and configure the parameter options as you desire; these options will vary by menu item type, as discussed in the section that follows. 6. Click the Save icon. The system creates the new menu item and return you to the Menu Item Manager. Chapter 8: Working with the Menu System 167 The toolbar at the top of the dialogue provides quick access to the following functions: l Save: Click this icon to save your work, add a new menu item, and exit the New Menu Item dialogue. l Apply: Click this icon to save your work and create a new item without exiting from the New Menu Item dialogue. This option lets you save without exiting the screen and it use- ful in case you are interrupted or you otherwise want to save yet keep working on this screen. l Cancel: Click this icon to cancel the task and exit the Menu Item Manager. l Help: Click this icon to display the Help files related to the active screen. The Menu Item Details section of a typical menu item workspace contains the following fields: l Title: This is the name of the menu item as it will appear on the menu as an option for your site visitors and on the Menu Item Manager. l Alias: This is the internal name of the item and the name that will be used if you have selected the option to display SEF URLs. Note that this field only accepts lowercase letters with no spaces. If you do not provide a value for this field, the system will use the label you have specified for the title, converting it as needed to comply with the system naming requirements. l Link: The system attaches the link to the menu item. When visitors click the menu item, they are taken to the linked page. l Display in: The menu where this menu item appears. l Parent Item: Sets the level of the menu item, that is, whether it is a top level item or a submenu item. Select Top to make this item a top level item. If you want to create a new submenu item, select a parent item from the list. l Published: Select Yes to publish the item. l Order: Sets the order of this item relative to others on the same menu. l Access Level: Sets the access level for the menu item. There are three options here: Public, Registered, and Special. l On Click, Open in: This control provides the option for specifying whether clicking on the menu item opens the target in the same window or uses a new browser window. Joomla 1.6 The creation of menu items has been changed significantly in Joomla! 1.6. Gone is the Step Creation wizard. In Joomla! 1.6, you need only click the New icon and then complete the fields in the dialogue that appears in your browser. Menu item types are controlled by the Type field, which functions by opening a pop-up menu from which you select the menu item type you want to apply. Also new in Joomla! 1.6 is the ability to set metadata in association with menu items and the ability to control module assignment directly from within the New Menu Item dialogue. Part II: Working with Content and Users 168 Menu item types The Joomla! menu item types provide options for creating various layouts on your pages. By choosing one type over another, you are able to show content or functionality in a variety of styles. The parameters associated with each menu item type allow you to tailor the result more closely to your needs. Although menu item types are set when you create a new item, they can also be modified after the item is created. To change the item type of an existing menu item, simply edit the menu item and choose the Change Type button at the top of the workspace. The menu item types are divided into four groups: l Internal Link l External Link l Separator and l Alias Each of the types within a specific group shares a number of common parameters, but they also frequently have unique parameters. In the following sections, I go through all the various menu item types in the default Joomla! 1.5.x system and note the parameters involved. If you have installed additional extensions, you may see even more menu item types in your system. Joomla 1.6 The extent of the changes to the menu item types in Joomla! 1.6 was unclear at the time of the writing of this text. Internal Link - Articles The Internal Link group of menu item types contains the largest number of options. This category includes the links to all internal content and functionality. The grouping is divided into eight sub- groupings: l Articles l Contacts l News Feeds l Polls l Search l User l Web Links l Wrapper The menu item types located in the group labeled Internal Link - Articles share common compo- nent parameters and system parameters, as shown in Figure 8.7. Individual item types, however, often have specific advanced parameters. Each is discussed in turn in the following text. . the default Joomla! 1. 5 .x system and note the parameters involved. If you have installed additional extensions, you may see even more menu item types in your system. Joomla 1. 6 The extent of the. or uses a new browser window. Joomla 1. 6 The creation of menu items has been changed significantly in Joomla! 1. 6. Gone is the Step Creation wizard. In Joomla! 1. 6, you need only click the New. first page of the wizard. FIGURE 8.5 The first page of the Joomla! 1. 5 .x New Menu Item wizard. Part II: Working with Content and Users 16 6 3. Select the desired menu item type. The second page