Multi-Level NavBar

[zee]

Xhris,
Would it be possible for you to post the .web for the Mult-Level NavBar in your video? The video is great, but I'm still having problems grasping the technique. Being able to inspect the .web would be very helpful.
Zee

[Xhris]

I remade it (I deleted the original).

[zee]

Thanks Xhris. Sorry you had to go to trouble of remaking it. I really appreciate everything you do for everyone here at TG.
Zee

[cursor]

Studying your example, Xhris, it appears that the entire menu system has a single all-encompassing soft-group applied. It isn't necessary to apply a soft-group to the individual portions (like 1-3 components, for example)?

[Xhris]

You can't have nested soft groups, so if you soft group a pile of soft groups then you get just one soft group. What you can do is soft group each element and give them the same name so double clicking selects them all. This is how Xara do it it seems from their template objects, and while there are advantages (each button remains separate and can be repositioned without having to un-soft group the entire object), there are disadvantages: you can't select individual state buttons (e.g. the mouseover state button) to add popup text. I prefer one soft group as it's less hassle overall. But I'd say for a standard button bar with no menus, then many soft groups with the same name is better, but for multi-level menus, a single soft group object is better. It's probably worth me remembering this when I come to write any tutorials in the future.

[cursor]

Thanks for the explanation.

there are disadvantages: you can't select individual state buttons (e.g. the mouseover state button)

I noticed the same. I assumed that there must be some little trick that I simply hadn't learned yet.

From the online Help, regarding Soft Groups:

Selecting one member of a Soft Group also selects all other members of the same Soft Group – even members that are on invisible or locked layers.

... and ...

An object cannot be a member of more than one Soft Group and Soft Groups cannot be nested (soft groups as members of souft groups).

[cursor]

Within Xhris' demo file, I note that there are various MouseOver... and MouseDown... layers. (There are not, however, multiple MouseOff... layers.)Will simply preceeding a layer name with these key terms make them behave like MouseOver and MouseDown layers? I see nothing in any authoritative documentation that indicates this (... but it certainly would be cool!).

Thanks for any enlightenment.

[covoxer]

Yes. Any layer which name starts with "mouseover" (case not sensitive and may be preceeded by any number of leading spaces) is a mouse over layer. Same is true for the "mousedown" layers.
The reason to have multiple mouseover/mousedown (we call them "rollover") layers is because every popup layer can have it's own set of rollover layers.
The mouseoff layer in templates is just a simple static layer, it's name is meaningless for WD.
Now, as there are separate rollover layers for every popup layer, you probably want to know how WD decides which rollover layer has to be used with any particular pop up layer. It's simple. All based on the layers order. The nearest rollower layer on top of your static or popup layer is used with this layer.

For more details, read WD help, Layers / Layer ordering in website documents.

[cursor]

Now, as there are separate rollover layers for every popup layer, you probably want to know how WD decides which rollover layer has to be used with any particular pop up layer. It's simple. All based on the layers order. The nearest rollower layer on top of your static or popup layer is used with this layer.

That explains why the buttons on the attached file behave differently.

• The document is two very simple pages, with rollover buttons to navigate back and forth.
• The second page has three additional test buttons, hoping to figure out how multiple MouseOver layers work.
  • The first button leaves the MouseOff & MouseOver layer assignment unchanged ('MouseOff' and 'MouseOver_A', respectively).
    The button functions perfectly well.
  • The second button moves the MouseOff graphic (box+text+link) to a layer called 'Base'. The MouseOver graphic (box+text) is moved to a layer called 'MouseOver_B'.
    The desired rollover effect for this button fails.
  • The third button's layer setup is the same as the second, above. The difference is that I explicitly told it to pop-up the 'MouseOver_B' layer on the MouseOver tab of its Web Property dialog.
    The desired rollover effect for this button fails.
• The layer order is:

  MouseOver_B
  MouseOver_A
  MouseOff
  Base

Note that I intentionally did not involve any soft-groups, hoping to simplify this test however possible.

[covoxer]

The third button's layer setup is the same as the second, above. The difference is that I explicitly told it to pop-up the 'MouseOver_B' layer on the MouseOver tab of its Web Property dialog.
The desired rollover effect for this button fails.

What? You mean you want mouseover to work on another mouseover?
How do you imagine this?
Please read the help page I have pointed to. It's really very simple.
Rollover layers (mouseover/mousedown) can be assigned to static layers and popup layers. Pop up layers are not rollover layers, their names can't start with mouseover/mousedown. Pop up layers are named freely but they are recognised as popups if you link any object to them either in the "WebProperties dialog / Link tab / Popup layer" or "WebProperties dialog / Mouse-over tab / Show popup layer".