Should Be Easy

[Chris M]

This should be simple. Is it me or the software?

Create 3 pages
Create 2 Hamburger icons and 2 menus on layer 'menu' and layer 'menu(lock)'
Set left hamburger to open Pop-Up Layer menu (slide in from left)
Set right hamburger to open Pop-Up Layer menu(lock) (slide in from right)
Hamburgers and layers set to Repeat On All Pages
Test - all works as expected

Make hamburgers and layers Sticky -
Layer menu fails to go to linked page, closes instead
Layer menu(lock) still working as expected

Web Properties set to Scroll (Vertical)
Both hamburgers fail to link unless on page 3

Nutshell:
Just making the objects Sticky is enough to break the standard pop-up layer offering.
The combination of Sticky and Scrolling pages breaks everything.

But wait, there's more!
Delete everything, then repeat the above, but do not use any animation when calling the pop-up layer.

Now with the Sticky and Scrolling combo:
Layer menu still failing because of the Sticky effect
Layer menu(lock) working as expected. So the animation is breaking it?

Add an animation afterwards and it is simply ignored. So, if you want a scrolling site with sticky menu buttons and sticky pop-ups you can't have animation. Or can you?

Open menu(lock), highlight everything and open the Web Animation menu. Under Reveal/Scroll choose a Reveal Animation and you will be told 'objects on pop-up layers can't have reveal applied'. But, hang on a minute. If you cut the objects from the layer and paste them on the MouseOff layer, apply the reveal animation and then cut/paste them back into the layer, it works!!!

To recap:
I want a simple scrolling site with a sticky pop-up menu that will smoothly transition onto the page. It isn't a lot to ask. Xara has all the tools to make that happen, as you would expect from WYSIWYG software...except it appears to be broken in several places.

Test .xar without any repeats, stickies, or animations.
Basic Scroll.xar

[Acorn]

Chris, your 'discovery' of applying animations and moving back to the pop-up layer has been around for a long time. Silly that it has not been fixed yet.

What you can do is make the Hamburger & pop-up Sticky but also Repeat on All Pages.
When you make the pop-up Sticky, it stays in place but disappear when the Page does.
You cannot keep a pop-up layer open across pages without the use of (lock).

I have found your non-(lock) links do not fire after setting to Repeat.

I would have to build one myself from scratch to be 100% sure.

Acorn

[Acorn]

@Chris, here is my take:

jQuery - Sticky Hamburger.xar

I chose to use Anchors as I do not find the scroll page jump that consistent.
It should still work that way.

I avoided all extra Layers.

i used an initial website JQ call to hide the menu.
The only other JQ call is the Hamburger link.

Acorn

[Initiostar]

@ Acorn,

I'm sure this works for Xara Plus versions, but it fails in the 'Magix-v19-World' because there is a Scroll/ Sticky conflict bug that has not been fixed (yet!!). Where you have set Export to Scroll, and have a Sticky-Repeated-Link, the only link that works is the last one, as per Chris's note. When I switched your demo to Export Website, rather than Scroll, all worked as expected.

A very painful workaround is to ensure none of the sticky objects overlap one another, then all is well. The original Export Scroll was littered with bugs; Xara Plus release notes make reference to several fixes which I have to assume has sorted the mess out.

Hey Ho a v19 workaround - but it's far from desirable! https://initiostar.co.uk/demo/scroll-menu/ - found another bug that prevents one closing a locked popup as you scroll page-to-page. Even tried with javascript to link to the page and close the popup simultaneously.

[Chris M]

@Acorn and @Initiostar. I won't be able to have a play with your suggestions for a couple of hours, but I can say, after all of 5 seconds of opening Acorn's project, The hamburger fails to open the sub menu...but, as Gary noted, I'm using Magix 19. I do have access to XDP+ and I'll have test when the office opens, and I've finished the rounds.

It was Initiostar that first called my attention to setting the reveal animation on MouseOff and then cut/paste to a layer. I'm afraid I don't remember who first brought the (lock) trick to my attention, but I believe it was someone in Xara development team.

I'm keen to see how much progress XDP+ has with this. Back in a few hours.

[Acorn]

after all of 5 seconds of opening Acorn's project, The hamburger fails to open the sub menu...but, as Gary noted, I'm using Magix 19.

@ Acorn, I'm sure this works for Xara Plus versions, but it fails in the 'Magix-v19-World' because there is a Scroll/ Sticky conflict bug that has not been fixed (yet!!).

Both, my bad for not checking against any Magix versions.

I have, however, just tried with v18 and it works for me.
Are you both using Firefox?
If so, alter the Hamburger link to javascript: void $('.menu').toggle('slow');

In the past, I too have fought against the Bugs with numerous workarounds.
I have got out of the habit as the Plus versions are that bit better.
Do note that i couldn't see an easy pure Xara solution anyhow.
The only other way I managed was using a conventional Master page with an IFRAME handling the navigation of the sub-pages that were non-menu scrolls. It all required the publishing of two design files.

Acorn

[Chris M]

I look at it as: Here's an engine that works beautifully, here are 4 wheels that roll perfectly, and here are some comfortable seats to sit in. Great, I'll put them together and travel...Oh no, you can't do that. They're only meant to sit there on the garage floor and do nothing.

The idea is so simple and basic that I presumed I was missing something. However, clearly not as Acorn and Initiostar, both highly respected in the ways of Xara, have had to use 'workarounds'. I feel it isn't a big ask to have a scrollable site with a pop-up menu.

I have a template all ready set up that nearly works. I've uploaded it for anyone who wants to poke around.
You need Xara+ to make it work, and my only whinge is that the pop-up menu stays visible after you've used it and then manually scroll back to the page you came from.

@Initiostar. You have cleared up one of my frustrations...scroll being buggy in 19. I regularly switch the same project file from 19 (home) to XDP+ (office) and I probably spent time altering something that worked just because I was using 19. And that's OK, Xara is doing its own thing and if something works in Pro+ and not Magix I accept that.

@Acorn. No to FF, I'm using Edge and 19 will not fire a link unless on page 5. As above, if Xara fixes something that hasn't yet filtered down to a Magix release, then that's fair enough.

My Basic Scroll.xar

[Initiostar]

@Acorn & Chris,

It appears to be a specific bug in v19: with Export set to Scroll, you cannot have any "sticky linked objects" on one page, that are copied to the same place on another page or repeated; this applies to all layers including popups. The visible outcome from this error is that only the last sticky object fires. This does not happen when you switch to Export set to Website. In your example Chris (with this error) the popups with links also fail (as they are in the same space on each of the pages).

A while back another OP wanted a scrolling page and we created this example: https://initiostar.co.uk/demo/menu/. It is a single page with anchors to sections.

If you have access to Xara Plus then you don't have this issue. There is also no issue with animated popups; as well as cut and paste from the MouseOff layer, you can temporarily remove a link to the target layer, create the animation, and then relink the layer. Of course it should have been fixed, but it hasn't yet!

[Chris M]

If you have access to Xara Plus then you don't have this issue. There is also no issue with animated popups; as well as cut and paste from the MouseOff layer, you can temporarily remove a link to the target layer, create the animation, and then relink the layer. Of course it should have been fixed, but it hasn't yet!

I don't follow what you're saying here, but it is the end of the day here and I'm running low on brain fuel. But, you have solved a problem I didn't know I had. I was swapping between Xara and Magix.

Ditching Magix and solely using Xara Pro+ I can change my title from "it Should Be Easy" to "It Is Easy...Now".

Really quickly, I was able to:
Create 3 pages
Set Export to Scroll
Create a layer 'menu' no (lock) required, set to Close Automatically
Add links to each page on the layer
Create a shape on MouseOff and link to menu layer with animation
Set shape to Repeat On All Pages
Set menu layer to Repeat On All Pages

Worked as expected and I'm a happy chappy.

The problem was Magix v19 and fixed by using Xara Pro+. Thank you Gary, you made the penny drop.

[Chris M]

I spoke too soon. Using Xara Pro+:
Adding animation via the Pop-Up Layer Settings - failed
Having Pop-Up layer close automatically - failed

I think my first burst of enthusiasm was because it was just text. To be honest, I don't have the time nor the energy to think about it anymore. I'll just make this one with WYSIWYG Web Builder instead.