Hi all, this looks like a real cool forum!!.

I have a database that I use to build a menu which one can use to download stuff in the database

item#
download1
download2
download3
item#2
download1
download2
download3
item#3
download1
download2
download3

This struture takes up a lot of space and I would like to use ajax do that the downloads are collapsed like so but expand when user clicks on them.

item#
item#2
item#3

Is it possible to generate all this with the ajax functionality?

Hi,

Yes, you can use Ajax to call the data for the sub-menu, but it may not be a good idea in terms of usability considering that the user would need to wait for the menu to open. There is also the possibility you may run into errors and the sub menu will not show at all. (It would necessary to program something to accommodate this.)

Here's the overview...

1. Create a PHP function that queries your database to get the sub-menu data for the selected menu.
2. Create an Ajax script to call the PHP script and get the sub-menu data.
3. Create a JS script to display the sub-menu.

That's the quick version obviously!

Rich

I wouldn't use PHP and AJAX for this. Instead:

1. Define the full expanded list in the markup.
2. Use CSS to hide the sub-parts by default.
3. Use JavaScript to toggle the style of the sub-parts (display: block vs display: none)

I agree somewhat with christopher. However you can still use php to generate the menu links. If you are creating or using a content management system then you will probably need to use php to gather links and sub menu's for your navigation.

I think CSS and JavaScript will save you day on this
Check out this video tutorial from sampsonvideo.com!

Unless that database changes frequently, or you have role/user-based navigation.
Then you would have ajax or PHP build the menu and use CSS to hide parts and format the menu.

The CSS way works if you are only using mouseover but if you want a drilldown menu like on deviantart (where you have to click to drill down the categories) then you would most definatley have to use javascript/php ( ajax ).

Of cource you would need to provide some sort of alternative navigation or inform your user that javascript is required. Personally I dont bother any more with alternatives (many sites don't), I just throw up a polite error message. That said, what you should do is make sure the HTML is avalible in the document (just use javascript to control the CSS and transition effects, if any).

Out of interest does google index elements that are set to display:none?

Oh and I'd use jQuery/Prototype & Scriptauclous if you dont mind the extra script for user to download. It makes thing a lot easier in terms of DOM manipulation.

For somthing basic like this I'd use jQuery concidering is much more lightweight.