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**ill_phil** · 08-17-2008, 06:12 AM

Hi all.

Don't know where to put this thread.

Take a look at this site: http://www.epamedia.eu/en/index.php

I would like to create a secondary menu on the side of my website like the website above. That second menu on the side changes according to which page the user is on. So if the user clicks on 'Countries' in the top main menu, the list in the second menu changes with several links. Then if the user clicks on 'Press', the second menu changes once again to suit the needs of the Press webpage.

How would I go about doing this? Is it simple HTML and PHP trickery?

Thanks in advance.

**chrishirst** · 08-17-2008, 07:00 AM

or HTML and ASP, ColdFusion, .NET, Perl etc trickery

set a flag in a page or check the URL structure and load a different menu include

**ill_phil** · 08-17-2008, 08:34 AM

Are there any tutorials on this? Preferably with PHP.

**wayfarer07** · 08-17-2008, 10:26 AM

If you are asking if there is one way to do it, there isn't. It is simple programming though. The way I do it is to have a variable identifying each page, then create an IF statement that displays different submenus in the included file, where applicable. Any PHP tutorial will give you the basic tools you need to accomplish this.

**ill_phil** · 08-25-2008, 03:11 PM

Could you show some code, to get me on the right track, or show me how things are done? Would be much appreciated. Unless anyone else knows of any other simpler ways?

**angele803** · 08-26-2008, 12:04 PM

I would do the same thing wayfarer would.

I use coldfusion, so I am not sure how well this will translate to php, but hopefully it will give you a better idea.

Add a variable to your links. So if you had something like:
"http://www.mysite.com/index.php"
you would add a variable to the end like this:
"http://www.mysite.com/index.php?menu=1"

Then, in your code, use "if" statements to determine the value of "menu".
For example, if the value of "menu" is one, you would display the code for the first menu. If "menu" is equal to 2, you would show the code for the second menu. And so on.

It would probably be a good idea to put the different menus into includes. That way it will keep your main page smaller.

Does that clear it up any?

**ill_phil** · 08-26-2008, 04:09 PM

Hmm that makes some sense.

i'd also do the same for the content, so that the website knows which .php file to include depending on the variable, right?

how would i change the variable from just the index.php page for example? how do i set the variable within my menu.php file?

this is what i mean:

-user clicks on "Services".
-the $page variable is set to 4.
-because the variable is set to 4, the corresponding submenu is loaded.
-because the variable is set to 4, the corresponding content is loaded.

is all of this possible within the index.php file?

**angele803** · 04:54 PM

Yes, this is all possible with just on file (in your case, the index.php file) plus some include files.

You could have several different include files. For example, menu1.php, menu2.php, menu3.php.....content1.php, content2.php, content3.php.
Then, you just display those files inside your index.php depending on what the variable is set to.
In coldfusion, it would look something like this:

Code:

.
.
.
<body>
     <!--Set defaults for your variables so you don't get any errors -->
     <cfparam name="menu" default="1">
     <cfparam name="page" default="1">

      
      <div id="header">
         Header Stuff Here - Maybe your main navigation
      </div>
      
      <div id="side_menu">    
     <!--This part would go into the side menu area of your page  -->
         <cfif #menu# eq 1>
             <cfinclude template="menu1.cfm">
         <cfelseif #menu# eq 2>
             <cfinclude template="menu2.cfm">
         <cfelseif #menu# eq 3>
             <cfinclude template="menu3.cfm">
         </cfif>
     </div>

     <div id="content">
         <!--This part would go into the content area of your page  -->
         <cfif #page# eq 1>
             <cfinclude template="page1.cfm">
         <cfelseif #page# eq 2>
             <cfinclude template="page2.cfm">
         <cfelseif #page# eq 3>
             <cfinclude template="page3.cfm">
         </cfif>
     </div>
</body>
.
.
.

**Edit***
I don't know much about PHP (sadly), but I think your "if" statements would look something like this:

Code:

if ($menu == 1)
  include 'menu1.php';
elseif ($menu == 2)
  include 'menu2.php';
elseif ($menu == 3)
  include 'menu3.php';

**ill_phil** · 08-27-2008, 02:59 AM

Alright, but if it's all within one page, how do I change the $menu variable when I click on a link in the top menu?

**chrishirst** · 08-28-2008, 04:13 AM

you pass it as a querystring.

href="/?page=2"

**ill_phil** · 08-28-2008, 10:14 AM

I've got the hang of it now.

Thanks all for taking your time to answer my questions.

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