Frequently Asked Questions
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I have a v1.x version of AllWebMenus. How do I upgrade my installation to take advantage of the new features, the improved script and the different menu generation process of version 3.0?

The following instructions involve upgrades from v1.x versions to v3.x. They are not required for upgrades from v2.0 to v3.x.

1. Download the latest distribution and install it over the older one.
2. Open your *.awm file (eg: mymenu.awm) and compile it as mymenu.js (note: the name is an example, you can use any name you like for the compiled menu).
3. Link the compiled mymenu.js file to your web pages.
4. Upload the following elements to your web site:
- the mymenu.js file  
- the awmData-mymenu directory and the awmmenupath.gif file (which should be located and uploaded at the same directory with the mymenu.js file)  
- all web pages processed in step 3 and therefore contain a link to the compiled menu (which should be a few lines of code).  

Note that the old awmData directory found at v1.1 and v1.2 can now be deleted as it is not needed anymore.

Important note on the "URL" property for .awm files created with version 1.2 or earlier:

The older versions created a menu entity (i.e. the awmData subdirectory) in every directory where the pages were located. Therefore, there was no actual difference between "document-relative" links and "menu-relative" links in the URL property (eg: "../info.html")

The new version creates a single compiled menu for all pages, regardless of where these pages are located inside the site's directory structure. Therefore, all relative links are now related to the directory where the compiled menu is located. In that manner, the old "../info.html" value may not link to the proper page now and it may have to be changed to "info.html" (or whatever needed).

Obviously, you will not need to do any changes if you have been using absolute paths inside the URL property (eg: http://www.likno.com).

See more info on the <URL> property here


My menu works fine when viewed locally but does not appear when viewed on the server. What have I done wrong?
You have forgotten to upload the associated awmData-menuname directory or the awmmenupath.gif file along with the compiled menu or you have uploaded them in the wrong directory.
Click here to read more about this procedure


How can I optimize my menu design to get the best possible menu-building speed?
Click here to read important notes on the Performance Optimization


How can I set the width of the submenu items to a fixed size?
This is not possible; we deliberately kept it like this to preserve the cross-browser functionality. One of the top priorities of AllWebMenus is to ensure that a menu will be displayed properly in both IE and Netscape, PC or Macintosh version.

Having this in mind, it can be easily realized that there are different renderings of the same menu in different browser settings. The same menu may be rendered 50 pixels wide in one setting while 75 pixels wide in another.

This is why the use of a "fixed width size" property could lead to menus working fine in some settings (the ones you really test) while looking bad in other settings (the ones you may not test).

Concluding, the submenu's width is not fixed but rather gets calculated on-the-fly so that every item is displayed properly given the user's browser settings.


The border is very close to the submenu's text. How can I change this?
As noted above, the submenu width is determined on-the-fly based on the widest submenu item. Therefore, if you want some "breathing" space between the text and the border, you may just add a space (or more) at the beginning and the end of the widest item. Alternatively, you may use the <Item Padding> property to get some breathing space around all the four edges of the item.


Can I use HTML tags inside the Items and Titles?
Yes, you can use any HTML tag you like inside the <Item Name> and <Submenu Title> properties. This is very useful when you want to break an Item Name into several lines. As the menu in our web site shows, the "Frequently Asked Questions" item is broken into three lines by assigning the value "Frequently <br> Asked <br> Questions" to the Item Name property.


Can a menu item link to a paragraph within a web page?
Yes, just enter http://www.mysite.com/info.html#anchor in the <URL> property of the items and the menu can be used to navigate inside the info.html web page.


I have two different menus for different html pages. How do I properly use the different compiled menus and their associated awmData-menuname directories?
Let's assume the following file structure:
c:\mysite\pageA.html
c:\mysite\pageB.html
c:\mysite\pageC.html
c:\mysite\pageD.html
(the c:\mysite directory is the root of the site)

and the following designed menus:
menu1.awm (to be used by pageA and pageB)
menu2.awm (to be used by pageC and pageD)

1. We compile menu1.awm into the menu1.js file.
This action creates the following elements into the c:\mysite\ folder:
-the menu1.js file
-the awmmenupath.gif file
-the awmData-menu1 directory which contains the javascript libraries and all images used by menu1 (if any)

2. We compile menu2.awm into the menu2.js file.
This action creates the following elements into the c:\mysite\ folder:
-the menu2.js file
-the awmmenupath.gif file
-the awmData-menu2 directory which contains the javascript libraries and all images used by menu2 (if any)

3. We link the menu1.js file to pageA and pageB

4. We link the menu2.js file to pageC and pageD

5. We upload the following elements to the root of our web site:
-the menu1.js file
-the awmData-menu1 directory
-the menu2.js file
-the awmData-menu2 directory
-the awmmenupath.gif file (this is common for both menus)
-the pageA.html file
-the pageB.html file
-the pageC.html file
-the pageD.html file

6. This completes the process for all menus and pages.




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