The Joomla! Forum ™

Is there anyway in joomla to change the default menu module from mainmenu to exmenu. I went into the menu manager php file and tried to change somethings but when I create a menu, it still created a new menu module instance using mod_mainmenu. I would like it so that all of my created menu's use mod_exmenu.

Basically if there is a way to delete the instance of mod_mainmenu that is created from the menu manager without deleting the menu under menumanager, that is exactly what I want. The reason for this is I am already looking at creating between 50 and 100 menus for a site that will be stemming well over 15,000 pages.

I already tired going into the admin.menumanager.php file and changing the module used in there, but it didn't work. I also tried an sql query to change all current instances of mod_main menu to mod_exmenu but that failed as well.

If you could provide further help, that would be greatly appreciated.

let me get this right. you have a differnt menu moduel you want to use besides mod_mainmenu? Well Im not sure but have you thought about changing the name of the orginal mod_mainmenu file(s) to mod_mainmenu1 and name all the exmenu files the original name?  I mean after all its just calling a file name etc?  cant hurt to try

Rob

as weird as it sounds, I thought about that, and for some reason didn't think it would work because of database entries for the modules. However, I tried it and it worked perfectly. I was also worried about breaking the backend administrator menu but that works fine as well. Thanks for your help. Hopefully as it get more and more content and get deeper into the site, I don't run into problems with this.

Your help was greatly appreciated.

Unpublish the standard mainmenu module. Then, publish the exmenu module instead. That should work.

_________________
http://www.corywebbmedia.com/
http://www.howtojoomla.net/

I spoke too soon. I replaced mod_mainmenu with mod_exmenu by just renaming them, and the top level menu works but the underlying menu doesn't align how it used to. PLEASE HELP.

mod_mainmenu is a type of module, not a module name.

The same goes for mod_extmenu.

They are different modules that do different things, obviously or you wouldn't want to use extmenu.

You most likely need a copy of mod_extmenu for each menu from the menu manager that you want to display.

You set the name of the module by editing the module in the module manager.

Renaming a module has nothing to do with where it appears and whether any other module appears. That is controlled by (a) published/non published status, (b) the position assignment and (c) the page assignments as set in the module manager.


Are you saying that you want a new copy of mod_extmenu to be created automatically whenever you create a new menu in the menu manager?

_________________
So we must fix our vision not merely on the negative expulsion of war, but upon the positive affirmation of peace. MLK 1964.
http://officialjoomlabook.com Get it at http://www.joomla.org/joomla-press-official-books.html Buy a book, support Joomla!.

I understand how to do all of that. However because my menu structure will stem well over 100 menu's, I don't want 2 copies of each menu, one that uses mod_mainmenu and one that uses mod_exmenu (the published one). Therefore, I tried to delete the instance of each menu that was using mod_mainmenu. However, when I delete the instance using mod_mainmenu, it also deletes the menu out of the menumanager structure. Not always in menu manager, but always in the link to menu option under each content item.

So if someone has a fix that will allow me to delete the instance of mod_mainmenu that is created with each new menu, that is essentially what I need, so that I can use mod_exmenu.

However, since I believe this not to be possible, I am trying to replace the mod_mainmenu module with the mod_exmenu module so that the backend uses mod_exmenu to create an instance of it everytime I create a new menu.

Why do you want to delete them? Is it because they make the module manager difficult to navigate?

_________________
http://www.corywebbmedia.com/
http://www.howtojoomla.net/

Maybe I’m not being entirely clear.

Mod_mainmenu = default menu module for Joomla!

Mod_exmenu = default menu module + extra code to do more things (cool things we need to use)

When you create a new menu in Joomla 1.0.x  In the menu manager it automatically creates a running copy of the module “Mod_mainmenu” (menu X)  It warns you and even asks you to enter the menu name (Menu X).

Now,  loads of people don’t want to use the main menu module, and load other modules that grab the menu structure out of the menu manger. (unpublishing the main menu module and publishing ExMenu/Jatransmenu etc)  Problem is, if you delete the module “Mod_mainmenu” for menu X, it doesn’t list that menu as an option to “link to menu” when you create/edit content.

Normally this wouldn’t be an issue, one would be left unpublished and the other published… no biggie. Our issue is that we are projecting 200+ menu’s, if we MUST have duplicates we’d end up with 400+ menu’s alone under the “site modules” area. We’d really like to avoid this, by doing one of the following:

  1.) Have Joomla use ex_menu by default. So when we create a new menu in menu manger it creates a new Exmenu instead of mainmenu, so that we don’t have to delete anything.
  2.) Find a way to delete the mod_mainmenu module without breaking the “Link to menu” system.
  3.) We’ve attempted to simply overwrite the Mod_mainmenu by renaming the exmenu files and overwriting the mainmenu’s.  This worked, to a point. There were some issues with formatting (there seemed to be no way to make our CSS dropdowns that once worked under ex_menu format properly)

Any help from here would be appreciated. Please understand, neither of the people working on this are new to joomla (just the forums), we are just attempting to solve some core issues with Joomla to make it a more flexible solution for enterprise rollout.

I really think you are getting confused between the menus themselves and the menu modules.  I really don't know what you mean by "overwriting." You modified the entries in mysql? You changed the files in /modules?

Don't the extmenu people have a forum at their site? It sounds like a question they could answer.

_________________
So we must fix our vision not merely on the negative expulsion of war, but upon the positive affirmation of peace. MLK 1964.
http://officialjoomlabook.com Get it at http://www.joomla.org/joomla-press-official-books.html Buy a book, support Joomla!.

once again I know what a module is and I know what a menu is (an instance of that particular module for those of you that are getting confused on what it means in programming to be an instance). You are right, I replaced the module and also did an sql query in the extension_modules_menu to replace every instance of "mainmenu" with "exmenu". However, the query didn't replace any results so I may need to look in another table.

So the answer to your question about understanding modules vs module instances (menus or any other instance to a particular module) is yes I understand perfectly, but need help with what is essentially a core hack, and or a location in the database in which I need to change some information.

The answer to what I meant by overwrite is -- replace the file mod_mainmenu under the folder modules with mod_exmenu. This basically tricked the joomla administrative end by using the same file name as the previous file but instead using the options that come with mod_exmenu. So no I didn't overwrite, I essentially replaced the file mod_mainmenu with mod_exmenu. Like I said this worked to a point until I rolled over a top level menu item and the underlying menu structure didn't lign up the same as before.

I know what you're thinking and the answer is yes I have looked at the html code in the page and yes I have all of the id's and classes specified correctly in my css file. If I didn't, it wouldn't have worked before I replaced the files.

The answer to your last question is yes the Extended Menu creators have a forum on their site, but it's not their issue. Like I said before, this is essentially a core joomla hack and or a slight database change.

If someone has any suggestions, please help!

I really think you're trying to add a lot of extra work for something that is simple to deal with. I can understand if you want to automate the process for a client, but why not just teach them how to unpublish the instance of mod_mainmenu and publish a new instance of mod_exmenu?

If you insist on hacking the core code, the code you are wanting to change would probably be located in administrator/components/com_menumanager or administrator/components/com_menus. I'm not very familiar with the code, so I couldn't tell you exactly where to start looking.

Good luck!

_________________
http://www.corywebbmedia.com/
http://www.howtojoomla.net/

It IS their issue. You want to know how to make their extension work in a certain way. I bet you are not the first user of that extension who has sought to do that. Post a question over there and you will get answers from people who have actually used that extension. I bet someone has tried a hack like that before.

NO, a menu is not an instance of a module. You have that backwards. Modules display information about menus. The modules control the styling and through parameters the placement. The menu comes first. You can have multiple modules for the same menu if you want

P.S. If I were you I would probably email de (the address is on his site) and ask him if he has a way to do what you want.

_________________
So we must fix our vision not merely on the negative expulsion of war, but upon the positive affirmation of peace. MLK 1964.
http://officialjoomlabook.com Get it at http://www.joomla.org/joomla-press-official-books.html Buy a book, support Joomla!.

Hi usf,
I understand you, but unfortunately, changing this is not possible. You can't rename the file, since its a lot more complex. As you said before, you could edit admin.menumanager.php to do what you want. where to do this, I can't tell.

What would interest me would be, why you have more than 100 menus. I've made the experience, that with ext menu you need probably one or two menus but not more. ext menu is EXTREMELY powerful, you could restrict the depth of the menus to be shown in one position and keep it on going on another position. I've done something similar on one of my sites: http://www.oums.de The whole site has exactly ONE menu. The top menu is the first level and the side menu shows all the levels below that one. when you go to "Archiv" and then "Schlossbesetzung", you can also see how this can be extended. Hundreds of menus, as in your description, seem a bit over the top. I'd be glad to help you if you need more information on this one.
Hannes

_________________
god doesn't play dice with the universe. not after that drunken night with the devil where he lost classical mechanics in a game of craps.

Since the creation of the Internet, the Earth's rotation has been fueled, primarily, by the collective spinning of English teachers in their graves.

This reminds me of Denise Richards in the role of Dr. Christmas Jones from the Bond film The World Is Not Enough. There's also a young sidekick who plays the role of tech wizard, able to tap into video surveillance lines at will, and fool the guards into thinking they are watching , real time when they are really watching taped playback, etc. We've seen it all before.

Sean Bean, once again, plays the main bad guy. Has this talented actor ever played anything else? I'm getting tired of him playing the same role over and over again - the team player who goes bad. Witness similar roles in The Lord of the Rings, in the Bond film Goldeneye, and in Patriot Games.

The film falls apart due to the enormous number of times that you will hear yourself say "How convenient." Time and time again, we are asked to believe that the good guys won't get caught, since the bad guys have lost their trail. Wrong.

The only redeeming quality about this lightweight fare is that it may spark an interest in history among some, due to its many historical references.

Would I see it again? Not willingly.

hackwar --
the reason I will have upwards of 200 menus is I have a site containing well over 15,000 pages that we are currently converting over to Joomla's CMS. To further explain, I am currently the web application specialist in an educational environment (college) -- ps there's a lot of content. I've looked into lightening the number of menus I will be using but see no way to do it with how we would like to see the structure broken up.

Thank you hackwar for posting in the forum. I was hoping to stem some interest from a joomla developer about this issue, as I was having no luck with anyone else in the forum. Perhaps you can help me on where to look or go for a hack in the database. Like I said I got it working except for the 2nd layer in the menu (the first submenu).

Thanks again.

usf

is the content logically seperated? Even in a smaller subset of the total site. There are some menu/section navigators that automatically create a section menu depending on where you are on the site.  Might look a bit into it even if its helpful in some small way.

Hi,
I would like to do something similar to the thing you Hackwar did on the http://www.oums.de.
I would like to have links to categories on the top. I also would like “context” menu (listing all articles from the category user currently is in) to show up on the left.
I just can’t find the way to make the extended menu to be generated from active category only.

Please let me know how to do it or where I could find some hints.

Best regards!

I didn't generate those menus from categories. All the entries you can see on the top and left side are menu entries in the menu manager.

_________________
god doesn't play dice with the universe. not after that drunken night with the devil where he lost classical mechanics in a game of craps.

Since the creation of the Internet, the Earth's rotation has been fueled, primarily, by the collective spinning of English teachers in their graves.

OK, thanks for reply.
So the question is: Is there a possibility (that you know of) to dynamically generate menu containing items from a current category?

Eventually I can use as many extended menus as I have categories (I will create separate extended menu for each category and publish it only on pages from that category). Unfortunately I don't know how to create more than one extended menu...

Could you help me with that?

Hey k.a.c,

Did you ever get this resolved? I am in the same situation and pulling my hair out here.

Any guidance or help appreciated!!

G