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Gene

I have a number of websites which have multiple levels and sublevels. I broke the site down and included menus within the appropriate pages (just add a menu object to a row or column) and so ignored the hamburger menu.

Yes I agree, the random accordian menus generated by the hamburger menu for multilevel/multipage sites is as near as possible to unuseable.

But you do have a problem. As an Evo User it is difficult for you to add a 320px resolution (it is possible, but you will lose a tablet resolution). By default, mobile view (480px) will always be a hamburger menu, not a real menu.

Hi Esahc,

Thank you for your feedback.

I could probably live with the bar menu for the larger screens, but going with the accordian hamburger for the mobile screen really bothers me because of the 80 (or more?) pages I expect to have.  In order to use the existing menu on the mobile screen, I think:

1) It's going to be very time consuming to make the different levels really stand out as they expand and contract.  Different color icons for the folders and pages on different layers and "<  >" around the folder names to make them stand out would take a lot of time.  If two folders are adjacent, I'd probably want different colors for each folder's pages. Then if I ever added a new folder between the existing folders, I may have to change the color of the icons for one of those folders. Sub-folders of a sub-folder would have different colors, etc.

2) If a person uses the hand-over feature on their phone (vs. touch), I would think the menu would be bouncing all over the place..., even worse than with a mouse.

3) I think the accordian would drive most people up the wall.

4) With Google going with "mobile first" in their rating system, I would also be worried that having the menu bouncing all over the place would greatly affect the ratings of the website.  If it isn't one of their parameters now, it probably will be in the future if people start to complain about it.

I would think that it would only take the person who programmed the existing menu about half a day to modify and debug a new menu button: whether it be the 3 or 4 button menu I suggested, or the more conventional hamburger button with the sub-levels popping out the side of the main side-menu.  I think it would be well worth their time.

I like what I've seen of the Website X5 software so far, EXCEPT for the menu which is a major issue in my mind.  It HAS TO BE easy for the average person to use.  In the next day or two I have to decide whether to continue with the X5, or go back to one of my other software packages.  Each one has pros and cons.  For example Disqus (a hosted interactive blog: i.e.: visitors can post) seems to work perfect in the "HTML Code" block in X5 and one of the other packages I have, while it just mostly works in one of the other packages I have (and I had to work hard to get it to work that good).

Thanks again,

Gene

Gene, the attached project file is rubbish, but it shows you can avoid sudden concertina menu openings to maintain navigation to many pages. Hopefully it will give you some ideas to use whilst we wait for Incomedia to create a workable toaster menu for large sites.

In the latest versions handling of the hamburger/toaster menu is a little easier and there are more options so it displays as you wish (although the underlying accordian menu is still "a feature", if you opted for the pro version you would also get more options (eg add resolution break points, preview on mobile, etc)

Woops - forgot to attach example

Sorry I didn't get back sooner - got side-tracked with a couple other things.

If I didn't have so many pages in a couple of the sub-levels, your suggestion would be workable. Normally I would spilt and move those pages into deeper sub-levels except for the fact that too many pages relate to too many other pages.

I've continued to play around with different ways to set up the menus. It's easy for the desktops screens, but just doesn't look good and/or isn't easy to navigate on mobile devices. With 58% of website visits being on mobile devices in 2018 and growing, navigation on mobile devices is critical! I've tried to convince myselsf to accept what I've been able to set up on X5, but I just can't do it. I want to use X5, but I just don't know if I can justify using it.

There have been other posts expressing dissatisfaction with the menu system, but they don't appear to have been addressed with any real solution by Website X5. They are doing themselves, their customers, and website visitors an injustice by not addressing the problem.

Overall I really like the product so far, but I think the menu system on mobile devices may just be a deal-breaker for me and my needs (80 page website).

Hmmm, navigating an 80-page website on a phone. Sounds like a ton of fun.

The best I can suggest is to break your landing pages into some logical order that requires only 1 menu level.

My site has about 250 pages - but some are "hidden" and only referenced by the menu list.

To see what I mean try abthermal.com - use the menu to pick the submenus - you will see it works ok in phone view....

I wish there was a better menu option in X5 - such as a selector list

Adrian

Hi Myron & Adrian, Sorry I didn't respond sooner but I've been busy exploring different ways of doing things.

Myron: That is why the navigation is so very important.

Adrian: Nice website.  What you have works good for a business website, but I'm addressing a different audience: you're dealing with a business audience who is searching for items to purchase while I'm dealing with a public audience who I'm trying to get to look at all of the pages where they have to know where they are, where they've been, and where they're going.  More like reading a book, rather than looking for something in a catalog.

Attached is a PDF file showing a menu system that I was able to develop with another program I've been using for a couple years, and the menu system I set up with X5.  The one I developed with the other program stays the same and works across all screen sizes.  The one I developed with X5 changes with the screen size and only looks good on one of the screens. It does not look good and isn't instantly intuitive on the smartphone screen which is the most important screen size.

All 3 website programs I'm currently using have their pros and cons.  If all 3 could be combined, it would be an amazing program.  I would love to use X5 for the website I'm currently working on, but right now I feel I can't use it because of the menu system.  It's really a shame that Website X5 isn't doing anything with their menu system since it seems that a number of people aren't happy with it.

I wish Website X5 had a list of items they're working on so I'd know if this is on their list, but if there is one, I haven't found it so far.

In the meanwhile, I'm going back to the program I had been using before X5, while continuing to look for something better.  If X5 ever does something with the menus, I'll definitely re-evaluate X5.