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Taken From The Forum: Help & Support for DHTML Menu Version 5+
Forum Topic: Click to view post
Last Updated: Saturday July 14 2012 - 06:07:47

submenus in email


Poster: mfurf
Dated: Friday April 8 2005 - 0:02:46 BST

This probably isn't meant to work, but I thought I should hang it out there. I can copy and paste an html page into an email window and have the milonic menu travel with the email with the following lines:

Code:
<script type="text/javascript"
src="http://www.ohsaratoga.com/milonic_src.js"
language="JavaScript"></script>
  <script language....etc.  </script>
  <script type="text/javascript"
src="http://www.ohsaratoga.com/email_menu_data.js"
language="JavaScript"></script>


Therefore one can click on the menu's Home command and open the website in a browswer. However the submenus wont work in the email window. I was wondering if there is a way to manipulate the showmenu= parameter to add the submenus.

I tested it in Outlook Ex. and Thunderbird. But I don't imagine it is designed to work. N'est-ce pas? /mfurf


Poster: Ruth
Dated: Friday April 8 2005 - 2:03:20 BST

I don't understand what you are doing. If you paste a link in an email, you will get the link. What do you mean about getting the menu? Do you mean the person actually has a menu in the email?

Ruth


Poster: mfurf
Dated: Friday April 8 2005 - 2:22:32 BST

Ruth: I don't want to email a link. I kind of stumbled on this without really intending it and kinda liked it.

It's more like emailing an html page [in this case I experimented with a page I have in the main iframe but bear in mind it's not a clickable link, but the entire page] except that the menu travels with it due to src= acting like a URL pointing to the milonic javascript files on the server. If the menu contained only URLs [e.g. to different pages on the site, or different sites], it would work since I've already tested this.

As I type it just occurs to me I could do a work-around -- merge the main and submenus into a Master Emailmenu with only URLs. Then the Milonic menu will arrive with the email and the recipient can open browser pages from the email window [assuming Javascript is activated].

As I said, I doubt there is a way to make the submenu function in the email window... but hey, with Andy having so much time on his hands :D he might want to work on giving the showmenu parameter some external functionality. Am I making any sense? Seems to me it could be a selling point for these fine menus. /mfurf


Poster: Ruth
Dated: Friday April 8 2005 - 2:26:47 BST

How exactly did you do this? I tried copying what you had in the post, but it just comes through as the same code as in your post. I didn't get any menu.

Ruth


Poster: mfurf
Dated: Friday April 8 2005 - 2:45:05 BST

Step One: in my html editor [I use Nvu or Mozilla Composer], I edit the scr= parameter so that it includes the code above.]

Step Two: I click back to Normal from Source so it's more, er, gooey, er GUI.

Step Three: I browse it and in the browser I click Control/A followed by Control/C. This copies the entire page to the clipboard.

Step Four: I paste it into a blank Email Window with Control/V or my context menu. I now see the menu "shell" in the outgoing window.

Step Five: I now fulfill the commandment: Email Thyself. The page will arrive back and as I run the mouse over the Milonic menu, I will see the various UrLs [but no submenus, they don't work] in the status line.

Hey, I knew these menus were good. Now I'm going to try to merge the main and submenu into a single menu and I'll let you know how it works. /mfurf 8)


Poster: mfurf
Dated: Friday April 8 2005 - 3:13:54 BST

I edited a correction out of this message into the foregoing. This message is now defunct. /mf

BTW, when mousing over the Edit button, the tooptip says "Edit/Delete" but I didn't find an actual delete option. /mf


Poster: mfurf
Dated: Friday April 8 2005 - 11:55:37 BST

Ruth:
Pretty neat. It worked. I emailed the longer [11 choice] submenu and recipients on my listserv can open a bunch of pages from their email window including a Contact Us email window. Already I'm getting rave reviews from some of them.

To do this I created a separate menu data file
Code:
<script type="text/javascript"
src="http://www.ohsaratoga.com/email_menu_data.js"
language="JavaScript"></script>
because the file needs to be edited to insert the URL path into each menu option.

I reduced font sizes and commented out unneeded parameters but due to colors and fonts one would think it's the exact same submenu one finds on my website.

Q.E.D. Still it would be exquisite if showmenu could include a URL. /mfurf


Poster: mfurf
Dated: Sunday April 10 2005 - 23:56:45 BST

Ruth:

Quote:
How exactly did you do this? I tried copying what you had in the post, but it just comes through as the same code as in your post. I didn't get any menu.


Did you try my method? Interesting how it gives access to menus to any emailer but of course, that's what website and menus are for... so others will use them.

Still, it leaves the showmenu= question hanging for emails and limits its usefulness to a single [expanded] main menu. /mfurf


Poster: Ruth
Dated: Monday April 11 2005 - 1:31:06 BST

I tried it, but all I got was an email with code in it. :( I must not be doing it right.

Ruth


Poster: mfurf
Dated: Monday April 11 2005 - 2:38:05 BST

Start in an html editor with any html file you have handy, insert the javascript file calls [you can use mine or if you have a site, you can point the src= at yours, or anyones]. Mine would be better for demo since I've edited the menu items in the server's email_menu_data.js so they are all URLs, i.e. none of them try to call a submenu.

Don't copy and paste from the editor, browse it first, then Select All and Copy.

Paste it into the blank email window and email yourself. Whee! A milonic menu on the fly. /mfurf


Poster: Ruth
Dated: Monday April 11 2005 - 3:57:43 BST

I think either it's something in my email settings or the fact that I have OutLook Epress 5.0 because even using what you have, I just get the html code. How about I send you an email so you can send me your 'email menu' and I can see if it works?

Ruth


Poster: mfurf
Dated: Monday April 11 2005 - 4:31:02 BST

I tested it in the beginning in Outlook Ex 6.0 [I use only Thunderbird but thought I should at least test it in OutEx] and it worked. If you have javascript activated in 5.0 you shouldn't have a problem. Put a big AT sign between ppio and taconic.net and you have my email address. I'll forward one of the emails I sent myself or got back from my listserv members. This is not my "HOME" menu but my submenu made into a main menu for purposes of email.

If showmenu= URL worked in an email window, I wouldn't have to make a separate menu data file.

I think the showmenu limitation is because the email window has a different "current dir" setting from the browser window. I think that's the problem, or part of it. Since the src= calls support a URL as do the menu choices, the current directory is irrlevant. But showmenu= expects to find the code in the current directory. Methinks. 8) /mfurf


Poster: Ruth
Dated: Monday April 11 2005 - 5:14:16 BST

I have javascript enable on my browser. I don't see any place that says anything about javascript in my OutLook Express. Just html or plain text. I sent an email. It should say from innkeeper9, but the subject line is for email menu test. Thanks :)

Ruth


Poster: Andy
Dated: Monday April 11 2005 - 12:35:39 BST

Hi,

Just speed-read most of this topic so probably missed all the juicy bits.

Anyway, is there anything I need to do, or did you get it going in the end?

Cheers,
Andy


Poster: Ruth
Dated: Monday April 11 2005 - 13:40:30 BST

Hi Andy :)

I think it must be me, I must be doing something wrong. When I try sending the menu as described I just get html code, but mfurf seems to actually get the menu.

Ruth


Poster: mfurf
Dated: Monday April 11 2005 - 13:51:54 BST

Ruth: Just sent you an email. The message part addressed to you personally [should be blinking] I typed in the email window. The rest was pasted in from my browser window.

Andy:
Quote:
Anyway, is there anything I need to do, or did you get it going in the end?


The answer is that one can generate a sufficent work-around to get the parts of one's menu one wants to email into an email message, and therefore a separate menu data file needs to be on the server just for emails.

But the showmenu= lacks external functionality in an email. I think the email client can recognize a URL but doesn't know what to do with showmenu= /mfurf


Poster: Ruth
Dated: Monday April 11 2005 - 14:13:55 BST

Hi mfurf,
OK, I got a real page, with the menu at the top and an attachement, which is also the page. When I try to mouseover the menu I get an error message:
Code:
Line: 106 Character: 1 Error: Object expected Code: 0 URL: mhtml:mid://00000014/
What I have to do is actually open the attachment. I don't know if that's some setting in my email or perhaps my AVG antivirus that scans my email? When I open it I get a page and the address in the windows explorer bar is: mM1.htm .html .shtm .shtml, I guess that's not really a URL, it must be the attachement name. But, it does work if I double click the attachment which opens the page in a small browser window with the menu on it. Now I just have to figure out why I can't send a page like that :( I must be doing something totally wrong.

Ruth


Poster: mfurf
Dated: Monday April 11 2005 - 14:18:34 BST

Ruth:

My guess is it's your virus scanner. I sent it to my listserv and didn't get any reports of anyone not being able to open it. /mfurf


Poster: Ruth
Dated: Monday April 11 2005 - 14:34:23 BST

Yippeeeee :!: I got it. Even though my program is set with the rich text checked, to put the page in, I can't copy it. I have to use the insert/text and then change the file type to html. That must have been what you meant by browse to it.... :oops: It gives me a blank screen to look at when doing it but when I received it I got the page :) Too bad about submenus, but that's not the menu, that would be the email program which doesn't recognize the dhtml/javascript menu code of url= as a hyperlink.

Ruth


Poster: Ruth
Dated: Monday April 11 2005 - 15:42:50 BST

OK, I have a menu that will open submenus in an email :!: You have to use the listbased menu with some changes and the pre-release 7.20is what I used, I don't know if it works with the 5.719 but you could try it.

I had to make these changes because my email program would do a fatal error and shut down if I left the menuStyles on the page in script tags. Yours may allow you to do that. If not do the following, the only thing that won't work, because I had to use a menu_data type file is any images, like the submenu arrows. If the menuStyles could be left on the page as they are then they would work, also.

In the listbased menu, on the html page you have the menu items and then in script tags you have the menuStyles and then another script tag with the call for the listmenu.js file. You leave the list menu on the page, and the call for the listmenu.js just as it is, but you cut out the menuStyles coding including the last line:
Code:
listStyle=menuStyle; // Tells the menu system to use menuStyle as the default style
mainMenuSettings="alwaysvisible=true;orientation='horizontal';top=10;left=10;" // Properties for the main menu
and you paste that to a blank doc saved as a js file. I called mine list_email.js Then at the top of the page where you have the calls for the 3 base Milonic files you also call that, just like you do a menu_data.js file.

I sent you an email with the menu on it. It worked when I sent it to myself.

Ruth

Submenus in email


Poster: Oliver
Dated: Thursday January 5 2006 - 10:38:21 GMT

I read the exchange between Ruth & Mfurf last April and wonder whether it is possible to cut out the attachment using a CSStype setup rather than a list in the body of the html code, I tried the attachment way but my ISP/email/virus program won't allow this. I can't so far make it work with the CSStype.

The best that I could achieve was to paste the actual webpage(rather than the code) into an Outlook Express richtext/html email and achieved the main menu links but not the drop down sub-menus. Microsoft underlying code was rather weird and lengthy but it worked.

I would like to try the CSStype menus, has anyone else tried using this method?


Poster: Ruth
Dated: Thursday January 5 2006 - 14:39:02 GMT

Hi Oliver,

I have a very old Outlook so I don't do much experimentation with stuff like this.

There is a module that you can use with the menu to generate a site index, this is generated as a list type index, perhaps something like that could be used.


http://support.milonic.com/demos/site_index/index.htm


Poster: mfurf
Dated: Friday January 6 2006 - 1:48:58 GMT

Hey Innkeeper Ruth and Oliver:

Not having been on the forum here in months I just got a wake up call as I had forgotten I set this thread to be watched. I haven't had the need to cut/paste any new menus but hope you guys create a cutting edge.

What a great selling point for Milonic Menus if it could be done. /mfurf


Poster: Ruth
Dated: Friday January 6 2006 - 2:28:54 GMT

Hey Stranger!

I've not done anything more on the email stuff, I figured we had it here and anyone who had an interest could use this.


Oliver,

I just reread your post :oops: I must have skimmed right over the I don't want the listbased part of it....

As to the css, the menu takes the style from the css, if you're setting it up that way, so if you are pasting the page in, I'd think if you have the css styled that would work. I don't work much at all with css and haven't done a css menu so I don't really know if that will work. But, since you're calling the menu files having pasted the page in, I'd think it would call the css also.

Ruth


Poster: Migru
Dated: Friday January 13 2006 - 22:09:27 GMT

Hi Ruth

may I get that or a similar mail too ???

I´m interested !!

Michael


Poster: Ruth
Dated: Sunday January 15 2006 - 15:12:18 GMT

Hi Michael,

OK, I've been working on this again to see what's going on with the newer versions. Remember, this may not work in all email programs you'll have to test it out. I only have an old outlook express.

I'll put it by steps, this is for testing purposes, once you're sure it works you'd of course use your own page and paths

1. create a folder on your website.

2. open the index page from the menu download, the main index page

3. change the path to the milonic_src, mmenudom, mmenuns4, menu_data files to the folder you just created and save the page.

4. once you have the path pointing to that folder upload the page and milonic files to that folder.

Now this is where it gets problematic because it is going to depend on your email program, I can only give you what I do in mine. In my outlook,

1. I open the program, click for a new mail

2. I click Format and make sure Rich Text Format is checked

3. I click Insert

4. I click Text from file and when the window opens I change the file type from text to html.

5. I browse to the index page on my hard drive [remember I changed the paths on this page so they are pointing to my website folder, maybe your email program would let you browse to the page on the web] once I get to the page I click it and it inserts it into the email.

That gives me the index page with no menu on it, just the links, that's because the paths to the files have been changed to the website, but I send it and when I receive it the menu is there.

You should be able to do that with your own menu, and it seems that the new version let's you have the images and submenus will open. Once you are sure you can get it to work, you could make a special email page to send out which only has your site menu on it, or maybe a bgimage as a logo or something for the page and the menu.

Ruth

mail


Poster: Migru
Dated: Sunday January 15 2006 - 20:52:07 GMT

Hi

is it useful, when mail programs do not support this ??

It seems Pegasus Mail doesn´t.

Michael


Poster: Ruth
Dated: Monday January 16 2006 - 2:36:05 GMT

I believe it's been noted in the topic that it might not work in all email clients. I think the person who originally found this was using it for a group which had subgroups and being able to post the menu itself in an email meant they only had to send one email, no matter what group. But, I could be mistaken on that, it's been a long while since this was done.

I would guess it could be useful if the group all used the same email client and that client supported this.


Ruth


Poster: Ruth
Dated: Monday January 16 2006 - 3:11:07 GMT

Hi Michael,

I sent you an email. I wondered what would happen if I sent the menu in an email to you using the listbased menu. I wondered if, since you say the program won't do the menu, if it would show the list links from the menu?

I think is being done with using this is that a person is in reality just sending the page. For example, I have a website monitoring, a free one, and every month they send me the info, and the info is in reality a page on their site. I get the page not just the info.

Ruth


Poster: Ruth
Dated: Monday January 16 2006 - 15:47:43 GMT

A final note by me :D

For anyone interested in this, the best method is using the listbased menu.

Create your to be sent page with the listbased menu, remove the style coding from the page, all the information in the listbased example within the inline script tags that begin with _menuCloseDelay=500; down to and including
Code:
mainMenuSettings="alwaysvisible=true;orientation='horizontal';top=10;left=10;" // Properties for the main menu


Place all that into a separate file, save it as whatever you want to name it, e.g. email.js or such.

Leave the listmenus.js coded just where it is.

Call the email.js file just like you would normally have your menu_data.js file, up with the Milonic program file calls.

If the recipient's mail program doesn't allow the js coding, the listbased menu links should appear in place of that.

Ruth


Poster: mfurf
Dated: Monday August 13 2007 - 3:48:41 BST

Hey, having started all this I'm back after a year and a half. The various Milonic menus have been set and working on my site that I just had no need for "support".

But tonight I decided to set up a color shell for my emails and reworked the email menu first brought to light on this thread into a complete shell. Instead of the logo/heading followed by the 10 options being horizontal across the top of the email [thus usually forcing a horizontal scroll bar], I pasted it into my html editor, sliced and diced until I got it to look like the list menu even though it isn't.

Now all the menu options are vertical in their own cell and I've got 3-background colored sections. It's a two step process: I write the email in the html editor then copy/paste the entire thing as the email message. Again: rave reviews. Here's a peek at some of the code [the code being written by the html editor]

Code:
<body>
<table class="milonictable" style="width: 97%;">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td id="el0" onmouseover="h$(0)"
style="padding: 1px; background: rgb(0, 255, 172) none repeat scroll 0% 50%; -moz-background-clip: initial; -moz-background-origin: initial; -moz-background-inline-policy: initial; width: 18%;"
nowrap="nowrap">
<div onclick="$K(0)" name="mM1" onfocus="_iF0C(0)"
href="http://www.ohsaratoga.com/Frames1/undefined" id="lnk0"
style="border: medium none ; background: transparent none repeat scroll 0% 50%; -moz-background-clip: initial; -moz-background-origin: initial; -moz-background-inline-policy: initial; display: block; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: comic sans ms,verdana,helvetica; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; font-size: 2px; text-decoration: none; text-align: center;"><span
style="font-weight: bold; color: red; font-size: 19px;">Oh
Saratoga!<br>
</span>Aug 26-Sept 8, 2007<br>
</div>
</td>
<td
style="background-color: rgb(255, 204, 204); vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"><span
style="font-style: italic; color: rgb(0, 153, 0);"> <br>
<span style="font-weight: bold;">Come When You Can<br>
Leave When You Have To<br>
 </span><br>
</span></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="vertical-align: top;"><a name="mM1" onfocus="_iF0C(1)"
href="http://www.ohsaratoga.com/Chapel.html" id="lnk1"
style="border: medium none ; background: transparent none repeat scroll 0% 50%; -moz-background-clip: initial; -moz-background-origin: initial; -moz-background-inline-policy: initial; display: block; font-family: comic sans ms,verdana,helvetica; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; font-size: 2px; text-decoration: none; color: rgb(170, 0, 0);">Prayer</a>==============<br>
<a name="mM1" onfocus="_iF0C(2)"
href="http://www.ohsaratoga.com/EcclesiCourt.html" id="lnk2"
style="border: medium none ; background: transparent none repeat scroll 0% 50%; -moz-background-clip: initial; -moz-background-origin: initial; -moz-background-inline-policy: initial; display: block; font-family: comic sans ms,verdana,helvetica; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; font-size: 2px; text-decoration: none; color: rgb(170, 0, 0);">Court</a>\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\<br>
<a name="mM1" onfocus="_iF0C(3)"
href="http://www.ohsaratoga.com/UpState.html" id="lnk3"
style="border: medium none ; background: transparent none repeat scroll 0% 50%; -moz-background-clip: initial; -moz-background-origin: initial; -moz-background-inline-policy: initial; display: block; font-family: comic sans ms,verdana,helvetica; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; font-size: 2px; text-decoration: none; color: rgb(170, 0, 0);">State
St.</a>==============<br>


Bottom line is that the menu options all work; they access a javascript file on the website composed just for the email menu. /mfurf


Poster: Ruth
Dated: Monday August 13 2007 - 21:33:37 BST

Hiya Stranger....it seems like a mighty long time, dah dah dah dah :lol:

Thanks for posting the new info. Nice to see ya!

Ruth


Poster: mfurf
Dated: Tuesday August 14 2007 - 23:04:38 BST

Hey Ruth: you're the best. I've still got some of your emails in my Milonic email folder. Methinks you've advanced way beyond me in the email submenu dept. How's Kevin and John, are they still on this board?

I finally realized that the thing was to use the basic milonic code within the email to get the viewer to the website where he can click on submenus until the cows come home... I'm just so delighted that the milonictable code works via copy/paste. I've got ten vertical options in a sized cell as a sort of left margin box, the last option when clicked opening an email window, the others go to web pages on the same site. I've got a horizontal cell as a heading and a large cell underneath it [and to the right of the vertical options] for the message [anything can be written or pasted into it including an entire html page]. All cells are differently background colored... sort of like a stationery page.

Maybe I'll figure out how to actually make it a page of stationery in order to eliminate the copy/paste step.

When I started with Milonic I was non-profit and got the freebie. But such superior menus deserved support that I decided to buy them anyway [somewhere way back on this board you'll find me urging other non-profits to do the same].

Let's hear it for Andy Wooley. He revolutionized the web. I got him a paying customer in Ohio a couple years ago. /mfurf

P.S. Forgot to mention that the code above worked fine for me but others couldn't see the clickable wording. Hah, wouldn't you know, the html editor defaulted to font-size: 2px. When I upgraded it to, what, about 16px, all turned out just fine.


Poster: Ruth
Dated: Wednesday August 15 2007 - 8:39:05 BST

Hi,

As far as I know Kevin and John are OK. John is very much here, but Kevin doesn't have any time anymore :( We really miss that since he was the only js knowledgeable volunteer, but life comes first :) Heck, I'll be here forever. I'm retired so it keeps my brain active :)

I know Milonic really appreciates your support of the menu. I think Andy is on to a new project, setting up something even more exciting for the Menu. I'll keep this post in my email and when/if he gets whatever the new thing is done, I'll post here so you get a notice. Take care. See ya next time.

Ruth