Chapter 9. Creating Menus

The menu widget, previously a part of the autocomplete widget, became a standalone plugin in its own right from Version 1.9 of the library, which allows for its re-use in other components. It can be used on its own to transform a list of hyperlinks into a themeable menu that can be controlled using the keyboard or mouse, although it really comes into its own when used with other components such as buttons.

Each menu has a number of menu items associated with it, which when selected will direct the visitor to any part of your site. When you click on the top level, a number of submenu items will slide into view; these may have extra decoration in the form of icons, or be disabled if access is to be prevented at the time of accessing the menu option.

In this chapter, we will cover the following topics:

• How to turn a list into a menu, with or without submenus

• The options available for configuring a menu

• Adding style to menus

• Manipulating menu items with icons and dividers...