# What is the Web 2.0 way of doing menus? Any suggestions?

**URL:** <https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/what-is-the-web-2-0-way-of-doing-menus-any-suggestions/143293>\
**Category:** Rails\
**Created:** [July 17, 2008, 2:20am UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/what-is-the-web-2-0-way-of-doing-menus-any-suggestions/143293 "2008-07-17T02:20:14Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 7\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![greg](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/g/71c47a/32.png) [@greg](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/greg)\
**Post date:** [July 17, 2008, 2:20am UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/what-is-the-web-2-0-way-of-doing-menus-any-suggestions/143293/1 "2008-07-17T02:20:14Z")

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Hi,

My rails single click menu options in my header are running out of room.

What is the most popular Web 2.0 way of handling a growing number of  
menu  
links? What’s the most popular Rails way of having drop down menus? Or  
is  
this now not the way to handle menus in which case what’s the most  
popular  
approach?

Cheers

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**Author:** ![greg](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/g/71c47a/32.png) [@greg](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/greg)\
**Post date:** [July 20, 2008, 1:03am UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/what-is-the-web-2-0-way-of-doing-menus-any-suggestions/143293/2 "2008-07-20T01:03:18Z")

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(bump)

On Thu, Jul 17, 2008 at 10:19 AM, Greg H. \<

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**Author:** ![greg](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/g/71c47a/32.png) [@greg](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/greg)\
**Post date:** [July 20, 2008, 1:34am UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/what-is-the-web-2-0-way-of-doing-menus-any-suggestions/143293/3 "2008-07-20T01:34:20Z")

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On Sun, 2008-07-20 at 09:02 +1000, Greg H. wrote:

> ```
> number of menu links? What's the most popular Rails way of
> having drop down menus? Or is this now not the way to handle
> menus in which case what's the most popular approach?
> 
> ```

* * *

I think it was ignored because it’s not a ruby or rails question. It’s  
obviously an html/css/javascript type question because that is what  
people use to generate menus.

Craig

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**Author:** ![greg](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/g/71c47a/32.png) [@greg](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/greg)\
**Post date:** [July 20, 2008, 4:02am UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/what-is-the-web-2-0-way-of-doing-menus-any-suggestions/143293/4 "2008-07-20T04:02:18Z")

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good point - I guess I was wondering (being a hobbyist programmer)  
whether  
Rails (say with in prototype or scriptaculus) had a web 2.0 way to do  
menus?

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**Author:** ![greg](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/g/71c47a/32.png) [@greg](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/greg)\
**Post date:** [July 20, 2008, 5:48am UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/what-is-the-web-2-0-way-of-doing-menus-any-suggestions/143293/5 "2008-07-20T05:48:27Z")

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There are many ways to generate menus in rails using HTML and CSS. So  
there is no set way. However, if you want to see an example, go to:  
[www.learningrails.com](http://www.learningrails.com)  
They are hosting a long running tutorial for creating a rails  
application and show a way to create menus. Mind you, this is one of  
the many way. Rails itself does not favor one over the other.  
Hope this helps.  
Bharat

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**Author:** ![greg](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/g/71c47a/32.png) [@greg](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/greg)\
**Post date:** [July 20, 2008, 6:36pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/what-is-the-web-2-0-way-of-doing-menus-any-suggestions/143293/6 "2008-07-20T18:36:45Z")

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There really is no “Web 2.0” way of doing any one thing. Web 2.0  
philosophy (if there even is such a thing) would probably tell you make  
your navigation as clear and simple as possible. For example, you  
mention that the navigation you already have is growing too long. It  
might be time to reevaluation the needs and purpose of the entire  
navigation itself, and not just figure out the best way to cram more  
options into a small space.

It sounds like a Information Architecture and/or UI design problem more  
than anything else.

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**Author:** ![greg](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/g/71c47a/32.png) [@greg](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/greg)\
**Post date:** [July 20, 2008, 10:53pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/what-is-the-web-2-0-way-of-doing-menus-any-suggestions/143293/7 "2008-07-20T22:53:38Z")

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Bryan M. wrote:

> There really is no “Web 2.0” way of doing any one thing. Web 2.0  
> philosophy (if there even is such a thing) would probably tell you make  
> your navigation as clear and simple as possible. For example, you  
> mention that the navigation you already have is growing too long. It  
> might be time to reevaluation the needs and purpose of the entire  
> navigation itself, and not just figure out the best way to cram more  
> options into a small space.
> 
> It sounds like a Information Architecture and/or UI design problem more  
> than anything else.

In other words, the Web 2.0 way to do drop down menus is: Don’t 🙂