Support #8446
closedrequest for multiple accordion menu plugins
Added by Marilyn Weber almost 7 years ago. Updated about 6 years ago.
0%
Description
Via Zendesk, Kristin Cribbs writes:
I am the Human Research Protection Program (HRPP) Coordinator at the CUNY School of Public Health. Our Office is developing a HRPP academic commons Wordpress website<https://sphhrpp.commons.gc.cuny.edu/> for faculty and student researchers, and I am reaching out with an administrative request. I would like to add a plugin to the site that allows me to collapse menu items on the left-hand sidebar. Currently, the parent and child menu items are static.
I’ve identified several plugins online that offer this functionality, however, after searching in the Plugins section, it does not appear that any of these are currently available via the CUNY Academic Commons. Further, I do not see a way for me, as a user and website administrator, to add a new Plugin. It seems these permissions are only available to the CUNY Commons team.
I would like to test out a several plugins to determine which will be the best fit for our website. If possible, can you please add the following plugins to Commons?:
· Nextend Accordion Menu
· Show-Hide / Collapse-Expand
· Collapsible Widget Area
· Nice Navigation
· Collapsing Categories
Boone, let me know what you think. Thanks!
Files
| AccProblem.JPG (50.1 KB) AccProblem.JPG | Marilyn Weber, 2017-08-02 09:13 AM |
Related issues
Updated by Boone Gorges almost 7 years ago
- Subject changed from request for multiple plugins to request for multiple accordion menu plugins
- Status changed from New to Reporter Feedback
- Target version set to Future release
As a matter of policy, we'd prefer not to install many plugins just for the purposes of testing. We're happy to consider specific plugin request, but installing many plugins just for testing introduces a lot of maintenance overhead. I'd prefer that the reporter do enough research to select the plugin that she believes will best suit her purposes, so we can just go with that.
Based on her request, it looks to me like only "Nextend Accordion Menu" will really do what she wants. Some other options (using the search terms "accordion menu widget", which I think is what she's looking to do):
- https://wordpress.org/plugins/wpb-accordion-menu-or-category/
- https://wordpress.org/plugins/jquery-vertical-accordion-menu/
https://premium.wpmudev.org/blog/free-wordpress-accordion-menu-plugins/ has a nice overview from a few years ago.
Updated by Marilyn Weber almost 7 years ago
She requests the Nextend Accordion Menu plugin. LMK if you need anything.
Updated by Boone Gorges almost 7 years ago
- Status changed from Reporter Feedback to Assigned
- Target version changed from Future release to 1.11.8
OK. I will add it for the August 1 release.
Updated by Boone Gorges almost 7 years ago
- Status changed from Assigned to Resolved
Updated by Marilyn Weber almost 7 years ago
- File AccProblem.JPG AccProblem.JPG added
Thanks, but Kristen replies:
I was able to active the Nextend plugin, however, there seems to be an issue with server configuration on the backend that is preventing me from creating a new menu using the widget. I’m receiving the following error message: “Couldn't create the required cache dir: /var/www/html/commons/www/wp-content/cache/css/. Please make sure that the folder writeable by PHP!
139”
I’ve also attached a screenshot
Updated by Boone Gorges almost 7 years ago
- Status changed from Resolved to Assigned
- Target version changed from 1.11.8 to 1.11.9
Thanks for the report.
It sounds like the plugin is broken. It's poor practice to require write access to the requested directory, and for security reasons I cannot grant access.
I'll review the situation. It may turn out that we need to have a different plugin, in which case I will swap this one out and report back.
Please thank the reporter for her patience.
Updated by Marilyn Weber almost 7 years ago
Boone -
LMK if you want her to do anything. Should I send her the descriptions of
- https://wordpress.org/plugins/wpb-accordion-menu-or-category/
- https://wordpress.org/plugins/jquery-vertical-accordion-menu/
and ask for her opinion? Thanks!
Updated by Boone Gorges almost 7 years ago
Thanks, Marilyn. I'll make the recommendation this time, since her last recommendation ran into technical problems she couldn't have known about. If she's enquiring with you, please encourage her to have patience until after the scheduled release on the 11th (this Friday).
Updated by Boone Gorges almost 7 years ago
- Status changed from Assigned to Reporter Feedback
After some additional research, I've gone with https://wordpress.org/plugins/wpb-accordion-menu-or-category/.
We do not have the "pro" version, so we do not have a built-in widget. But you can create a Text widget, and use the included shortcode to populate it. Something like:
[wpb_menu_accordion menu=”Menu Name” icon=”+”]
This seems to be working pretty well in my tests.
Unfortunately, all of the plugins that offer this functionality either cost money, or are quite terrible. This may be the best we can do.
Updated by Boone Gorges almost 7 years ago
- Target version changed from 1.11.9 to 1.11.10
Updated by Marilyn Weber almost 7 years ago
Boone -
It is my unhappy fate to be the messenger. Here's her reply:
"Hello,
Thanks for your message. The WPB Accordion Menu or Category plugin has the functionality we’re looking for, but not the aesthetics. We’d like to maintain the page’s look and feel by using a plugin that allows us to simply collapse the existing categories, rather than creating a distinct menu bar, as this plugin does. There were some other plugins that I included in my initial email that seem they would enable us to do this: Collapsing Categories and Show-Hide / Collapse-Expand. Are either of these possibilities?
Thanks,
Kristen
Kristen Cribbs, MPH
Human Research Protection Program Coordinator
Doctor of Public Health student, Health Policy & Management
CUNY Graduate School of Public Health and Health Policy
kristen.cribbs@sph.cuny.edu | 602-686-0038"
Updated by Boone Gorges almost 7 years ago
- Status changed from Reporter Feedback to Assigned
Thanks, Marilyn. I'll review which plugins are compatible with our infrastructure and put something into the release on the 21st.
Updated by Boone Gorges almost 7 years ago
- Status changed from Assigned to Reporter Feedback
- Target version changed from 1.11.10 to 1.11.11
I've removed the unwanted wpb-accordion plugin in https://github.com/cuny-academic-commons/cac/commit/472b6300b3083a91bf93d8a6f5d676a07f7be560.
In https://github.com/cuny-academic-commons/cac/commit/a1ca6842eb8c044cd79cb642e485ea9d27e256e3 I added the Collapsing Categories plugin.
Please let the user know that the plugin is ready for use, and let me know what you hear back.
Updated by Marilyn Weber almost 7 years ago
I've let her know. Will report back. Here's hoping!
Updated by Marilyn Weber almost 7 years ago
The reply:
"Unfortunately, the plugin doesn’t seem to work as we need it to. The widget only expands/collapses blog posts. We are looking for a function that will allow us to expand/collapse menu items in our custom menu sidebar.
I found a few other options that might do the trick:
· Netgo Expandable/Collapsible (https://wordpress.org/plugins/netgo-expandablecollapsible-menu/[wordpress.org]) menu
· Expandable Menus (https://wordpress.org/plugins/expandable-menus/#description[wordpress.org]) (plugin is a few years old but people seem to still have success using it)
· Nice Navigation (https://wordpress.org/plugins/nice-navigation/[wordpress.org]) (plugin is a few years old and not sure if it’s still supported)
I also found these instructions (http://mysitemyway.com/docs/Collapsible_sidebar_menus[mysitemyway.com]) on altering the CSS within the menu to collapse menu items, but it doesn’t seem our site currently gives us the option to customize the CSS or Javascript.
I am also open to any other suggestions the programmers might have.
I have an unrelated question for the programmers that I can’t find the answer to online: We currently have our blog posts on our home page (https://sphhrpp.commons.gc.cuny.edu/) . I’d like to alter the appearance of these posts. Specifically, do you know if there is a way to make the font of the blog post titles smaller as well as eliminate some of the white space in between posts within our existing WP theme? In general, I’d like the posts to be more compact.
"
Updated by Boone Gorges almost 7 years ago
I'll review the available options and see what I can do for version 1.11.12.
Specifically, do you know if there is a way to make the font of the blog post titles smaller as well as eliminate some of the white space in between posts within our existing WP theme?
It's possible for users to enter custom CSS that can be used to modify the appearance of the theme. I recommend doing this with the Jetpack plugin. Some documentation: https://jetpack.com/support/custom-css/
Updated by Marilyn Weber almost 7 years ago
From the user:
"I believe I (finally!) figured out a workaround to allow me to collapse our site’s sidebar menu. Following these instructions (http://mysitemyway.com/docs/Collapsible_sidebar_menus) , I successfully used custom CSS (via Jetpack) to hide submenus on the menu bar. As a next step, I need to add custom JavaScript to enable the menu to display their children.
I could not find a custom JavaScript plugin installed in Commons. Is it possible for the programmers to install the following? Simple Custom CSS and JS (https://wordpress.org/plugins/custom-css-js/)"
Updated by Boone Gorges almost 7 years ago
Thanks for the follow-up, Marilyn.
It's not possible for users to write custom JavaScript on the Commons. It's something we can't allow due to security concerns. If the user has written and tested some JS, I may be able to roll it into a custom tool.
Generally speaking, the user may find it helpful to review our Hosting Partner Handbook https://dev.commons.gc.cuny.edu/hosting-partner-handbook/, which has details about custom functionality on the Commons. In situations like these, it's strongly recommended that users set up their own WordPress installation (either locally or on some other environment) where they can test candidate plugins and other customizations before submitting them for inclusion on the Commons.
Updated by Boone Gorges almost 7 years ago
- Target version changed from 1.11.11 to 1.11.12
I've removed collapsing-categories in https://github.com/cuny-academic-commons/cac/commit/5acb024098b06a1a4d049a8359cc66a3f2016ed8, and replaced it with netgo-expandablecollapsible-menu in https://github.com/cuny-academic-commons/cac/commit/e7e0f02d0dcc677592f6c7cfb8b7f8be164d0f48. This'll be available after the release, momentarily.
Updated by Boone Gorges almost 7 years ago
- Target version changed from 1.11.12 to 1.11.13
Updated by Boone Gorges almost 7 years ago
- Target version changed from 1.11.13 to 1.11.14
Updated by Boone Gorges almost 7 years ago
- Status changed from Reporter Feedback to Resolved
I'm going to close this one out. Marilyn, please don't hesitate to reopen if there are further questions. Thanks!
Updated by Marilyn Weber about 6 years ago
Looks like this needs re-opening. She just wrote:
I’m writing to follow up to an old thread regarding integrating a collapsible sidebar menu into my Commons WordPress site (https://sphhrpp.commons.gc.cuny.edu/) . Unfortunately, the plugins we tried last August did not work, however, I recently discovered a newer plugin that seems promising. Would it be possible for the Bellows Lite plugin (see here (https://wordpress.org/plugins/bellows-accordion-menu/) ) to be added to Commons?
Updated by Boone Gorges about 6 years ago
- Related to Bug #9727: Plugin request: Bellows Accordion Menu added