Category_menu features

Category_menu is a module that is included as part of the categoryi package. It creates and manages a set of menu items that correspond to your site's category hierarchyi. Features include:

Creates database menu items

Drupal has two types of menu items: those that are defined by modules in code; and those that are defined by users in the database. Category_menu is the first module ever (as far as I know) that breaks this convention, and that defines menu items directly in the database, rather than in its code. This approach is so unique that Drupal doesn't even have a mechanism for supporting it: that is, it didn't, until an interface was developed especially for category_menu. Using database menu items brings with it many advantages: the menu items can be arranged hierarchically; they take precedence over those defined in code; they are accurately reflected in a site's breadcrumbs; they can be displayed automatically as a block; and they can be edited and even re-structured by the end user, through the administration interface in the menu module.

Responds to insert, update, and delete

Every time that any of these three operations is performed on a category or containeri, category_menu has complex and intelligent logic that governs how it will respond. No matter what you do with the structure of your categories and containers, category_menu will match it in the menu hierarchy.

Intelligently updates child menu items

The category module supports multiple parentis for each category or container; but the menu system allows each menu item to have only one parent. This presents a dilemna for category_menu, which is solved by always treating the parent of lightest weighti as the 'primary parenti'. It also means that when a category or container is updated, all of its children with multiple parents must also have their menu items updated. Yep, we really do have all bases covered.

Can manage assigned nodeis

You can configure category_menu to create menu items for assigned nodes as well, on a per-container basis. The same intelligent update logic is applied for assigned nodes that are tagged with more than one category, as is applied for categories or containers with more than one parent.

User-defined root menu

Don't want your menu items being generated under the standard 'Navigation' root menu? You can easily re-configure category_menu to use a different root menu, such as one that you created yourself using the menu module.

Handles distant parentis seamlessly

No matter how complex your distant parent structures are, category_menu can handle them. Categories or containers with any number of distant parents are handled with the same intelligence as those without.

Elegant hidden containeri handling

You can set a container to be 'hidden', and category_menu will neglect to create a menu item for it. Not only that, but children of this hidden container will have menu items generated, and their parent will be the parent of the hidden container, effectively 'skipping over' the hidden container in between! This way, users of your site don't even need to know that your hidden containers exist - they're simply not there in the menu hierarchy.

Doesn't break when you mess around

Within certain limits, you can re-arrange the menu items generated by category_menu, using the administration interface in the menu module. For example, you can set a root-level container to be the parent of the 'events' page on your site.