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Using Menu and Sitemap with Master Page

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13 Aug 2006CPOL2 min read 273.2K   8.6K   72   23
An article on how to use Menu and Sitemap data source controls with Master pages to create a Master - Child navigation menu.

Introduction

This article explains how to use Sitemap with Master pages to create a Master-Child navigation menu.

Scenario: We have pages with a top menu bar and a side menu in which the side menu displays pages/links based on what is selected in the top menu.

In this article, I will explain how to achieve this in ASP.NET 2.0. For an example, assume the following requirements:

  1. We have main menu links such as Home, Products, and Services.
  2. When the Products link is clicked, the Products.aspx page should be displayed. In Products.aspx, the left menu should display links to different product pages like Product1.aspx, Products2.aspx, and Products3.aspx.
  3. When the Services link is clicked, the Services page should be displayed. In the Services.aspx page, the left menu should display different service pages like Service1.aspx, Service2.aspx, and Service3.aspx.
  4. Maintain the left menu listing when any of the pages in the products/services left menu is clicked.

This can be achieved by using a sitemap file, sitemap data source, and the menu controls available in ASP.NET 2.0.

The code

First of all, we need to create a sitemap file as shown below:

XML
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8" ?>
<siteMap xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/AspNet/SiteMap-File-1.0" >
    <siteMapNode url="default.aspx" title="Home"  description="Sitemap example's home page">
      <siteMapNode url="products.aspx" title="Products"  description="Products listing page">
        <siteMapNode url="products/product1.aspx" title="Product 1"  description="" />
        <siteMapNode url="products/product2.aspx" title="Product 2"  description="" />
        <siteMapNode url="products/product3.aspx" title="Product 3"  description="" />
      </siteMapNode>
      <siteMapNode url="services.aspx" title="Services"  description="Services listing page" >
        <siteMapNode url="services/service1.aspx" title="Services 1"  description="" />
        <siteMapNode url="services/service2.aspx" title="Services 2"  description="" />
        <siteMapNode url="services/service3.aspx" title="Services 3"  description="" />
      </siteMapNode>
    </siteMapNode>
</siteMap>

Now create a master page and format it as per your requirements. Then add two sitemap data source controls and name the controls smdsMaster and smdsChild.

For the smdsChild control, set the following properties:

  • ShowStartingNode -> False
  • StartFromCurrentNode -> True

Then add a menu control in the top section of the master page, name it mnuMaster, and apply any auto-formats available. Set the following properties of the smdsMaster control:

  • DataSource –> smdsMaster
  • MaximumDynamicDisplay -> 0
  • Orientation -> Horizontal
  • StaticDisplayLevels -> 2

Add a menu control in the left section of the master page, name it mnuChild, and set the following property of the control:

  • DataSource -> smdsChild

Now your master page may look some thing like below:

Master Page design mode

Add three child pages (which derive from the above MasterPage) named Default.aspx, Products.aspx, and Services.aspx in the project root. Also add two folders named Products and Services under the root folder. Create Product1.aspx, Product2.aspx, and Product3.aspx under the Products folder, and Service1.aspx, Service2.aspx, and Service3.aspx under the Services folder, as shown below:

Master Page design mode

In the home page, you may want to hide the child menu and also display the left menu even when any of the child pages in the products or services category is selected. For this, you can add the code below in the master page’s load event, as I did in the sample application.

C#
protected void Page_Load(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
    if (!IsPostBack)
    {
        string sURL = Request.Url.ToString().ToLower();
        if (sURL.EndsWith("default.aspx"))
        {
            mnuChild.Visible = false;
        }
        else if (sURL.Contains("/products/") || 
                      sURL.Contains("/services/"))
        {
            smdsChild.StartingNodeOffset = -1;
        }
    }
}

Now run the application and check the navigation menus in each page. You may get screens similar to those shown below.

Products Page

Products child pages

Services Page

Hope you find this article informative.

License

This article, along with any associated source code and files, is licensed under The Code Project Open License (CPOL)


Written By
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United States United States
Nate has been in the IT industry for more than a decade.

He loves music and listens to all kinds of good music.

Comments and Discussions

 
GeneralMy vote of 2 Pin
pinky_sood1-May-11 10:24
pinky_sood1-May-11 10:24 
GeneralNice...but Pin
simpa7-Mar-11 10:25
simpa7-Mar-11 10:25 
GeneralIs there a way to hook up "On clicked" events to this menu Pin
M i s t e r L i s t e r13-Nov-09 8:45
M i s t e r L i s t e r13-Nov-09 8:45 
Generalemail Pin
santosh tirunagari28-Sep-09 23:55
santosh tirunagari28-Sep-09 23:55 
GeneralParent node HIGHLIGHT after selecting child node (sitemapwithmasterpage) Pin
santosh tirunagari28-Sep-09 23:53
santosh tirunagari28-Sep-09 23:53 
GeneralVB update to keep child menu visable Pin
Larry Ruehl25-Sep-09 3:28
Larry Ruehl25-Sep-09 3:28 
GeneralThank you Pin
Roshan P Mohammed11-Apr-09 4:01
Roshan P Mohammed11-Apr-09 4:01 
GeneralNice one Pin
menonsk21-Oct-07 10:46
menonsk21-Oct-07 10:46 
GeneralNice but not DataSource... Pin
gubijo8-Sep-07 13:05
gubijo8-Sep-07 13:05 
GeneralChild menu keeps disappearing Pin
fiddlewidget25-Aug-07 15:14
fiddlewidget25-Aug-07 15:14 
I love the Parent/Child menu system and want to use it on my site, but I've looked at several examples including this one and am still struggling to get it to work completely the way I am hoping. This one is the closest...

I have the parent menu, child menu and a contentplaceholder on my master page. I want the parent and child menus both visible all the time and the content in synch.

The example on this website works wonderful for this purpose, BUT... the child menu keeps disappearing and I can't seem to find the parameter to change this. I've tried so many variations I'm completely confused... I've copied everything from this site and used it for the example, and the child still disappears.

Can anyone please tell me how to keep the child menu from disappearing?

Thank you for this wonderful example, it's taught me a great deal. I'm new to asp.net.


fiddlewidget@yahoo.com
GeneralWhen I select child node appropriate main node is not selected Pin
VentureSerShk12-Feb-07 2:13
VentureSerShk12-Feb-07 2:13 
GeneralRe: When I select child node appropriate main node is not selected Pin
Henrik Sterndorff Jessen1-Jun-10 10:39
Henrik Sterndorff Jessen1-Jun-10 10:39 
QuestionNice. But i have a question. Pin
Baloreska14-Aug-06 20:03
Baloreska14-Aug-06 20:03 
AnswerRe: Nice. But i have a question. Pin
Ghostnet15-Aug-06 6:23
Ghostnet15-Aug-06 6:23 
GeneralRe: Nice. But i have a question. Pin
SiteBuilder15-Aug-06 19:25
professionalSiteBuilder15-Aug-06 19:25 
GeneralRe: Nice. But i have a question. Pin
Ghostnet15-Aug-06 19:46
Ghostnet15-Aug-06 19:46 
GeneralRe: Nice. But i have a question. Pin
SiteBuilder15-Aug-06 21:26
professionalSiteBuilder15-Aug-06 21:26 
GeneralRe: Nice. But i have a question. Pin
Ghostnet15-Aug-06 21:56
Ghostnet15-Aug-06 21:56 
GeneralRe: Nice. But i have a question. Pin
SreeluMandiga22-Oct-08 21:40
SreeluMandiga22-Oct-08 21:40 
GeneralRe: Nice. But i have a question. Pin
SreeluMandiga22-Oct-08 21:41
SreeluMandiga22-Oct-08 21:41 
GeneralRe: Nice. But i have a question. [modified] Pin
Nate K16-Aug-06 7:12
Nate K16-Aug-06 7:12 
GeneralRe: Nice. But i have a question. Pin
Baloreska23-Aug-06 21:05
Baloreska23-Aug-06 21:05 
GeneralRe: Nice. But i have a question. Pin
MHBL124-Aug-10 23:37
MHBL124-Aug-10 23:37 

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