One topic that has been discussed a number of times during the development cycle of WordPress 3.0 is how to handle menu management. At first, it looked like the team was going to go with a widget based menu management system but during one of the most recent meetings, that was put on hold to evaluate if that was the right thing to do. Today, we’ve learned that the debate is mostly over and menu management will take the form of the Woo Navigation Menu system. If you’ve never seen it before, watch the video.
Based on what I’ve seen in the video, the menu management system looks like it will be very easy to use. A big kudos goes out to the WooThemes team for allowing their navigation system to be integrated into the core of WordPress for the benefit of all users. A classy move by them. Keep an eye on Woothemes.com as they will be publishing more info about this development on Monday.
So this is going to be a Core Plugin maintained by the WooThemes Team and supervised by Automattic?
@Oliver Schlöbe – Nope. Their system is being integrated straight into core for menu management.
@Jeffro – Ah, okili dokili. I thought I read something about this becoming a Core Plugin, but I guess I was misunderstanding something there.
From the link above:
I am hoping they make it a new function, maybe
menu()or something similar, so theme authors can choose to use it … or not.@Edward Caissie – They’ll probably end up using something like what’s already been suggested in the original Track ticket:
add_theme_support( 'menus' );I think also, this is a functions for a core plugins, to much for all users and the core :(
That’s crazy!! How exactly does Woo benefit from this?
Anyway, this is a giant leep–not just in functionality, but really in community, as well. Commercial, plus open source working with each other? Wait, next you’ll tell me cats and dogs are living together. Or that there’s a black president!
This is great stuff, but it seems upgrading will create some serious breakage given home many customizations folks have made in this area.
It looks great guys ;) I hope they will not forget about custom linked items, separators and pure custom html/php option…
This is some really brilliant menu system! As soon as I heard mjepson (?) say ‘you can add your own link’ – I went WOO! :) Truly an exciting development. A big thank you to the developers of course, and to Jeff for keeping up posted!
Big thanks to Woo for giving back to the community
[...] we’ve read from the WPtavern and the wp-ui mailing list, that the next major update of wordpress, will incorporate one killer [...]
It’s really exciting. i bet it will solve many headaches and hours of explanation for the less Wp-educated users. Thanks to Woo!
Have to admit that menu system looks fantastic!
I always prefer to be able to edit something myself – but not everyone can do that…
This is a fantastic move. After using their nav system already I am 100% sold on having it a core function, or at least being able to call the function in my themes. Hands down the best nav system that I have come across… congrats guys!
@Justin Tadlock – That seems like a sensible approach. It appears to be a powerful addition to functionality; and, one that may require a great deal of focus for theme designers. I’m looking forward to its release …
Well how many people will be going to the WooThemes site reading up on this new menu system until WP 3.0 comes out? Great advertising imo, drive people to see their theme templates…. ;)
Either way, great to see a great tool like this being placed into the core
[...] Woo To Power Menu Management In WP 3.0 the Woothemes team has been a major player in the premium theme Market for mote than a year. They have shown us how great their skills were, and they have trully made some innovation in their themes. And today, one of their latest developments will be patched into the next wordpress release. I think that shows how commuted adii and his team are to wordpress, and they deserve their reputation of today. Thank you, guys [...]
How does Woo benefit ?
1. Community goodwill. If you make millions on WordPress you give back !!
2. Compatibility which saves Woo a lot of work and support hours.
3. Marketing arguments to use in their great branding/marketing machine.
John Myrstad
Great Step and Now I wonder How to style these Menus…I need to change color of each menu link but have no idea about how to do it…Any Help??