Expandable/Collapsible Sections
Many Web pages have sections that expand and collapse when their title is clicked. I've created these types of pages using JavaScript and divs, but it's rather tedious to do. It would be great to have an extension that asked the right questions and set the page up for you. I would guess that you'd have to use the extension before adding content to the page. Otherwise, it would be hard for the extension to tell where each section begins and ends.
Some of the features that I'd like to see are:
- Ability to format the section bands that expand and collapse each section. That could include things like font size and color, background color, border style, and so on.
- Ability to include an unlimited number of sections on each page.
- Ability to have groups of sections, so that one "Expand All/Collapse All" only affects one group of sections, while another "Expand All/Collapse All" affects another group of sections.
- Ability to include a graphic indicating the state of the section (expanded or collapsed) in the section band.
I'm sure that they're other features that would be good to include, but these are the ones that I have found most useful.
I've found this technique a wonderful way to get a lot of information on a Web page without making the user scroll an unacceptable amount. It allows the user to simply look at the information that's relevant to him without overwhelming him, and it minimizes the number of pages necessary for lengthy and complex information as well as the complexity in navigation that comes with multiple pages.
If anyone wants to work on an extension like this, I'd be glad to share the JavaScript that I use to create it with them.
Comments
yes, please share
RE: yes, please share
The URL for domCollapse, which is what I have been using, is
http://www.onlinetools.org/tools/domcollapse.php
It works very nicely, but is somewhat of a pain to put into place and only allows for one expandable/collapsible group on a page. (Every expands/collapses when you use a "Collapse All | Expand All" section.
I just bet someone who is good a creating extensions could make this one into a Dreamweaver extension. It's coded entirely in JavaScript. (Excuse me, EMCA Script, nowadays.)
very cool larry
Expand/Collapse in Flash
Hi,
this is very cool, but i was wondering if this is possible in FLASH? Can we have expand collapse with the plus and minus iamges and do the whole thing in flash?
Thanks,
CJ
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