Free Menu & Navigation Controls
A good menu/navigation system is something that every Web site of significant size
needs — and yet, amazingly, there isn’t any such control included with ASP.NET.
Therefore, most Web developers feel forced to build their own, reinventing functionality
that has already been built countless times before. You can take a more efficient
approach by using one of the fine menu controls available on the Internet. Following
is a sampling of a few of the free ones from which to choose.
The HoverList control (based on the menu at the top of the
home page of this site) contains configurable menu items that highlight
as the mouse is moved over them at run time. The list can be specified at design
time or run time, and may optionally be data bound. Each list item consists of a
string value and a formatted text item that may optionally include HTML.
http://SteveOrr.net/articles/HoverList.aspx
The VisiPanel expanding panel control used on the left hand side of this site can be yours for free, source code included.
Download it, use it, and read this article to learn how it works if you're curious:
http://SteveOrr.net/articles/VisiPanel.aspx
skmMenu is a standard-looking open-source dropdown menu that would
generally be placed near the top of your page. You can configure colors, fonts,
and sub-menus via code or bind to an XML file that holds this data. It has thorough
documentation online and off — and plenty of code samples.
http://skmmenu.com/menu/
Timothy Humphrey has been generous enough to provide a fairly deluxe
dropdown menu too, with detailed documentation and examples available to help you
get ramped up quickly. It’s configurable via XML files, and is available free of
charge through a standard GNU general public license. He also provides some other
interesting controls, such as a tab control and tree control.
http://timothy.humphrey.name/thwc/
Dommelen Slide Menu is a nice option if you want a menu on the
side of your Web site instead of the top. It makes efficient use of space, while
providing a familiar and friendly user interface. The only downside is the sparse
documentation. There also is an interesting slide menu bar available for free.
http://At-Krays.Net/csharp.html
obout Inc.’s Slide Menu presents a user interface similar to the
Dommelen Slide Menu, and ups the ante by providing plenty of online documentation
and intuitive sample code that demonstrates the various ways the menu can be customized.
Although the free basic version appears to be quite functional, there is a Pro version
available for purchase that provides extra functionality, such as binding to an
XML file.
http://www.obout.com/sm3/basic.aspx