Suggestions for updates

Let us know what you would like to see in the next version of Easy Button & Menu Maker

Suggestions for updates

Postby crispy68 » Tue Nov 25, 2014 3:19 am

Hello, been using this software for several years and like it but would like to see a bit more updates to it. They seem far and in between.

Here are some things I would like to see:

1. Mega menus - I still don't see this as an option. I asked for this back in 2012.....it's almost 2015! Incorporating a full css mega menu should be included. Your competitor is doing it..... but I prefer your program! :wink:
2. Responsive menu that at a certain breakpoint it collapses into a 'hamburger'. In other words, let us choose where the breakpoint is and at this point there is a single button (toggle) and when pushed the menu opens vertically like many mobile sites now have. The way it is now, buttons move to the next line which on mobile is useless as these buttons go to the next line and cover your webpage! Again...your competitor has added this functionality.
3. Still not sure if the touch problem was fixed on Chrome (see this thread: http://forums.blumentals.net/viewtopic.php?f=26&t=6412)
4. Horizontal submenus - This goes hand in hand with mega menus. Would like to be able to add horizontal columns. Ex: If I have 6 submenu buttons I could have 2 rows of 3, 3 rows of 2, 1 row of 6.
5. A way to add a label. Amazons menu has labels (headings). It doesn't hover and is just text. Of course this would be useful when having large or mega menus. :idea:
6. more complete templates
7. ability to adjust width of submenus like top menu has.

I apologize If anything I mentioned can be done, please let me know. I think this is a great program but would like to see continued updates of it.

Any idea on when an update may be coming?
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Re: Suggestions for updates

Postby Aivars » Tue Nov 25, 2014 10:16 am

I'll start with the easiest part - to answer the question about #3, yes, it has been fixed.

Mega Menus: we have been on fence about this since it has been suggested. The problem is that Mega Menu trend has been on decline, lots of sites have transformed their mega menus to something else. And there is the problem of balancing the customizability of the mega menus without making UI complicated. I know our competitor is offering this feature but in their implementation it's rather useless since real mega menus usually have titles, grouping, even images to make them something more than just multiple columns of items. So we kind of want to add this feature but make it possible to make real mega menus without sacrificing easyness of EBMM.

Hamburger menus - we are also on the fence about this. Nowadays lots of UX experts argue that hamburger menus should be avoided since the studies have shown it impacts discoverability of the site, efficiency of navigation etc.

Horizontal submenus - this is likely to be added soon.

Way to add a label - this is a new suggestion. Could you elaborate, what would you personally be able to do with these labels (i.e. customizing features) and how would you be using them in real sites?

More complete templates - ok.

Ability to adjust width - we have this in our list, also, I'll +1 it.

I have no idea when the update is planned, but I'm assuming next year.

Thanks for the suggestions!
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Re: Suggestions for updates

Postby crispy68 » Wed Nov 26, 2014 4:08 am

Thanks Aivars for the responses.

#3 fixed....excellent!

Mega Menus: I agree with you that mega menus should have titles, grouping, images, etc and if this could be incorporated I personally think it would be useful. I do agree the competitors is not nearly this in depth but it is a step in the right direction and still gives us users a bit of flexibility that cant be achieved with EBMM.

Hamburger menus - I find it odd that 'experts' say they should be avoided when I see these sort of menus all over the place. The way EBMM currently works is not feasible on mobile. If I decide to your use your menu for a website it works great for desktop view but then I'm having to 'hide' it and use some other mobile menu script to serve as my navigation on the tablet and mobile view. I have had no issues with this sort of navigation and it should be able to have nested 2nd, 3rd, etc links. (see image below). I admit I don't really understand what is meant by 'discoverability of the site or efficiency of navigation'. Please consider this as an option. If not, what is your solution for when the navigation needs to 'shrink and resize' to be used on mobile?

Horizontal = excellent.

Labels - I think you sorta mentioned it under mega menus when you said 'titles'. I see this in mobile menus as well. For example, I create a menu and under a certain button I have 5 submenus. I would like to add a 'label' between submenus #3 & #4. It would be similar to grouping I guess. Maybe submenu 1-3 are similar and 4-5 are similar. These 'titles', 'labels' are not true buttons. Would like to change the font, color and background individually from the other submenus which I believe has been asked for before.

Have you all thought about creating a program for mobile menus ala facebook style (which is another popular option for navigation)?

Image
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Re: Suggestions for updates

Postby Aivars » Wed Nov 26, 2014 1:54 pm

Regarding hamburger menus - here are some of the articles, and I think you should at least look at the published measurements before simply dismissing the issue with "these menus are all over the place":
https://lmjabreu.com/post/why-and-how-t ... ger-menus/
http://thenextweb.com/dd/2014/04/08/ux- ... ngagement/
http://exisweb.net/mobile-menu-abtest
http://exisweb.net/menu-eats-hamburger
http://www.nngroup.com/articles/magnifying-glass-icon/ (the part where hamburger icon is mentioned)
https://medium.com/design-philosophies/ ... 7e4099fada
http://mor10.com/hamburger-bad/
I'm not saying that some kind of further collapsing of the whole menu wouldn't be helpful in the mobile view but simply collapsing to the hamburger would probably be a bad idea. Something more is needed. Maybe, indeed, the collapsible menus, but it would need its own styling (because most of the menus with their shadows, borders and paddings wouldn't look good as-is in the collapsible mode) which, again, clutters UI and makes process of creating menus more complicated for the user.

But anyways, you have given me a lot to consider and I'll bring up these points during the discussion and try to find some way... I was fighting for customization of individual submenus before the previous update but got overruled :(
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Re: Suggestions for updates

Postby crispy68 » Fri Feb 12, 2016 6:12 am

Is there any news on an update? It's been over a year going on two (I think) since there has been any updates to the software. I would still like to see a better solution for mobile than what is currently there.
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Re: Suggestions for updates

Postby earthcomedy » Sat Mar 05, 2016 7:26 pm

I'll post a vote for a hamburger mode, despite reading those articles. Would be nice to at least have the option.
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Re: Suggestions for updates

Postby bhennink » Sun Nov 13, 2016 8:18 pm

I vote for hamburger to.
This is now wide recognized for mobile.
What is new in the past two years on this software?
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Re: Suggestions for updates

Postby crispy68 » Wed Dec 28, 2016 3:22 am

Is Blumentals discontinuing updating the software? Any news on an update? No response from my previous post in February.
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Re: Suggestions for updates

Postby Aivars » Wed Dec 28, 2016 3:24 pm

We are currently working more actively on some other products and Easy Button & Mernu Maker indeed has been left in a shade for a while for economic reasons. If there would be a new version (which we haven't dismissed just yet), we would now consider "hamburger" menus, however, with platforms like WordPress, Weebly, WIX, Mozello etc. currently it looks like less and less people are building their websites from scratch and there is plenty of competing menu scripts for developers, so we are not yet sure which path to take.
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