Review: Navigation Applets from usingit.com

It gets so frustrating to go to a web site you think you may like only to find out that the web designer who put together the site navigation was the same guy running the Titanic moments before it hit the iceberg.

Such misery really isn't necessary. There are a lot of navigation applets strewn throughout the web, some free, some cheap, some expensive, and some not worth having at any price. But two that are worth considering are from Usingit.com, and both are quite reasonable in price.

Applet Glide Navigator and Applet Menu Builder are each $19.95, both are reasonably speedy, both quite flexible, both easy to get up and running, and both are small downloads.

Neither of these programs require knowledge of HTML or Java codes, and both are easy enough to use to provide same-day service.

First, consider Applet Glide Navigator:

If you need multilevel menus and don't want to waste tons of space, this is a great choice. As users click on a button, the previously opened button can be set to close.

These applets are both flexible enough to be blended into any web site, allowing users the opportunity to set background colors, add background pictures, captions, messages in the browser status bar, and various effects.

With the Glide applet, you can easily make mouseover events, changing pictures or adding sounds.

Glide applet construction starts with the main screen (left, above) in which you determine basic size of the applet, basic colors, background sounds and sites, border types and sizes, and shading.

For example, should you wish to have a small graphic serve as the designation for each item, you may do so from within the applet setup screen.

By placing the mouse on top of an item and selecting the "+" button at the top of the applet, it will add another item to your menu. For deeper submenus, simply place the mouse on a submenu item and select the "+" button again.

When you select either a menu or submenu item, a box will open from which you can select its details, including appearance in various states (general, normal, mouse over, and clicked), URL, target, size, and spacing.

Users may choose to save their menu in the program's native .agn extension for further editing, preview it their selected browser, or, when done, copy the HTML to the clipboard to drop into the targeted HTML file. These are not new concepts, but they are efficient and reduce the learning curve for the program to the bare minimum.

Another advantage to either of these applets is that the construction phase offers a good tree view so that you know where you are in the building of each applet.

Now, consider the Applet Builder Menu:

Should your site not require a huge number of menu items or should it require a horizontal menu, then this is the choice to make. While it allows submenus, rather than glide in and out, they simply pop up just as do menu items at the top of Windows' screens.

Again, users can manipulate the size and appearance to match their web site needs, including making it look like a Windows menu (above, right). Most features are the same as with the Glide menus, including the ability of users to change the colors or images serving as backgrounds, effects in the backgrounds, and to preview their created menu without having to close the program.

Depending on your web site's needs, one of these applets should be more than adequate to keep your ship afloat and help your visitors avoid all icebergs.