While setting up a hobby (non-client work) fansite for one of the characters in the Terminator: Sarah Chronicles TV Show, I came across Taxonomy Menus for Drupal 5.
http://drupal.org/project/taxonomy_menu
For users new to Drupal, taxonomy is basically another name for a more advanced form of categories. A taxonomy is actually multiple sets of categories (well thats at least how I understand it) where each category contains a certain type of information. Images belong in an image category. Forum topics belong in the forum category. Images do not belong in the forum category and vice versa but images and forum topics can be in the same taxonomy system under separate categories.
For the fansite, I've been using Nice Menus to provide a drop down menu list for the primary/header links. I have also been partially successful integrating taxonomy menu with the drop down menus.
It would be great if Drupal sites could drive all their navigation systems with a more advanced version of the taxonomy menu module.
Every application or module could have its own taxonomy (forums, feedapi , acid free galleries work that way) and a module similar to taxonomy menu could retrieve the child categories (image galleries can have fan art, posters, etc. as sun category links) and display them as links for the drop down menu. Would be great if taxonomy menu and nice menus could be more integrated.
This could theorectically give Drupal an extra edge over other website applications such as Forums at least navigation wise.
http://www.scribd.com/doc/2324431/Drupal-Tertiary-Menus?ga_uploads=1 is a quick representation of what I am thinking of for menu systems for Drupal sites.
In the wire frame attached and in the link above, the terms in the third level of navigation appear in a block according to the selected sub-term and its parent term/primary link similar in fashion on how newegg.com handle the lowest level of their categories.
In newegg.com one can click on the main category of computer items, a drop down appears with its sub terms and when a user clicks they reach a page with popular items with another level of categories on the left side. On the left side one can see category options suchs as price range or brands.
One module that could really benefit is the book module if it could be used the same way.
A category called books can be created (if it isn't already made by default)
Each new book can be a new parent term
The chapters of the book can be the child term
The pages of the chapter can be the grand child term.
For the site I have in mind, on which the wireframes are based on. The primary link would be articles. Books would actually be the child term of the Articles link for this website. The books module, ideally, can support fan made stories by site users.
The name of the novels would be the tertiary links that appear on the blocks in the left column of the wire frames:
http://www.scribd.com/doc/2324431/Drupal-Tertiary-Menus?ga_uploads=1
The above wireframe should be sufficent for small websites or personal websites.
Once a site grows larger, a more advanced version of integrating taxonomy with menu systems (drop down or otherwise)could be used.
