Author: Justin Bezanson

Have you been told that using those fancy JavaScript navigation menus is bad for your search rankings or that you will lose some visitors that have JavaScript turned off? This is a decision that all web developers face at one time or another. Do you use the cool looking menu which may help clean up large menus or do you cater to the largest audience possible? That can be a tough choice sometimes. Well, now there is no need to choose. In this article I will show you how to create a drop down navigation menu that is XHTML 1.0 Strict, CSS valid, opens external links in a new window, and is JavaScript free.

Keeping Backwards Compatibility In Mind

To keep things in perspective, in order to be 100% XHTML 1.0 Strict and support older, non-compliant browsers, a small amount of JavaScript is required. If you do not wish to support IE6 or older and don’t mind switching to a XHTML 1.0 Transitional doctype then this can be accomplished with 100% pure CSS and no JavaScript…

We have all used WPF DataTemplates, but I bet most of you never gave thought to the meaning of the x:Key attribute. We all know the meaning of the DataType attribute, which determines to what type of data the template will apply to. But what about the x:Key why is it there? Lets tale a look at the following code:

<Window.Resources>
        <DataTemplate DataType="{x:Type data:s}">
            <Button Width="50" Height="50">
                <TextBlock Text="{Binding text}"></TextBlock>
            </Button>
        </DataTemplate>
    </Window.Resources>
    <Canvas>
        <ItemsControl ItemsSource="{Binding}">
        </ItemsControl>
    </Canvas>