Non-profit needs help configuring menu in Joomla

[joy_m_n]

We are a 501c3 non-profit that provides information, support, and resources to people with eating disorders at NO cost.

Our current website is hard-coded from scratch, which, of course, gets old when it needs updating......

We really like the look and menu on our current site, but I've been completely unable to figure out how to get this functionality in Joomla. I hear it's possible, but I'm such a Joomla noob, and I have way too many other things I need to be doing for the nonprofit!

To see what we're trying to copy, check out http://www.joyproject.org

If anyone is willing to donate their time (JUST for the menu!!! I can do the rest--- I think!!!), we are willing to provide a link on our website to the person or organization who can do this for us. In addition, we can provide written acknowledgement of donated time that you can use for tax deduction purposes.

Please reply here, or email me at [email protected] if you can help!!!
Thank you in advance to anyone who wants to lend their expertise to help a worthy cause!

[joy_m_n]

A quick FYI-- I've already got Joomla installed on our domain, and I've uploaded several menu extensions..... if I happen to have one of the correct extensions loaded already, it should be a fairly quick job for anyone who knows what they're doing (a.k.a. not me!!)

[luckydog83]

I took a look at your site, but I'm not clear as to what exactly about your menu you are trying to keep. Is it the style/design, or is it the way that all the subitems are displayed at once below the main menu item? If it is the latter, that should come automatically with Joomla! 1.5, or at least it does with the template I'm using for my site as I am developing it ( http://www.oakgrove-academy.org/test ). Another benefit to using Joomla! is that you will have a Home link in your menu (if you want it, I didn't notice one on your site), and you can have a Top menu on all your pages, not just the home, which right now requires browser navigation or clicking on your logo to get back to. I'm not a pro at Joomla!, but I'm getting used to using it, so if any of this helps feel free to contact me. I am the Marketing and Development director for my group, so I understand the website need vs. expertise/funds issue, but fortunately my group is willing and able to pay me to spend some time to learn Joomla so that I can do everything myself. I have someone helping me with the hosting/database/installation stuff, but I am getting to know Joomla! itself a bit better, and I would be happy to pass along anything I know that would help.

[luckydog83]

Sorry, my e-mails are [email protected] and [email protected].

-Ben

[joy_m_n]

We're trying to keep both the function (having the sub-menus all appear at once) AND the style.
The style is more than just one design for menu buttons and another for sub-menus, though.
Each main menu button is a different color, and each sub-menu has its own color scheme that differs from the other sub-menus.
Each image has a rollover image and a 'default' image.
The sub-menus have differing images for the top, middle, and bottom items in the list.
With the sub-menus, all images have rollover images EXCEPT the image of the page you're CURRENTLY on. This means that it differs with every page.

[luckydog83]

I understand better what you mean now. I think that this might best be solved by having someone design a custom Joomla! template for you, or by finding a free (or commercial) template that has the menu button size/shape you want and then going in and changing the CSS and doing a little graphics work on the default and rollover images. That last part is pretty easy if you have a graphics-editing program like Adobe Photoshop, or the open source GIMP, which I have used to mess around with the default/rollover button colors. However, I think the easiest way to get the overall look that would be closest to your current site is to have someone look at it and design the template from scratch for you. Your site has a great, intricate color scheme that would be challenging to piece together. You might want to repost this in the Template subforum under Joomla 1.5 or 1.0, I think you have a better chance of getting someone who knows the whole picture and can tell you what you'll need to do. Sorry I couldn't be more help!
-Ben