Adding New Links to the Main Menu

The easiest way to add a new link to the main menu is to copy and paste the XML for a similar link, then modify it as needed. For example, to add a new link for a contact type, you might copy and paste the XML for the Alumni contact type link and modify it.

Before you make any menu changes, you should copy the mainMenu declaration into the file localMenus.xml. You can then edit the menu, and your changes will be used instead of the original. This lets you preserve a copy of the original version.

Refer to the following procedures. For an overview of how menu declarations work, see How Web Client Menus are Defined:

• Make a Copy of the mainMenu Declaration
• Add a Link that Displays a List of Contacts
• Add a Link to a Page Outside of the Web Client

Make a Copy of the mainMenu Declaration

Note that you only need to follow this procedure once, before making any menu changes.

1. On your InterAction Application Server machine, locate the etc directory. In a typical installation, this is normally the following:

   C:\Program Files\LexisNexis\InterAction\AppServer\iahome\etc

2. Open the file menu.xml in an XML editor.

3. Find the line that begins declaration for the main menu. This looks like the following:

   <menuItem id='mainMenu'>

4. Starting with the line noted above, copy the entire block of XML code for the menu. The menu declaration ends with the tag <\menuItem>. Note that the declaration includes several nested <menuItem> tags, so be sure to copy the entire menu.
5. Open the file localMenus.xml and paste the menu declaration at some point after the opening <menuItemDeclarations> tag.
6. Update this copied version of the mainMenu declaration with any menu changes.

Add a Link that Displays a List of Contacts

1. If you have not already done so, make a copy of the mainMenu declaration as described in Make a Copy of the mainMenu Declaration.
2. Open the file localMenus.xml in an XML editor.
3. Decide where in the main menu you want the new item to appear and insert the tags for a new menu item in the appropriate location.

4. Enter the following code, replacing the indicated items with the information specific to your menu item:

   <!-- This starts a custom menu item -->

   <menuItem>

   <label>Text for the Menu Item</label>

   <url>URL for the page?parameters</url>

   <menuItem>

   Replace...	With
   Text for the Menu Item	The text label you want users to see in the Web Client. Do not use spaces; if you need a space, enter a plus sign (+).
   URL for the page	The URL for the page you want your menu item to display.
   parameters	The parameters you want to pass to the page.

5. Save the localMenus.xml file. Your changes will appear in the Web Client after the next declaration refresh.

Add a Link to a Page Outside of the Web Client

1. If you have not already done so, make a copy of the mainMenu declaration as described in Make a Copy of the mainMenu Declaration.
2. Open the file localMenus.xml in an XML editor.
3. Decide where in the main menu you want the new item to appear and insert the tags for a new menu item in the appropriate location.

4. Enter the following code, replacing the indicated items with the information specific to your menu item:

   <!-- This starts a custom menu item -->

   <menuItem>

   <label>Text for the Menu Item</label>

   <url>Full URL for the non-Web Client Page</url>

   <menuItem>

   Replace...	With
   Text for the Menu Item	The text label you want users to see in the Web Client. For example, you might specify something like “Google.” Do not use space; if you need a space, enter a plus sign (+).
   Full URL for the non-Web Client Page	The URL of the page the link should go to. Since this is not a Web Client page, be sure to include http:// or https:// at the beginning of the URL.

5. Save the localMenus.xml file. Your changes will appear in the Web Client after the next declaration refresh.