I want to use a drop down menu on my site... I like the drop down menu shown here:

http://www.apycom.com/drop-down-menu/

I like that you have to click on the button first.. and then it opens the drop down menu. Is there any cons to using drop down menus? I mean if coded properly I won't have to worry that it won't work for certain people right?

I'm paranoid that if I use it that I'll have certain customers the drop down menu doesn't work for and then I'll lose sales.

I want to use the drop down menu for the menu button called "Shop Online" on my site at www.jpwear.com ... I'm going to be selling a few different products and wanted to list it in a drop down menu under my button called "Shop Online". Am I being paranoid or do you think that drop downs are good and should be fine for everybody?

I'm paranoid that I'm going to have customers visiting my site and the drop down isn't going to work for some... or an I just being unnecessarly paranoid?

You are right to be paranoid. The menu to which you linked requires Java to function. If you're going to do a dynamic menu, you must must must have a system that functions fully in the event Plug-ins (Java is a plug-in) or JavaScript are disabled or not available. It's not nice to exclude certain audiences from your side, and Target just got slapped with a hefty lawsuit over accessibility issues and their site. You should have seen how fast they scrambled to correct them. The National Federation for the Blind is getting more clout every day!

The menu you are looking at is using a Java applet (different from JavaScript), not all users will have Java installed and search engines will not see you links.

Im guessing your using Dreaweaver, have a look a projectseven.com for drop down menus that are user and seo friendly

I would argue that a drop down menu is not really necessary on your site, you appear to have 5 product categories, when user select 'Shop Online' you could present them with a page showing the 5 product categories with a description and suitable image for each category.

Regards
Jason

I see, thanks for the responses. You guys talked me out of using drop down menus on my site :)

Actually if you click here:

http://www.jpwear.com/shoponline.html

This is how I was going to list my categories... I'm actually always only going to be selling 4 or 5 different categories max... do you think the method of listing my categories I just showed you in my above link is best... OR do you think it would be best to just simply make seperate menu buttons for all 5 categories and place them into my left menu under the "Home" button? Then I would have a button that says "Shorts" and then another button that says "Tops" e.t.c.

What do you guys think? I can't make up my mind... I'll put it together both ways and then make up my mind. I don't know why I always have problems choosing!...

EDIT: I see most drop downs use Java? Just like this one:
http://www.sothink.com/product/dhtmlmenu/index.htm

No. Most menus use JavaScript, not Java. Similar names, two completely, totally, utterly different technologies.

The menu you showed us used Java. This is much less common. SoThink uses JavaScript, much more common. Both have similar drawbacks if used incorrectly, but JavaScript can be done properly with a little knowledge and TLC. Java...not a good choice for menus, ever.

I see, so most menus use Javascript... not Java.

So this one is using Java: www.apycom.com/drop-down-menu

And this one is using Javascript: www.sothink.com/product/dhtmlmenu/index.htm

So Java ia bad... Javascript is better... but even better to avoid both to be 100% safe :)

I see, so most menus use Javascript... not Java.Yes :)
So this one is using Java: www.apycom.com/drop-down-menuYes :)
And this one is using javascript: www.sothink.com/product/dhtmlmenu/index.htmYes :)
So Java ia bad... Javascript is better... but even better to avoid both to be 100% safe :)That's a pretty simplified way to put it, because poorly programmed JavaScript can be just as bad as Java, and perfectly programmed JavaScript can be just as good as pure HTML (but dynamic). In my experience, 9/10 sites with DHTML menus do it wrong. So, for the most part...
yes :)

both java and javascript are both OOP's (object oriented programming) languages and as the name suggests in some ways quite similar, but that depends in which context you look at them. As has already been said javascript is the most common for menu's like the one shown, as java cannot be implemented into html (only called/downloaded) whereas javascript can only function inside html code. Java is more complicated and mostly used for standalone applications such as small games(applet). More browsers block the download of Java applets so java would be a bad choice. Alot of browsers know are javascript capable but they read and execute it in different ways. If you are worried that it might lose you visitors then do not use it.

My 2 cents and my first post...:smile:

Very good first post, killapix. Welcome to WHT :lovewht: