Hansel and Gretel

"Breadcrumbs done right"

Hansel (named after Hansel and Gretel) provides custom breadcrumbs which are build by user defined rules. These rules are independent from the menu system. Rules can have logic switches and can add links to the breadcrumbs.

Features

  • Rules can be organized in a hierarchical structure.
  • Possible to leave breadcrumbs as is for specific sections.
  • Other modules can add switch types and breadcrumb actions by implementing the hansel_switch_types and hansel_action_types hooks.
  • An import / export module is included.
  • Export configuration in DOT format for visualisation (new).
  • Activation of menu-items in accordance with breadcrumbs.
  • Generation of path aliases based on breadcrumbs.
  • Test functionality is available where you can see which steps are executed to get the actual breadcrumbs for a given path.
  • Integration with forum module.
  • Integration with token module.
  • Integration with domain module.
  • Integration with og module (new).
  • Integration with realname module.
  • Settings for trimming of titles and whole breadcrumb items.

This module also deals with some core difficulties:

  • Nodes which don't have a menu item normally don't get a proper breadcrumb link. With Hansel, whether a node or page has a menu item or not; any node / page can have a proper breadcrumb link.
  • You normally can't disable the "Home" breadcrumb link without hacking. This module gives you full control of every breadcrumb link, also the "Home" link. You can even let the "Home" link point to specific domains when building multi-domain sites.

A sample configuration, somewhat simplified:

start: switch on the first URL argument
  if it's "node", goto the rule "node"
  if it's "user", goto the rule "user"
node: switch on node type
  if it's "news", goto the rule "news"
  for all other types, add a link to the node
news: add a link to the news section and goto rule "node_link"
node_link: add a link to the node (on the current page)
user: add a link to /user

This configuration will generate the breadcrumbs "news > newsitem" for the path "node/123" (the real path is used, not the alias).

Roadmap

  • Make handbook page on how to configure.
  • Work on a better UI (see some early drafts).

Related Modules

  • Custom Breadcrumbs 1.x, allows you to locate nodes per type under a menu-item. Does not allow full control over your breadcrumbs.
  • Custom Breadcrumbs 2.x, provides many configuration options for your breadcrumbs. This module uses a completely different approach. It solves the breadcrumb issues per issue, while Hansel was designed to solve all issues with minimal functionality.
  • Menu breadcrumb, allows you to not always use the Navigation menu to create breadcrumbs.
  • Taxonomy breadcrumb allows you to add the termpath to the node and taxonomy pages.

Note #1: This module is designed for site builders, not for editors. Configuring Hansel is more difficult than just a few clicks and requires a good understanding of how Hansel works.

Note #2: Hansel replaces the whole breadcrumb with the newly generated links. That means that other breadcrumb modules will not work in combination with Hansel.

Please download the module, test for yourself or take a look at the screenshots. Feedback is very welcome is the issue queue. You are also welcome to translate Hansel in your language or rate this module at drupalmodules.com.

This module has been donated by the NCRV and is built and maintained by Dutch Open Projects (DOP). D7 version has been sponsored by Calibrate.

Supporting organizations: 
Development and maintainance

Project information

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