Easy and Simple SharePoint 2010 Dropdown Navigation bar that works no scripts, no web.config, works on hosted providers

http://social.msdn.microsoft.com/Forums/en-US/sharepoint2010general/thread/a32b03d6-44c9-4c6d-a11d-8dc15c583737?prof=required

I tried the above and it didn’t work, I’m on a hosted sharepoint 2010 at sherweb.com

The above answer didn’t work for me and I got a nasty error about type IHierarchicalDataSource and missing control ID however after hours of trial and error and going back to my SharePoint 2007 drop down menu hack I found a easy solution with no need for web.config editing or any of this other script crap I keep hearing. Since I can’t access my web.config file anyways and a script won’t be accepted by my host.

Here is my code in a custom Master.page I used SharePoint Designer to set the DataSourceID=SiteMapDataSource1 – in the GUI click the TopMenuNav bar click the top-right > arrow and then “New Data Source” use the default name.

Code should look like this. I also changed the SPSiteMapProvider under
SiteMapProvider in both ID= under AspMenu and SiteMapProvider under
aspSiteMapDataSource

<SharePoint:AspMenu
	  ID="SPSiteMapProvider"
	  Runat="server"
	  EnableViewState="false"
	  DataSourceID="SiteMapDataSource1"
	  UseSimpleRendering="true"
	  UseSeparateCss="false"
	  Orientation="Horizontal"
	  StaticDisplayLevels="2"
	  MaximumDynamicDisplayLevels="4"
	  SkipLinkText=""
	  CssClass="s4-tn"/>
	<asp:SiteMapDataSource runat="server" ID="SiteMapDataSource1" />
	<SharePoint:DelegateControl runat="server" ControlId="TopNavigationDataSource" Id="topNavigationDelegate">
		<Template_Controls>
			<asp:SiteMapDataSource
			  ShowStartingNode="True"
			  SiteMapProvider="SPSiteMapProvider"
			  id="topSiteMap"
			  runat="server"
			  StartingNodeUrl="sid:1002"/>
		</Template_Controls>
	</SharePoint:DelegateControl>

This is a GOD SEND! I'll be hosting a site with 50 to 100 project sites and without the drop down menu it's hell!
Thank You for your help and I hope this helps everyone else. Please suggest to Microsoft they add this feature by default.

I will also post this at https://jbenisek.wordpress.com  for comments and any updates.
FYI Sherweb.com hosts SharePoint 2010 with unlimited users/sites starting at >$20/month all based on storage space. I LOVE YOU SHERWEB!

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Due to questions I hope this will help, I'm posting my masterpage

<SharePoint:AspMenu
ID=”demoGlobalNavAspMenu”
Runat=”server”
EnableViewState=”false”
DataSourceID=”demoGlobalNavSiteMapDataSource”
AccessKey=”<%$Resources:wss,navigation_accesskey%>”
UseSimpleRendering=”true”
UseSeparateCss=”false”
Orientation=”Horizontal”
StaticDisplayLevels=”1″
MaximumDynamicDisplayLevels=”3″
SkipLinkText=””
CssClass=”s4-tn”/>
<SharePoint:DelegateControl runat=”server” ControlId=”CustomXmlContentMapProvide” Id=”DemoGlobalNavDelegate”>
<Template_Controls>
<asp:SiteMapDataSource
ShowStartingNode=”False”
SiteMapProvider=”demoGlobalNavSiteMapProvider”
id=”demoGlobalNavSiteMapDataSource”
runat=”server”/>
</Template_Controls>
</SharePoint:DelegateControl>
</asp:ContentPlaceHolder>

</div>

<!– End Custom Global Navigation –>

Edit your current Masterpage with the needed changes above, then I save as Custom.v401.master, it’s CRTICAL you copy and set this as your Default Masterpage in each site you want to have a drop down menu. You do this in SharePoint Designer 2010.

I’ve built this masterpage into my templates so I don’t have to do this except on already created sites.