Weave Code
Menu Widget Laravel Package
friendsofvictoire/menu-widget
A reusable menu widget for the Victoire CMS. Add configurable navigation menus to your pages and templates, and let editors manage links and structure from the widget interface without touching code. Built to plug into Victoire's widget system and fit existing Symfony projects.
friendsofvictoire/menu-widget is a lightweight PHP package for building and rendering configurable navigation menus as reusable widgets. It lets you define a menu's items, links, and nesting once, then inject the rendered result anywhere in your templates—keeping navigation logic out of your views and views out of your menu definitions.
- Config-driven structure — declare items, links, and nested children in one place.
- Reusable widget — render the same menu in any layout or template.
- Customizable markup — adapt the output to match your front-end.
- Lightweight — minimal dependencies and simple integration.
Frequently asked questions about Menu Widget
- Is friendsofvictoire/menu-widget compatible with Laravel?
- No. Despite the Composer listing, the package is a Symfony bundle (WidgetMenuBundle) built for Victoire DCMS, and it has no Laravel service provider, config publish tag, or Blade views. It depends on Symfony's bundle registration, Doctrine ORM entities, and Victoire's widget abstraction, none of which exist in a standard Laravel app.
- Can I install friendsofvictoire/menu-widget in a Laravel 10 or 11 application?
- Installation will almost certainly fail at composer require because the bundle pins Symfony 3.4/4.x and Doctrine packages that conflict with Laravel 10/11 on PHP 8.2+. Forcing it with --ignore-platform-reqs does not help: runtime boot will fail on missing Symfony services and Victoire widget contracts. There is no supported integration path without a dual-runtime Symfony container.
- What Laravel or PHP versions does this menu widget support?
- The bundle's constraints are PHP 7.x-era with Symfony 3.4/4.x pins, and its last release was 2019-07-04. It was never tested against Laravel or PHP 8.1+, so modern PHP and Laravel versions are not supported. Treat any version claim as unverified and expect Composer conflicts.
- What are alternatives to friendsofvictoire/menu-widget for Laravel navigation menus?
- For most Laravel apps, spatie/laravel-navigation, Filament navigation builders, or a small Eloquent model plus a Blade partial will cover nested menus with far less risk. A custom tree using parent_id or a closure table, cached, is typically a 2-3 day build. These options avoid abandoned dependencies and fit Eloquent and Blade natively.
- How do I render a menu in Blade with this package?
- You cannot directly: the bundle renders through Victoire's widget pipeline and Twig templates, not Blade. There is no Blade component, directive, or view namespace to publish. To use its output in Laravel you would have to host Symfony alongside Laravel or port the rendering logic into a Blade component yourself.
- Is friendsofvictoire/menu-widget maintained or safe for production?
- No. It has 0 stars, 0 dependents, and no releases since July 2019, so there is no downstream validation and no one reporting breakage. Adopting it means you own the fork, security posture, and every future PHP or Symfony upgrade. For production Laravel work, that risk is hard to justify for a commodity menu renderer.
- What is the data model for menu items in this bundle?
- The bundle models a menu item tree with labels, URLs, children, and translation handling as Doctrine entities. That structure is useful as a design reference, but it does not map to Eloquent out of the box. If you port it, reimplement the tree with parent_id or a closure table and cache the resolved hierarchy.
- Do I need Victoire DCMS or Symfony to use this package?
- Yes. The bundle targets Victoire's widget abstraction and Symfony's kernel/bundle registration, so it has no host in a plain Laravel application. Without a Victoire/Symfony CMS in your estate, the package has no runtime to attach to. Confirm that host exists before spending time on a spike.
- How should I test a menu widget in a Laravel app?
- If you rebuild natively, test the menu tree with feature tests: create nested items, resolve the tree, assert order and labels, and cover caching and URL generation. If you attempt the Symfony bundle, you would need a Symfony test kernel and Doctrine fixtures, which adds substantial setup for little value. The native path gives you a standard Laravel test suite.
- Should I fork friendsofvictoire/menu-widget or rebuild menus myself?
- Rebuild. The recommended path is a short spike to extract the bundle's data model, then an Eloquent model, an admin surface via Filament or Livewire, a Blade component, and cached tree resolution. That is roughly 2-3 days and carries zero abandoned-dependency risk. Forking leaves you maintaining a 2019 Symfony bundle indefinitely.
Weaver
How can I help you explore Laravel packages today?