Menu highlighting with CakePHP - What's the active item?

Use regular ereg expressions in the pattern matching to be highlight a list item based on path.

Usage

First, add the Menu helper to the controller’s $helpers array.

class BakeriesController extends AppController {
    var $helpers = array('Menu');
}
?>

Now, you can create the Menu Helper.

/**
 * Menu Helper class file.
 *
 * Use regular ereg expressions in the pattern matching to be highlight a list item based on path.
 */
class MenuHelper extends Helper {
	var $helpers = array('Html');

	/**
	 * Creates a formatted LI element.
	 *
	 * ### Usage
	 *
	 * `echo $menu->item($html->link('Example Link', array('controller' => 'Examples', 'action' => 'view', 3)), '/examples/*', array('class' => 'myListClass'));`
	 *
	 * @param string $link Formatted link, if $link is not an anchor, parsed with the HtmlHelper::link() method.
	 * @param string $regex Regular ereg expression.
	 * @param array $attributes The options to use.
	 * @return string An `<li><a /></li>` element.
	 */
	function item($link, $regex = null, $attributes = array()) {
		// Highlight class to be returned, default selected
		$activeClass = 'selected';

		if(!ereg('^<a', $link)) {
			$link = $this->Html->link($link);
		}

		if(!isset($regex)) {
			$regex = '^/$';
		}

		$currentPath = substr($this->Html->here, strlen($this->Html->base));

		if (ereg($regex, $currentPath)) {
			$attributes = array_merge_recursive($attributes, array('class' => $activeClass));

			if(is_array($attributes)) {
				$attributes = implode(' ', $attributes);
			}
		}

		return $this->Html->tag('li', $link, $attributes);
    }
}

View Template

<ul id="menu">
	<?php
	e($menu->item($html->link('Blog', '/blog'), '^/$|/blog*'));
	e($menu->item($html->link('Example', 'exemples/jim'), '/examples/*', array('id' => 'exampleID', 'class' => 'exampleClass')));
	e($menu->item($html->link('Work', array('controller' => 'Pages', 'action' => 'display', 'work')), '/work*'));
	?>
</ul>

CSS

ul#menu li a {
    color:#777;
}
ul#menu li a:hover,
ul#menu li.selected a {
    color:#fff;
}