# Side menu element which uses data from table

**URL:** <https://discourse.cakephp.org/t/side-menu-element-which-uses-data-from-table/9241>\
**Category:** Need Help\
**Tags:** help\
**Created:** [April 14, 2021, 10:52am UTC](https://discourse.cakephp.org/t/side-menu-element-which-uses-data-from-table/9241 "2021-04-14T10:52:53Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 1

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![user\_looser](https://yyz1.discourse-cdn.com/flex029/user_avatar/discourse.cakephp.org/user_looser/32/2161_2.png) [@user\_looser](https://discourse.cakephp.org/u/user_looser)\
**Post date:** [April 14, 2021, 10:52am UTC](https://discourse.cakephp.org/t/side-menu-element-which-uses-data-from-table/9241/1 "2021-04-14T10:52:53Z")

</div>

Hi everybody,

I would like to ask somebody kindly to help me with following issue with my CakePHP 4.2.4 app.

I created a simple web app - a register of subjects authorised to perform some activities. My app is based on several tables, like e.g. Subjects, People, Certificates, Workplaces, Menus …

I would like to make an element that would serve as side menu. This side menu shoud be generated automaticaly using the table Menus, which contains these data:  
Menus (id,link name, controller, action, date of creation, date of change)

I baked simple actions like add, view edit links and everything works as it should. I modified /myapp/Menus/index.php into file sidemenu.php (and added corresponding action into MenusController.php) that show a list of working links.

```
public function sidemenu()
{
    $menus = $this->paginate($this->Menus);

    $this->set(compact('menus'));
}

```

When I copy sidemenu.php into file into /myapp/templates/element folder, and then incorporate element sidemenu.php into layout file default.php ($this-\>element(‘helpbox’)), it stops working.

The problem is that variable $menus is empty. Is there a way how to load table content into variable $menus in my element automatically?

Thank you very much!

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![dirk](https://yyz1.discourse-cdn.com/flex029/user_avatar/discourse.cakephp.org/dirk/32/2174_2.png) [@dirk](https://discourse.cakephp.org/u/dirk)\
**Post date:** [April 14, 2021, 11:05am UTC](https://discourse.cakephp.org/t/side-menu-element-which-uses-data-from-table/9241/2 "2021-04-14T11:05:52Z")

</div>

> [@user\_looser](#):
>
> element

You should take a look at cells, instead of using elements.

> ## When to use Cells
> 
> Cells are ideal for building reusable page components that require interaction with models, view logic, and rendering logic. A simple example would be the cart in an online store, or a data-driven navigation menu in a CMS.

[https://book.cakephp.org/4/en/views/cells.html](https://book.cakephp.org/4/en/views/cells.html)

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![user\_looser](https://yyz1.discourse-cdn.com/flex029/user_avatar/discourse.cakephp.org/user_looser/32/2161_2.png) [@user\_looser](https://discourse.cakephp.org/u/user_looser)\
**Post date:** [April 14, 2021, 1:36pm UTC](https://discourse.cakephp.org/t/side-menu-element-which-uses-data-from-table/9241/3 "2021-04-14T13:36:41Z")

</div>

dirk, thank you very much for help. Thanks to you and cookbook, my menu is working now. Here is what I did:

1. Using console, I created file \myapp\src\View\Cell\MenuCell.php (bin/cake bake cell Menu). I needed to use paginator, so I added “use Cake\Datasource\Paginator;” and created public function display(). Result is below:

 ![1](https://canada1.discourse-cdn.com/flex029/uploads/cakephp/original/2X/2/21f2c9efcab0a2fccd0f7720f1554055e514cf08.png)

1. Then I edited file display.php created also using cake console in the first step. The file was created in folder \myapp\templates\cell\Menu\display.php. Content of the file is below:

 ![2](https://canada1.discourse-cdn.com/flex029/uploads/cakephp/original/2X/0/048c1442ab4698de30c8d449ee5a058858ceaa95.png)

1. Finally I included cell in default.php layout file locate in \myapp\templates\layout folder, respective section of the code is bellow:

![3](https://canada1.discourse-cdn.com/flex029/uploads/cakephp/original/2X/e/eeb388022cc0e3c45cba02f14736bec48332190f.png)