Okay, I’ve analyzed the provided JSON data, which appears to represent the navigation structure of the MLB website. Here’s a breakdown of the key elements and some observations:
Overall Structure
The data is a JSON array of NavItem objects. Each NavItem represents a link in the main navigation.
each NavItem can have a subNav property, which is an array of SubnavColumn objects. This indicates a dropdown or nested menu structure.
each subnavcolumn contains a title and a navigation array, which is another array of NavItem objects, representing the links within that sub-menu column.
Key Properties of a NavItem
typename: Indicates the type of object (e.g., “NavItem”, “SubnavColumn”).This is likely used by the front-end framework (possibly React or similar) to render the navigation.
placement: Indicates where the item should be placed (e.g., “mobile”).
linkText: The text displayed for the link.
linkUrl: The URL the link points to.
linkTarget: The target attribute for the link (e.g., “blank” for opening in a new tab).
visible: A boolean or string indicating whether the link is visible.Values like "true" or "false" are used. If null,it likely defaults to visible.
icon: the name of an icon to display next to the link text.
tooltip: Text to display as a tooltip when hovering over the link.
customPropertiesString: A string containing key-value pairs separated by semicolons. This is used to store additional properties specific to the link, such as mobile or AMP (Accelerated Mobile Pages) flags.
Observations and Insights
- Mobile-Specific Navigation: The
placementandcustomPropertiesStringattributes are used to tailor the navigation for mobile devices. Items withplacement: "mobile"are likely only shown on mobile.ThecustomPropertiesStringoften includesmobile:trueandamp:trueto further control mobile behavior.
- Sub-Menu Structure: The
subNavproperty allows for multi-level navigation menus. TheSubnavColumnobjects organize the sub-menu items into columns, improving usability.
- Visibility Control: The
visibleproperty is used to show or hide navigation items based on certain conditions. For example, some links might only be visible during specific seasons or events.
- External Links: The
linkTargetproperty is used to open links in new tabs or windows (e.g.,"blank").
- Dynamic Content: The URLs often contain parameters (e.g.,
?&affiliateId=mlbMENU), suggesting that the content is dynamically generated based on the user’s context or preferences.
- MLB Play Section: The “MLB Play” section has a lot of links to different games.
- AUSL: There are multiple links to AUSL (Athletes Unlimited Softball League).
Example Breakdown
Let’s take a closer look at one NavItem:
json
{"typename":"NavItem","placement":null,"linkText":"Injury Report","linkUrl":"https://www.mlb.com/injury-report","linkTarget":null,"visible":"true","icon":null,"tooltip":null,"customPropertiesString":null}
__typename: “NavItem” – It’s a navigation item.
placement: null – It’s not specific to any particular placement (e.g., mobile).
linkText: “Injury Report” – The link will display the text “Injury Report”.
linkUrl: “https://www.mlb.com/injury-report” – Clicking the link will take you to the MLB injury report page.
linkTarget: null – The link will open in the same tab/window.
visible: "true" – The link is visible.
icon: null – No icon is displayed.
tooltip: null – No tooltip is displayed.
* customPropertiesString: null – No custom properties are defined.
How This Data is Used
this JSON data is likely used by the MLB website’s front-end code (e.g., React, Angular, Vue.js) to dynamically generate the navigation menu. The code would iterate through the JSON structure, create the appropriate HTML elements (links, dropdowns, etc.),and bind the URLs and othre properties to those elements.
this JSON provides a structured representation of the MLB website’s navigation, allowing for dynamic and flexible rendering of the menu across different devices and contexts.
