One of the coolest new features in WordPress 3.0 is the custom navigation menus built into the WordPress core.
Here’s a video that shows you how to use them to customize your navigation.
The new Menus section under Appearance allows you to create custom menus, and do all kinds of neat customization:
- Omit pages from your navigation menu
- Add Sub-menu items
- Reorder your navigation menu items
- Use custom labels for your nav menu items
- Add custom links to any page (even off of your website)
- Create pages based on categories
Note that your WordPress theme needs to support this new menu system – many WordPress themes had their own menu and submenu system built into the theme.
We’ve adopted the new menus in the SmallBiz 3.0 WordPress Theme so you can customize your menus until your heart is content!
Update: In WordPress 3.01 and greater you have to select the menu that you just created from the dropdown box in the upper left hand side of your WordPress Menu Builder screen and save it before your menu will become active (see screenshot below:)
Update #2: Several readers have had trouble getting sub-menus to show up on their navigation menu. After you have created your page and given it a parent, you need to go to Appearance->Menus again and drag the page underneath the parent, and make sure it is indented under the parent for it to show up as a sub menu. See screenshot below:
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Article by » Don Campbell
Don is an entrepreneur based in Silicon Valley. He founded Expand2Web and is the publisher of the Expand2Web Blog and the SmallBiz WordPress Theme.
Don has written 247 articles on Expand2Web
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{ 36 comments… read them below or add one }
Super useful. I’m designing a theme right now. Could you provide a link to the documentation for the proper tags to include that will display this menu. If I’m not mistaken the functions.php file needs edited.
great info, right to the point
thanks
hello. Thanks for the good tutorial about wordpress menus.
@InternetMatt – it’s a little involved to leave in a comment – I’ll either do another post on it or find one that is out there to link to.
@cola – thanks!
@elie – you are very welcome. Thanks for stopping by and leaving a comment!
Don, I used the wordpress 3.0 menu yesterday with a new small biz site. So quick and easy but I did not know all the linking possibilities! It took a while for me to get the drop down pages but figured it out.
Thanks,
Laura
Thank you! It’s just what I was looking for and boom, this morning it was in my inbox! Thanks for the great info and the easy explanation!
Hey Don Great video, I just have a quick question. When I create a menu just as you showed in the video. It wont go into effect until I go into the dashboard and set the home page I want under the drop down menu. I also wont allow the title tags to show up on my home page when I create them on the page until I change them on the dashboards home page menu. Am I missing a step I’m not aware of? Thanks Dannah
Dannah,
The video was made using Wordpress 3.0
Wordpress 3.1 requires an additional step to get the new menu to work correctly. You have to select the menu that you just created from the dropdown box in the upper left hand side of your Wordpress Menu Builder screen. The box is titled: “Theme Locations”.
SEO options (title, description, keywords) for your homepage – regardless if you are using the default homepage or if you specified your own page – are always entered via the Smallbiz Options Panel.
Feel free to email me directly thomas-at-expand2web-dot-com should the problem continue to exist.
Thanks Don
I have messed with the menu and think it is a great start. Eventually I can see a menu hooked up to categories with drop-downs for sub categorizes. Love the new feature though it already easily solves some choices without jumping into the code.
Hi Don
Wordpress just gets better and better.
Thanks for a to the point video that shows all the new menu features.
Even I can manage that. LOL
Thanks. Great tutorial!
Hi Don
I am very new to all this Blogging / Websites so please be gentle!!
Someone else made my website for me.
I would like to have some Custom Navigation Menus on my Blog But…….
I have failed at the first hurdle I went to the “Dashboard…. Appearance but there is no “Menu” section.
I am using the Atahualpa Theme is this the problem???
Is there another solution??
Thanks
Mark
Hi Mark,
How long ago was your website set up? The custom menus were new in WordPress 3.0, so you may need to upgrade your WordPress to get them…
Also, your theme needs to support the feature, and I’m not sure if Atahualpa does.
Hi Don
Blimey that was a lightning fast response!!! 5 mins!!!!
You are absolutely right I have just seen that I am using WordPress 2.9.2.
Sorry to waste your time Don I feel a bit of a fool now!!
Thanks
Mark
No worries – I’m glad you figured it out!
Great!!
thank you for this hint!
Don,
I would like to create 2 menus to show. How can I accomplish this?
Very clear explanation. Thanks
Thanks for this Don. Well appreciated.
What happens when you have 2 navigations: ‘top navigation’ and ‘bottom navigation’?
I’m using the Amazing Grace theme. Everything else is clearer to me (I think!), but the issue of 2 menu themes.
Hi Virginia,
You can create multiple menus using the WordPress menu builder, and then select which one you want to show. This of course, depends on your theme’s support for the new WordPress menus.
Hi Don,
Thank you , I like the video. However, can I setup the menu option ( with a different URL ) to open in a new window.
Michael, there is not a way that I know of to do that.
Don you are an absolute genius! I found you by accident and cannot believe you helped me so much with this video. I’d been pulling my hair out trying to figure out how to make the menus work and I never would have gotten it right without your help.
A Million Thanks!!!
Thank you SO much. I was initially trying to use the Thesis nav menu to mix the order of categories and pages while using drop down sub-menus and it wasn’t working.
This video saved me a bunch of time and I ended up with exactly what I wanted in no more than a few mouse clicks. I was wrong to assume that the Thesis menu was more sophisticated than the native Wordpress menu. I forgot the concept of K.I.S.S…
Thanks again!
Extremely useful. I’m just having one dilema. How can I post a new/several postings for a specific menu displayed in the menu bar? When I click on a specific menu I get the same menu name down below as a post. Thank You
Jolver – sorry, but I don’t understand your question. Can you rephrase it or give me a screenshot?
Sorry. I need to post several postings for a specific menu. Ex. Under the ” Home” menu I want to post everything regarding my business but don’t know how to do new postings and attach them to the “home” menu. Rather, when I post a new post it shows up in the categories section.
Jolver,
You need to create a custom WordPress menu as I show in the video, and then add the menu items underneath the Home menu. You can drag them to indent them and make them sub menu items. This tutorial may help as well: http://userguide.expand2web.com/introduction-to-the-wordpress-menu-builder/
Scroll down to the bottom of that tutorial to see what I mean.
Don,
I came across your site while searching, great info. I have one question for you.
I am building out a multiple page( unpublished) site from a previous one page sales/lander. Do pages show up in the header if they are unpublished?
I have my static home page coming up when I preview , with just Home showing in the nav bar , none of the other pages ( unpublished as well, show in the header). I’m using the Twenty Eleven theme.
Hi Darren,
Pages will not show up in the Nav menu unless they are published. You have total control over which published pages show up in your Nav menu. Here is a video that shows you how to customize your WordPress navigation menu.
hi Don ,
Very nice n Helpful article….
you are doing well.
Do you know why the menu items seem to show up and work fine on my laptop, but not on my iphone 4s?
Hi Lauren,
This really depends on the Theme you are using so it’s hard for me to say. Your theme publisher should be able to tell you more.
Great tutorial! I”ll be searching for your others…I am wanting to create custom buttons for my WP page….
My menu suddenly stopped indenting. I slide the submenu over slightly to the right, but as soon as I click SAVE it pops back to the left! Of course it then appears as a main nav bar menu item. Help!
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