As a WordPress developer with over 15 years of experience, I‘ve seen navigation menus evolve into one of the most important and powerful features that both users and developers utilize in WordPress. In this expert guide, I‘ll cover everything you need to know to master navigation menus.
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Navigation menus were first introduced way back in WordPress 3.0 in 2010. At the time, WordPress only had awkward "Page links" menus that merely listed all your site‘s pages automatically.
These page menus provided no control over menu structure, labels, or hierarchy. As sites grew bigger, page menus became ineffective for site navigation.
WordPress navigation menus aimed to fix this by allowing users to:
- Selectively choose menu items like pages, posts, and links
- Structure menus with parent/child hierarchies
- Use custom labels for menus
This custom menu control revolutionized site navigation in WordPress.
As of 2022, over 98% of WordPress themes support navigation menus. It has become an essential site feature.
Compared to the old automatic page menus, navigation menus provide many benefits:
- Selective menus – Only add the pages/posts you want
- Custom structures – Create multi-level nested submenus
- Flexible labels – Label menus however you want
- Theme locations – Assign different menus to different theme areas
- Conditional menus – Show/hide menus smartly
- CSS styling – Customize design like color, fonts, etc
- Dynamic menus – Programmatically generate menus
This flexibility is why navigation menus are ubiquitous in WordPress sites today.
The custom navigation menu editor can be found under Appearance > Menus in your WordPress dashboard.
You can easily add these common menu items using the drag and drop interface:
- Pages
- Posts
- Links (custom URLs)
- Categories
- Tags
- Post Formats
Arranging menu items is as simple as dragging them around to nest submenus.
Let‘s look at the menu creation process in more detail:
1. Name Your Menu
Start by naming your menu something descriptive like "Main Menu" or "Footer Menu". This helps identify menus when assigning to locations.
2. Add Menu Items
Next, add pages, posts, links and other items you want in your menu using the left panels. Drag items to reorder them.
3. Create Menu Structure
Organize related menu items into parent/child submenus. Drag child items slightly right to nest them.
4. Set Menu Settings
Expand menu item settings to:
- Change link labels
- Add CSS classes
- Set link targets
- Mark items as hidden
5. Assign to Theme Location
Use the "Manage Locations" tab to assign your menu to registered theme locations.
And that‘s the basics of creating and assigning navigation menus!
Menu Creation Tips and Best Practices
Here are some pro tips for creating effective navigation menus:
- Organize logically – Group related pages into submenus
- Use clear labels – Concise but descriptive labels help users
- Hide unnecessary items – Keep menus clean by hiding unneeded items
- Plan future growth – Create menu structures that can expand if needed
- Link to important content – Add key landing pages, posts and categories
- Assess usability – Use analytics to see usage and refine menus
Keep menus simple but focused on driving users to your most important content.
Styling and Customizing Menus
Navigation menus support extensive styling and customizations using CSS.
Some common examples include:
Changing colors – for instance, make submenu items darker for depth.
Altering fonts – increase submenu text size or make fonts bold.
Adding icons – use :before pseudo-elements to add icons to links.
Spacing – adjust padding and margins between menu items.
Borders – visually separate menu levels using borders.
Backgrounds – use backgrounds on hover or current menu items.
Transitions – animate background changes on hover.
Submenu styling – style submenu containers differently.
Proper styling helps reinforce the menu hierarchy visually. I suggest using BEM-style classes for easier menu CSS.
For example:
// Top level menu
.main-menu__item {}
// Submenu
.main-menu__item--sub {}
// Submenu items
.main-menu__item--sub__item {}This keeps menu CSS modular and reusable.
Advanced Menu Functionality
Developers can tap into the navigation menus system using WordPress hooks to create advanced functionality.
Some examples include:
- Conditional menus – Show/hide menu items based on user, role, etc.
- Dynamic menus – Generate menus on the fly using
wp_get_nav_menu_items - Mega menus – Expand submenus into mega menu widgets
- Split testing – Test variations of menu options with plugins
- Custom walkers – Modify menu output markup and classes
Popular plugins like Max Mega Menu and UberMenu utilize these hooks and techniques to extend menu capabilities even further.
The possibilities are endless when you understand how to leverage navigation menus programmatically.
Here are some common navigation menu problems and how to fix them:
Menus not showing – Ensure your theme supports register_nav_menus() and the menu location is assigned.
Menu items missing – First, empty trash if items were deleted. Check if items are set to Hidden.
Submenus not working – Make sure WordPress is updated. Older versions had submenu bugs.
Styles not applying – Clear caches and minified CSS. Validate menu CSS selector syntax.
Mobile menus – These often require special mobile-friendly responsive CSS.
JavaScript errors – Submenus and mega menus depend on JS. Check for conflicts.
Weird spacing – Default browser CSS may add spacing. Reset list item margins and padding.
Hopefully these tips will help troubleshoot any navigation menu problems!
Final Thoughts
Navigation menus are a theme developer‘s secret weapon for creating flexible and user-friendly site navigation. Mastering menus is critical for both users and designers alike.
This guide just covers the basics – there‘s an entire world of possibility when you dive into custom Walker classes, dynamic menu generation, and advanced menu presentation using CSS and JavaScript.
I encourage you to study navigation menus deeply. They hold the keys to providing your users with an awesome WordPress site navigation experience!
