By default, Mission News will display all of your Pages in alphabetical order in the primary menu. You can change this by creating your own menu in WordPress.
In this article
How to Create a Custom Menu
The first step to customizing your menu is to create a custom menu in WordPress.
- Visit the Menus page (Appearance → Menus)
- Enter a name for your new menu
- Click the Create Menu button
- On the left-side, locate the Pages box
- Check off any Pages you want to add to your menu
- Click the Add to Menu button to add them to your menu
- Click the blue Save Menu button to save your changes
You've now created your first menu! In the next section, we'll cover how to reorder the Pages in your menu.
Note: Your menu will not display on your site yet. In order to display it, you will need to assign it to a location. You can skip to the how to display your menu section of the tutorial if you'd like to do that now.
How to Reorder Your Menu Items
Now that you have created a menu with the Pages you want included, you can reorder those Pages.
- Visit the Menus page (Appearance → Menus)
- If your menu is not already selected, use the dropdown at the top to select the menu you want to edit
- In the Menu Structure section, locate a Page you want to reposition
- Click-and-hold on the Page you want to move, and drag it above or below another menu item to reposition
- When you're finished, click the Save Menu button to save your changes
How to Add Custom Links to Your Menu
Sometimes you may want to add a link to your menu that doesn't lead to a Page. For example, you may want to add a menu link to:
- Your homepage
- An external site
- A blog post
To add a link to any of these in your menu, you can use the Custom Links option.
- Visit the Menus page (Appearance → Menus)
- If your menu is not already selected, use the dropdown at the top to select the menu you want to edit
- On the left-side, locate and click on the Custom Links section
- Enter the URL and link text of the page you want to link to
- Click the Add to Menu button to add the link
- Click the blue Save Menu button to save your changes
Your custom link has now been added to the menu.
How to Add Category Links to Your Menu
Menus aren't just restricted to Pages. You can also add links to your Post categories to your menu.
- Visit the Menus page (Appearance → Menus)
- If your menu is not already selected, use the dropdown at the top to select the menu you want to edit
- On the left-side, locate and click on the Categories section
- Check off any Categories you want to add to your menu
- Click the Add to Menu button to add them
- Click the blue Save Menu button to save your changes
The Category links have now been added to the menu.
How to Create Dropdown Menus
Dropdown menus are great for creating more robust, yet easy to use navigation. If you want to add a dropdown menu to your existing menu, follow these steps:
- Visit the Menus page (Appearance → Menus)
- If your menu is not already selected, use the dropdown at the top to select the menu you want to edit
- Add any pages you want included in the dropdown menu
- Click-and-drag a page you want in the dropdown menu after the parent menu item
- Click-and-drag that same page to the right until it indents
- Repeat this for any other pages you want in the dropdown menu
- Click the blue Save Menu button to save your changes
When dragging-and-dropping, you'll likely notice that you can create menus that are multiple tiers deep. Mission News officially supports menus that are up to three tiers deep.
Note: if you create a menu that has four or more tiers, you may want to reconsider how you're structuring your menu. Even Amazon uses three at the most.
How to Rename Your Menu Items
Let's say you have a Page called "About Our Team". When added to your menu, the link text says "About Our Team", but you just want the link to say "About".
Here's how you can rename your menu items without changing your Page titles:
- Visit the Menus page (Appearance → Menus)
- If your menu is not already selected, use the dropdown at the top to select the menu you want to edit
- Locate the menu item you want to rename in the Menu Structure section
- Click on the arrow on the right-side of the menu item
- In the Navigation Label input, enter a new name for the menu item
- Repeat this for any other menu items you want to rename
- Click the blue Save Menu button to save your changes
The menu item's name has now been updated in the menu without changing the title displayed on its Page.
How to Display Your Menu on Your Site
Now that you've created and customized your menu, it's time to display it on your site.
To display your menu on your site, you need to assign it to a menu location.
- Visit the Menus page (Appearance → Menus)
- Click on the Manage Locations tab at the very top of the screen
- Pick a menu location where you want to assign the menu, and use the dropdown to select your menu
- Click the blue Save Changes button
Your menu will now appear on your site in the selected location.