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Site Header Navigation Menus

The Aggie UX WordPress theme uses WordPress menus to populate lists of links in the primary navigation and the utility navigation.

WordPress logo

About WordPress Menus

In WordPress, a menu is a list of links that can be displayed in different places on your site to create navigation.

You can link to pages, posts, custom links (links to pages outside of your site) and more in a menu. You can make changes to menus in the Menus Editor (Appearance > Menus) or in the Theme Customizer (Appearance > Customize).

Where You Can Make Changes
Menus Editor Theme Customizer
Create new menus Yes Yes
Edit existing menus Yes Yes
Manage menu locations Yes Yes
Change primary navigation functionality (dropdown or mega menu) No Yes

Menu Item Options

There are multiple menu item options available within the Menus Editor. Most of these options can also be edited in the Theme Customizer. Some options are only available if the mega menu functionality is enabled on your site.

Note: To see the additional options available in the mega menu, you must first enable the mega menu in the theme by changing the primary navigation functionality to “mega menu”.

Navigation Label

This is the link text for the menu item. By default, the menu item will use the item’s title, but you can override it to something custom.
When using the Mega Menu functionality, the navigation label will be used twice: once on the button to open the mega menu and again as the linked heading within the mega menu panel.

Menu Parent

You can set a Menu Parent to nest items within a dropdown menu or mega menu.

Note: The primary navigation only supports one level of nesting, and the utility navigation menus do not support nesting at all.

Menu Order

You can use the Menu Order option to control the order menu items are listed in the navigation and within dropdown menus/mega menu panels.

Primary CTA (Mega Menu Only)

Displays as a button within a mega menu panel beneath the mega menu linked header.

We recommend using CTA buttons within the mega menu to link to related resources that are not on your site instead of adding external links as menu items.

Secondary CTA (Mega Menu Only)

Displays as a button within a mega menu panel beneath the mega menu linked header.

Only use this option when displaying two CTAs.

Description (Mega Menu Only)

Displays beneath the linked navigation label in a mega menu panel.

To view the description field on menu items:

  1. Open Appearance > Menus
  2. Click screen options in the top right corner
  3. Check descriptions

How to Create or Edit a Menu in the Menus Editor

  1. Open Appearance > Menus
  2. Click create a new menu or Select an existing menu in the menu selector
  3. Name the menu
  4. Add menu items using the Add menu items column
    1. Check the pages, posts or other items you would like to appear in the menu
    2. Click Add to menu
  5. Drag and drop menu items to change the order. Nest items up to one level to make links that are hidden behind a dropdown menu / mega menu.
  6. Optionally change menu settings
    1. Auto add new top-level pages: Check to automatically add pages without a parent page
    2. Display location: Choose where this menu will populate
  7. Click Save Menu

How to Edit a Menu in the Customizer

  1. Go to Appearance > Themes
  2. Click Customize on your active Aggie UX theme
  3. Open the Site Header Navigation Menus panel
  4. Select an existing menu under Menus
  5. Add menu items using the Add items button. This opens a panel where you can create or select from existing pages, posts or other items you would like to appear in the menu.
    1. Check the pages, posts or other items you would like to appear in the menu
    2. Click Add to menu
  6. Drag and drop menu items to change the order. Nest items up to one level to make links that are hidden behind a dropdown menu / mega menu.
  7. Optionally change menu locations
  8. Click Publish

Manage Menu Locations

There are five different menu location options available in the Aggie UX theme.

Primary Navigation

The primary navigation lies below the site identity and unit logo. On mobile, all options in the primary navigation will be accessible behind the “menu” button.

Two menu locations are part of the primary navigation:

  • Primary – Dropdown Menu: This location is used to assign a menu to the primary navigation when using the dropdown menu functionality.
  • Primary – Mega Menu: This location is used to assign a menu to the primary navigation when using the mega menu functionality.

Recommendations for the Primary Navigation

We recommend not having more than 6-8 navigation items in the primary nav. These links can have nested navigation items, either as dropdown menus or mega menus, depending on the functionality option you have set on your site.

Utility Navigation

The utility nav is a thin maroon bar at the very top of the page above the site’s primary navigation. On all Texas A&M University websites (except for www.tamu.edu), the top left corner in the utility nav says “Texas A&M University” and links to www.tamu.edu.

In order to increase flexibility for the many types of websites within the Texas A&M University web ecosystem, we have built in multiple possible functionalities into the utility nav.

Three menu locations are part of the utility navigation:

  • Utility Nav – CTAs: Optionally have 1-3 calls to action out in the open, visible on every page of the website. Ideal for short calls to action, typically three words or less.
  • Utility Nav – Persona: The persona drop down can be used on any website that has persona pages (also known as audience pages or “for you” pages). Each link should go to a persona page (e.g., Future Students, Faculty, Donors, etc.).
  • Utility Nav – Quicklinks: The “quicklinks” drop down can be used to provide a short list of contextualized links that are not otherwise in the site navigation. It is our intention that these quicklinks are often links to utilities — such as directories, calendars, maps, and application logins — that do not natively live on the site you are on.

Recommendations for the Utility Navigation

While these options aren’t mutually exclusive, we don’t recommend using all of them on every site. Choose the options that provide the most utility for a particular site when combined with the appropriate site identity and navigation solution.
When using the “text identity” site header variation, the sitewide search will appear in the utility navigation. When the search is in the utility nav, we recommend only using one of the optional menus to avoid overcrowding the navigation bar.

Edit Menu Locations

You can manage where menus are used throughout your Aggie UX site by using the Manage Locations tab on the Menus page or by editing existing menus in the Theme Customizer.

How to Edit Menu Location in the Menus Editor

  1. Open Appearance > Menus
  2. Select an existing menu in the menu selector and click Select
  3. Under Menu Settings, check the desired display location
  4. Click Save Menu

How to Edit Menu Location in the Customizer

  1. Go to Appearance > Themes
  2. Click Customize on your active Aggie UX theme
  3. Open the Site Header Navigation Menus panel
  4. Select an existing menu under Menus
  5. Under Menu Locations, check the desired display location
  6. Click Publish

Change Primary Navigation Functionality

The Aggie UX primary navigation can either function as a dropdown menu or a mega menu.

Dropdown Menu

When clicking on a navigation item using the dropdown menu functionality, a simple list of links will appear beneath the navigation item.
Nav items can be dropdowns or buttons that go directly to a page. To add items to a dropdown menu, follow the instructions to edit a menu. All items nested one-level down from a top-level item will appear in the dropdown.

The drop down menu is used for your primary navigation by default.

Dropdown Link Text

The dropdown button cannot link to a page; it can only open the drop down.
When you add pages to a menu, the top-level link will determine the link text of the button that opens the dropdown. This link will not automatically be added to the dropdown itself; you will need to add it to the menu again as a next menu item.

Mega Menu

When clicking on a navigation item using the mega menu functionality, a mega menu panel will appear beneath the navigation item that includes a linked header, up to two action buttons, and a list of navigation links.

Nav items can be mega menus or buttons that go directly to a page. To add items to a mega menu panel, follow the instructions to edit a menu. All items nested one-level down from a top-level item will appear in the mega menu panel.

Mega Menu Link Text

When you add pages to a menu that uses the mega menu functionality, the top-level link will determine the link text of the button that opens the mega menu panel and the linked header within that panel.

Additional Menu Options

Mega menu panels have the ability to add additional information beyond what is available in a dropdown menu. You can optionally add:

  • 1-2 CTA buttons within a mega menu panel
  • Descriptions to mega menu items

Note: To see the additional options available in the mega menu, you must first enable the mega menu in the theme by changing the primary navigation functionality to “mega menu”.

How to Change Primary Navigation Functionality

  1. Go to Appearance > Themes
  2. Click Customize on your active Aggie UX theme
  3. In the Aggie UX WordPress Theme customizer, open the Site Header Navigation Menus panel
  4. Select Header Navigation Type (Choose Dropdown or Mega Menu)
  5. Select the functionality you want to use on your site: Dropdown Menu or Mega Menu
  6. Click Publish