Introduction

Menus are the go-to elements for any website to run efficiently. While WordPress serves as the best platform where you can find almost everything easily.

You just need to figure out every detail and mostly the admin panel to apply easy changes. And one of the finest elements is the menus.

Menus are the linking elements for a website to attach links or other pages for better navigation.

As you know customizing your website is so easy with WordPress. The same goes for creating menus as well. You can create any type of menu wherever you need in WordPress. And most importantly, you must know very well to organize the menu links on your website. With this, you get to organize your website elements with ease. As this works as the base when you create a website.

So, here we are going to elaborate more on creating menus in WordPress.

How to Create a Menu in WordPress Theme

So here we are initiating the steps to create your first menu in WordPress Theme.

• For this, navigate to the Appearance tab under the WordPress dashboard and tap the Menus option.
• The next step is to add a suitable name for your menu in the Top Navigation Bar.
• Tap the Create Menu button at the bottom right corner.
• Now, you can easily customize the created menu. You will find different sections that can be added or deleted from the created.
• You can select the number of pages you wish to add. You will find various options for adding pages under the View All tab. You can either select all the options. Or tick check the page option and then click the Add to Menu button at the end.
• Once you are done adding the pages, you can now drag and drop them easily. Also, you can change the order of the page sections.
• While you will find that every single theme has its locations to create menus. Here we are using the Astra Theme which has five primary locations to create menus.
• Next, when you are done adding pages to the menu, choose the location where you wish to display the menu. Then finally tap the Save Menu option.
• So this is how you created a menu in your theme.

Types of Menus you can create in WordPress Theme

Creating Dropdown Menus in WordPress

• Dropdown menus are called navigation menus that have child and parent menu elements. These are sometimes called nested menus.
• The child themes are listed under the parent themes. When you tap the arrow of the parent theme, child themes appear under it.
• Creating a sub-menu is simply easy using the drag-and-drop feature. You just need to drag the item under the parent theme and then drag it to the right side.
• You can even create multiple layers of dropdown menus and the sub-menus can have another sub-menus. While this depends on the theme you have chosen. As some themes do not support multiple dropdown menus.

Add Categories to WordPress Menus

• If you are running a blog, then adding blog categories is one of the most effective ways to represent your blogs. Blog categories can be added as a dropdown list in the WordPress menu created.
• Adding categories to the menus tab can be easily done using the Categories tab on the left sidebar. On the Categories tab, tap the View All section to view all categories.
• Just tick the checkbox in front of the options you want to add to the menu. And then tap the Add to Menu button.
• The categories you created now will be displayed as the regular menu items under your menu. You can then use the drag-and-drop feature to place them correctly.

Add Custom Links to WordPress Navigation Menus

• Adding custom links to your custom menus is also super easy with WordPress. This is truly beneficial as you can link social media profiles, online store links and othe sites.
• For this, simply visit the custom links tab on the Menu page.
• Just add the suitable link you want to place on your menu and click on the Add to Menu button.
• Additionally, you can add social media icons and call-to-action buttons to boost conversion and sales.

Editing Menu Items in WordPress Navigation Menus

• When adding pages and categories to the menus, WordPress stores this page title and category names as link text. While the user holds the right to edit these fields.
• Even every single menu element can be edited by clicking on the downward arrow beside its name.
• You can easily change the name of the menu element. Also, you can delete the link to remove it from the menu altogether.
• And if in case the drag-and-drop feature is creating an issue then you can simply use the Move option to move the link.

Adding Menus in the Full-Site Editor

• Adding menus in the full-site editor is done by customizing the WordPress theme using a block editor.
• While the full-site editor comes under beta and has integration with limited themes. And therefore, we are using the Twenty-Twenty-Two theme which has a full site editor.
• So to start with first, visit the Appearance tab under the WordPress dashboard and then tap the Editor option. Or you can also visit the theme and tap the Customize button to open the full site editor.
• Once reached the editor, move ahead and tap the navigational menu at the top of the site header. You will find various options to customize at the right side of the page.
• You can easily change the colours, layouts, display settings, text, backgrounds and much more.
• And apply more options like changing the menu or creating a new one can be done through the Select Menu option. And this will open the dropdown menu.
• For this, simply click the “+” icon and add a block to the menu and then choose the option appearing in the dropdown menu.
• One of the best things is that this full site editor supports adding menus anywhere on your website.
• Once done, tap the Save button and see the preview to see the real view of the menu.

Adding WordPress Menus in Sidebar and Footer

• It is not necessary that you can stick to the display positions of your theme. The good news is you can add navigation menus in any area of the theme like the sidebar and the footer.
• Simply hover your mouse over the Appearance tab and then tap the Widgets option.
• Here you have to tap the “+” sign and add the Navigation Menu widget block to your sidebar.
• You have to give a suitable title for the widget and select the correct menu from the dropdown list.
• Once done, simply tap the Update button.

Create a Menu in the Customizer

• Reach the Customizer option under the Appearance tab of your WordPress dashboard.
• Tap the Menus option on the right side.
• You will reach a page where there is a menu named Primary or Main created by default. If you don’t see any menu then you can click on the Create New Menu button.
• The next step is to give a name to your Menu.
• Under the Menu locations, you need to click on any checkbox to decide where you want to place your menu. Then click the Next button to add menu items.
• You need to add menu items that you wish to display on your menu by clicking the Add Items button. Also, you can rearrange the items by tapping the Reorder link.
• That’s it, you have created a new menu.

Conclusion

Creating Menus in WordPress themes makes your website organized. While creating menus is not a difficult task to do. You just need to follow some steps and you can innovate by creating menus in WordPress Theme.