Overview
Your department website menu displays on every page of your department website underneath the department name. On desktop screens, the menu displays as a horizontal black bar, while on mobile screens, the menu displays as a simplified black bar that expands into a vertical list.
You can customize the menu items (links that appear on the menu), whether you want to add or remove items, reorder items, or create submenus.
Locating the menu editing page
- In the left menu, select Appearance > Menus.
- The menu editing page appears. Make sure that at the top, Main Menu is selected.
Unable to view the menu?
If you are unable to see Appearance > Menus in your left menu in WordPress, you may need to double-check your account role and request a higher access level: administrator access is required to edit the menu.
Adding, editing, and organizing menu items
Add menu items that link to published pages
To add a published page to the menu, use the Add menu items left panel. Select the checkbox next to the page title and click Add to Menu.
If you do not see the page title, click the View All or Search tab. If you still do not see the page title, make sure that the page has been published: draft pages cannot be added to the menu.
Add menu items that act as category names (custom links)
In some cases, you may want to have menu items that act as category names rather than linking to a specific page. For example, in the following screenshot, the word "Guides" does not lead to a Guides page but rather, when hovered over, displays a submenu with further links:
Be aware that this method is considered a workaround: if a website visitor clicks on this type of menu item, the browser will jump to the top of the page.
To add a menu item of this type:
- Click Custom Links.
- Fill in the fields as follows, and click Add to Menu:
-
URL: #
-
Link Text: You can type whatever title you'd like in this field.
Rename menu items
To change a menu item's label, click the Expand 
icon, and edit the Navigation Label field. This can be particularly useful if you are adding page links that have long titles.
Remove menu items
To remove a menu item, click the Expand icon, and click Remove.
Reorder menu items
As you add items, they automatically appear at the bottom of the menu. To reorder the menu, hold and drag individual items up or down the list.
Create or edit submenus (sub items)
Rather than try to fit all menu items in the horizontal bar, you can create sub items, which appear when a website visitor hovers or selects a menu item in the horizontal bar.
To convert a menu item into a sub item:
- First, make sure the item appears underneath the item you want to nest it under.
- Click and drag the item horizontally to the right until it automatically indents. Once you release the item, the label "sub item" is added next to its title.
Using Live Preview to edit the menu
You can also select Manage with Live Preview to view your menu edits as you make them:
Quick guide
- At the top of the menu editing page, select Manage with Live Preview.
- In the editing panel that appears on the left, select Menus > Main Menu.
- You can now add, rename, remove, or reorder menu items, and create or edit submenus. After you make changes, click any menu link in the website preview area (on the right) to view the updated menu.
- Once you are satisfied with the edited menu, click Publish at the top of the editing panel on the left.
Detailed guide (with screenshots)
- At the top of the menu editing page, select Manage with Live Preview.
- In the editing panel that appears on the left, select Menus > Main Menu.
- You can now add, rename, remove, or reorder menu items, and create or edit submenus. After you make changes, click any menu link in the website preview area (on the right) to view the updated menu.
- Once you are satisfied with the edited menu, click Publish at the top of the editing panel on the left.
Menu restrictions
Menu item max
When viewed on a desktop, the horizontal menu can fit up to six menu items comfortably, as a rule of thumb. If you have more than six menu items, it just depends on how long each menu item title is: the longer the titles, the less space there will be between menu items.
Sub items appear in a vertical menu, so the title length does not limit how many sub items you can add.
Menu sub-level max
Each main menu item can nest a single submenu containing multiple sub items. However, you cannot create additional nesting layers beyond that.
For example, if you create the following menu structure:
The final item on the menu, "Setting up your workstation," is improperly nested and will not appear on the website menu.
Unused menus
Only the Main Menu is used for department website menu in WordPress. You should not edit the Utility Menu, Footer Menu, or Privacy Menu.