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Menus

What is a Menu in Drupal?

A Menu in Drupal is a set of navigational links that help users explore your website. Menus are essential for organizing and structuring the navigation paths of your site, making it easy for visitors to access key pages and sections.

Drupal provides built-in menus like the Main navigation, Footer menu, and User account menu, which can be customized, and you can also create custom menus for specific needs. Menus are managed through the Structure module, giving site administrators complete control over their content and placement.

How to Use Menus in the Structure Module

Access the Menus Page

  1. Navigate to Structure → Menus from the Drupal admin dashboard.
    Here, you’ll see a list of all existing menus on your site, such as:
    1. Main Navigation
    2. Any custom menus already created
       

Adding a New Menu

  1. Click Add menu.
  2. Fill in the following fields:
    1. Title: Enter the name of your menu (e.g., "Services Menu").
    2. Administrative description (Optional): Provide a short description to identify the menu’s purpose in the backend.
    3. Click Save to create the new menu.
       

Adding Links to a Menu

  1. After creating or selecting a menu, click Add link.
  2. Fill in the details:
    1. Menu link title: Enter the text that will appear as the link.
    2. Link: Specify the URL for the link. This can be an internal path (e.g., /about) or an external URL.
    3. Description (Optional): Add a tooltip description that appears when the link is hovered over.
    4. Parent link: Choose a parent link to create a hierarchical structure or leave it at the top level.
       

Placing Menus on Your Site

  1. Navigate to Structure → Block Layout.
  2. Locate the region where you want the menu to appear (e.g., Sidebar, Header).
  3. Click Place block in the desired region.
  4. Search for your menu block (e.g., "Main navigation" or a custom menu).
  5. Configure the block settings:
    1. Title visibility: Choose whether to display the block title.
    2. Visibility settings: Control when and where the menu appears (e.g., specific content types, roles, or paths).
      Click Save block.
       

Paper displaying compass symbol and the word navigation

Tips for Menus

Use Descriptive Titles: Clear and concise titles improve usability and accessibility.

Leverage Hierarchies: Organize menus with parent and child links for structured navigation.

Custom Menus for Specific Needs: Create custom menus for unique sections, like services or events.

Keep It Simple: Avoid cluttering menus with too many links; prioritize the most important paths.