Setting Up Navigation in Your WP (3.0) Theme
With WordPress 3.x, we have a great new feature that will help you set up your navigation much easier than with older versions of WordPress. The newly added “wp_nav_menu” function now allows you to drag-and-drop your menu items, set parent/child relationships, alternate titling and more. This article explains how the WordPress navigation system works and how you can set it up in your theme.
Go to the Menu Manager
Start by navigating to the menu manager under Appearance → Menus.
Create a Menu
Go ahead and name your menu something easy to recognize like “Main Menu” then click “create menu”.
Add Menu Items
Now, you’ll want to add some menu items.
On the left hand side of the screen you’ll see a box containing all of your Pages, Categories, etc.
1.) Select a menu item to insert
2.) Click Add to Menu and the items are added to your menu.
Go ahead and click “Save Menu” anytime you change something. If you navigate away from the menus page before saving, all your menu settings will be lost.
Menu Item Arrangement
Once your items have been added, you can drag and drop to reorder them. You can also customize the titles and accessibility descriptions.
Assign Menu to a Theme Location
Every theme supports different “theme locations” depending on where the menus should be assigned. Some themes have multiple menu positions, while others have only one. In order for your menu to show up in the theme, it must be assigned to the theme location.
Enabling Menu Captions (if supported)
If your theme supports captions, you can enable them within the theme options (Appearance → Theme Options → Enable Captions). Once enabled, go back to the menu manager and you should notice a “Description” field below each item.
If you don’t see it, just click “Screen Options” at the top right corner of your screen and ensure “Description” is selected. If the Description field is already populated with the excerpt of the post, it’s okay to delete it. Try to keep the caption within just few words so not to overrun the menu title.
