To allow you to change your theme’s appearance and add new functionality, we made sure to include the Customizer API (which you can access when you navigate to Appearance → Customize in your WordPress dashboard). One of the features Customizer offers is configuring the website’s menus.
When we were designing our themes, we decided to include several menu types so you can choose which menu design you like the best and which goes well with the rest of your website design.
Before we move onto explaining how you can create a menu, there’s one more thing you need to know.
The default number of menus on a WordPress site is two 一 the Primary and the Secondary (Social Links or Social) Menu. A Primary Menu is the main menu on a WordPress site, while a Social Menu is a menu that can appear at many different locations in your theme.
Now that you got the basics covered let’s move onto explaining how you can create a New Menu, add items to the menu and set it as a Primary or Social Menu.
Creating a new (Primary/Social) menu
Before you can play with the Primary and Social Menus, you first need to create a menu. To create a new menu, follow these steps:
- Log in to your WordPress admin panel.
- Navigate to Appearance → Menus.
- Choose the Edit Menus tab, and write your menu name in the textbox. Once you decide on a menu name, click on the Create Menu button. And that’s it!
If you want your new menu to be set as Primary or Social, check the Primary Menu/Social Links Menu checkbox, next to the Theme Location option. Press the Save Menu button to save the changes you made. And that’s it ー you have successfully created a menu.
Adding menu items
Once you created a new menu, it’s time you start adding menu items. To do so, do these steps:
- Once again, navigate to Appearance → Menus.
- On the left side of the page, you’ll see a section Pages. Click on the View All tab to get the list of all pages that can be previewed in your menu.
- When you’re done selecting the pages, click on the Add to Menu button below. You can repeat the same steps when you decide to add custom links, posts, categories, etc.
Deleting menu items
If you want to delete a menu item, click on the arrow-down icon (in the right corner of your menu item box). Click on the Remove option, and you’re done.
Changing menu items order
If you want to change the order of your menu items, you can do so using the drag and drop method. Choose the menu item you want to move and drag the item up or down. When you are done creating the new menu structure, remember to save the changes you made.
Creating a multi-level menu
If you want to create a multi-level menu, you can do so by using the drag and drop method, as well.
Choose the menu item you want to move and move it to the left if your goal is to create a main menu item or right, if you want to create a sub-menu item. When you are done creating the new menu structure, be sure to remember to save the changes you made.
