Do you want to learn how to add topics in your WordPress navigation menu?
Often beginners users try to add topics in WordPress menu by creating a separate page for each topic. But that’s not the best way because adding these pages to a menu won’t display the relevant posts.
In this article, we will show you how to properly add topics in WordPress by using categories and tags in WordPress navigation menus.
Why Add Topics in WordPress Navigation Menus?
Let’s say you have a WordPress website that offers travel guides for different cities. You may want to add city names in your navigation menu, so that your visitors see relevant articles when they click the menu item.
Alternatively, if you have a news website like The New York Times or ESPN, you would want to highlight the various topics in the navigation menu.
WordPress makes it quite easy to add topics if you organize your content using categories and tags.
Categories cover your website’s main topics like a table of contents, while tags cover more specific topics like an index. You can learn more by reading our guide on the difference between categories and tags.
Let’s take a look at how you can use categories and tags to organize your content, and then add those topics to your WordPress navigation menu for easy access.
Adding Categories and Tags to WordPress Posts
You can add or select categories while writing your blog posts. The categories box will appear on the right column of the WordPress content editor.
If you need to add a new category, then just click the ‘Add New Category’ link below the list of your existing categories.
For example, on a travel blog, you might create categories for each city you’ve written about, such as ‘Paris’, ‘Amsterdam’, ‘Berlin’, ‘Instanbul’, and ‘London’.
You can also add tags from inside the content editor by simply typing into ‘Tags’ field on the right. When adding more than one tag, you need to separate them with commas.
If you want to choose a tag that you have previously created, then you need to type the first few characters and your matching tags will pop up. Then simply click the tag you want to use.
On a travel blog, you could add tags for the more specific topics covered in a certain post, for example, ‘Food’, ‘Night Life’, ‘Walking Tours’, and ‘Rail Travel’.
Once you have created a few posts and filed them under different categories and tags, you can now add them to your site’s navigation menu.
Adding Categories in WordPress Navigation Menus
To add categories to your navigation menu, simply visit Appearance » Menus and click on the ‘Categories’ tab to expand it.
Next, select the categories you want to add to the menu and then click the ‘Add to Menu’ button. Your selected categories will now appear in the right hand column as menu items. You can move them up and down using drag and drop.
Once you are satisfied with the menu, click on the ‘Save Menu’ button to store your changes.
You can now visit your website to see your changes in action.
Adding Tags in WordPress Navigation Menus
To add tags to your navigation menu, you need to visit the Appearance » Menus page. Unlike categories, there isn’t an option to add tags by default.
However, you can add a Tags tab by clicking on ‘Screen Options’ at the top of the screen, and then checking the ‘Tags’ box.
A Tags tab will now be added to the left hand column. You can click the tab to expand it.
Now you can select the tags you wish to add to the menu. When you click the ‘Add to Menu’ button, your selected tags will appear in the right hand column as menu items and you can rearrange them using drag and drop.
Don’t forget to click the ‘Save Menu’ button to store your settings.
You can now visit your website to see that the tags have been added to your menu.
If you want to create an advanced topics drops menu with multiple columns like ESPN and WPBeginner, then that’s often referred to as mega menu.
Is your WordPress site showing the wrong name on your blog posts?
By default, WordPress will display the site owner’s username on their posts. This is usually something other than their full name.
In this article, we’ll show you how to add or change your full name in WordPress.
Why Use Your Full Name in WordPress?
When you first set up your WordPress blog, it’s required to set up a username that you can use to log in. Often people choose usernames that are easy to remember and a mix of different words or letters.
This username is then displayed on the posts that you author. This can look a little strange and is not very professional.
Luckily, WordPress has an easy way to change the display name to your full name without changing your username.
Using a full name instead of a username helps search engines recognize that the content is written by you. It also helps to establish your personal brand because your readers will become familiar with your name.
With that being said, let’s have a look at how to add or change your full name in WordPress.
How to Change or Add Your Full Name in WordPress
To change your display name, simply go to the Users » Profile page in your admin area.
If you are unable to see ‘Users’ in your WordPress admin menu, then this means you are not an administrator on this site. You can still make changes to your profile by clicking on the Profile menu.
You will need to scroll down to the ‘Name’ section where you can see the options to add your first name, last name, and nickname.
After filling in these fields, click on the dropdown menu next to the option ‘Display name publicly as’. You can now select from your first or last name, full name, nickname, or username to be displayed with your posts.
After selecting the name you want to use, you need to click on the ‘Update Profile’ button at the bottom of the page to save your changes.
You will notice that the name you chose to display publicly will now appear in the top right corner of the WordPress toolbar next to ‘Howdy‘.
When you visit your website, you will see the posts that you authored now show your full name instead of your username.
If you wish to change your display name in the future, then simply revisit your profile and repeat these steps with your new name.
Do you want to know if there is a way to add titles in the WordPress menu without adding a link?
By default, the WordPress menu requires each menu item to be linked to a page or custom link. However, when creating a dropdown menu, you may want to add a title for sub-menus without linking it to a specific page.
In this article, we will show you how to add titles in WordPress menu without linking to a page.
Why Add Menu Titles without Linking to a Page?
WordPress offers multiple options to customize your website so you can reach your target audience and offers an exceptional user experience.
To provide a smooth user experience, it’s important that your WordPress site has a well-structured navigational menu. It makes it easy for users to find content and different pages on your site.
When you add menu titles, WordPress requires each menu to have a link to a page or a custom link by default. However, you may want to show a menu title but don’t want to link to a page under certain situations.
For example, you can have a categories dropdown where you want the title text to be ‘categories’ for the menu but don’t need to add a link. When users click on categories, it simply opens a sub-menu in the dropdown.
That being said, let’s look at how you can add a title to the WordPress menu without linking to a page.
Adding WordPress Menu Title without Linking to a Page
The first thing you need to do is add a new menu item to your menu. You can do that by going to Appearance » Menus from your WordPress admin panel.
Next, you want to add a custom link. You can see the ‘Custom Links’ options under the ‘Add menu items’ section.
If you don’t see Custom Links, then simply click the ‘Screen Options’ button on the top right corner of the screen. Next, check the box for ‘Custom Links’ from the given options.
After that, you’ll need to give it the label or menu title. In the URL field, go ahead and enter the hashtag (#) symbol and click the ‘Add to Menu’ button.
Your menu item will now be added to the WordPress menu.
Next, you’ll need to click on the dropdown arrow next to this custom link to edit this menu item. Go ahead and remove the hashtag sign from the URL field and click the ‘Save Menu’ button.
You can add sub menus to this menu item and link them to any page or enter a custom link that you want. Now, if you go to your WordPress blog, then you will see a menu item without a link in action.
Do you want to add new users and authors to your blog?
WordPress comes with a built-in user management system. This lets you add users with different roles and permission levels.
In this article, we will show you how to add new users and authors to your WordPress website.
Adding a New User or Author to Your WordPress Website
There are 3 ways to add new users to your WordPress website. You can add users manually, let users register themselves for free, or create a paid membership site where users pay to register.
Here’s what we’re going to cover in this article. Simply click on the quick links to jump straight to the section you need.
If you’d prefer written instructions, just keep reading.
Manually Adding a New User or Author to Your Website
If you want to add a small number of people to your website, then this is easy to do with WordPress’s built-in user management system.
This method is ideal for:
Small businesses have several different employees managing their websites.
Organizations such as churches and nonprofits have volunteers updating their websites.
Blogs with multiple authors, such as a fashion blog that you are writing with some friends.
Online stores that have several people managing inventory, shipping items, etc.
You simply need to go to the Users » Add New page in your WordPress admin area.
Next, you just have to fill out the form to create a new user.
On the form, you first need to enter a username. The user can use this or their email address to log in.
Note: The WordPress username can’t be easily changed later, but all the other details can.
Next, enter the user’s email address. Double-check that you are using the correct email address. Users will need this in order to reset their passwords and receive email notifications.
After that, you can enter the first name, last name, and website URL. Since these are optional fields, you can also leave them blank. Users can edit their own profiles to complete these fields later.
In the next step, you will need to choose a password. We recommend using an online strong password generator for this purpose.
We suggest using the ‘Generate password’ button to automatically create a strong password.
Below the password field, you will see a checkbox to send the user an email. If you check this, the user will receive an email letting them know how to log in. This will also have a link, so they can set a different password if they want.
The last option on the page is to choose a WordPress user role from the dropdown list.
Each user role comes with a different set of capabilities. Subscriber is the least powerful role, and Administrator is the most powerful role. You need to choose a role depending on what tasks a user will be performing on your website.
You may already know what role you want to give your user. If so, select the role, then click the ‘Add New User’ button at the bottom of the screen.
If you’re unsure about the role, don’t worry. We have a detailed explanation of the roles in the next section of this article.
Remember, some plugins create additional user roles.
For instance, WooCommerce adds ‘Customer’ and ‘Shop Manager’ roles. All in One SEO adds the ‘SEO Manager’ and ‘SEO Editor’ roles. Simply check the plugin’s documentation to find out about any additional roles that you see in this list.
Understanding User Roles in WordPress
WordPress comes with these default user roles:
Administrator
Editor
Author
Contributor
Subscriber
If you have a multisite installation of WordPress, there is also a ‘Super Admin’ role. These users can manage all the websites, whereas regular Administrators manage just one site.
Administrator
An administrator can perform all tasks on your WordPress site.
You should only assign this role to users who you fully trust. You should also feel confident about their technical skills.
With the administrator user role, a user can install WordPress plugins, change themes, delete content, and even delete other users. This includes other administrators.
A contributor can add and edit their own posts but cannot publish them.
However, they cannot edit other users’ posts or access features like plugins, themes, settings, and tools.
It’s important to note that contributors cannot upload media files, such as images. The easiest way to get around this is to get contributors to upload their post’s image(s) through a file upload form.
That way, the image(s) can be saved straight to the WordPress media library. This makes it easy for an editor or administrator to add them to the post.
The subscriber role does not let users add or edit posts in any way.
With the default settings, subscribers can create a profile and save their details. This lets them enter them more quickly when leaving comments.
You can also use a membership plugin or LMS plugin to create members-only content that is available to subscribers. We will come onto that later in this article.
As an administrator, you can add and remove users from your WordPress site at any time. After you have added a user, you can edit their profile at any time and change any information including passwords.
Simply click on the Users tab in your WordPress admin to go to the user page. You can edit or delete a user at any time.
You can edit the user’s profile to change their password, change their role, and more. You can also bulk edit users to change their roles if you want to upgrade or downgrade several users’ roles at the same time.
Users can also edit their own profile by going to Users » Profile in the WordPress dashboard. There can add a profile picture and change most of their details, but they cannot change their role.
Open Your WordPress Site for Anyone to Register for Free
What if you want to let users register on your site for free?
It would be a lot of work to add each user manually. Instead, you can let them create their own account.
First, you need to go to Settings » General in your WordPress admin and check the ‘Anyone can register’ box.
By default, new users will be given the Subscriber role. Go ahead and change this to any role you want using the dropdown.
Warning: We recommend only letting users register as ‘Subscribers’ or ‘Contributors.’ If you let users register as ‘Authors,’ they could publish a post without approval. Never use ‘Administrator’ as the default setting.
Don’t forget to click the ‘Save Changes’ button at the bottom of the page to store your changes.
We recommend using MemberPress. It’s the best membership and course creation plugin with all the functionality and flexibility you need.
MemberPress lets you lock specific posts and pages on your site so that only registered, paying users can access them. Many sites offer premium content like this as a way to make money online.
With MemberPress, it’s easy to create different access levels.
For instance, you might offer a Bronze, Silver, and Gold plan. Each of these plans would have its own user role. You could create separate courses that only users with certain roles could sign up for.
You also get access to powerful tools such as MemberPress’s reports to show you your average member lifetime value, how many members you have in total, and more.
Do you want to add a navigation menu to your WordPress site?
WordPress comes with a drag and drop menu interface that you can use to create header menus, menus with dropdown options, and more.
In this step-by-step guide, we will show you how to easily add a navigation menu in WordPress.
What is a Navigation Menu?
A navigation menu is a list of links pointing to important areas of a website. They are usually presented as a horizontal bar of links at the top of every page on a WordPress website.
Navigation menus give your site structure and help visitors find what they’re looking for. Here’s how the navigation menu looks on WPBeginner:
WordPress makes it really easy to add menus and sub-menus. You can add links to your most important pages, categories or topics, WordPress blog posts, and even custom links such as your social media profile.
The exact location of your menu will depend on your WordPress theme. Most themes will have several options, so you can create different menus that can be displayed in different places.
For instance, most WordPress themes come with a primary menu that appears on the top. Some themes may include a secondary menu, a footer menu, or a mobile navigation menu as well.
That said, let’s see how you can create a custom navigation menu in WordPress.
Video Tutorial
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If you’d prefer written instructions, just keep reading
Creating Your First Custom Navigation Menu
To create a navigation menu, you need to visit the Appearance » Menus page in your WordPress admin dashboard.
Note: If you don’t see the ‘Appearance » Menus’ option on your site and see only ‘Appearance » Editor (Beta)’, then that means your theme has Full Site Editing (FSE) enabled. You can click here to skip ahead to the FSE section below.
First, you need to provide a name for your menu, like ‘Top Navigation Menu’, and then click the ‘Create Menu’ button.
This will expand the menu area, and it will look like this:
Next, you can choose the pages you want to add to the menu. You can either automatically add all new top-level pages, or you can select specific pages from the left column.
First, click the ‘View All’ tab to see all your site’s pages. After that click the box next to each of the pages you want to add to your menu, and then click on the ‘Add to Menu’ button.
Once your pages have been added, you can move them around by dragging and dropping them.
This way you can change their order and rearrange them.
Note: All menus have their items listed in a vertical (top to bottom) list in the menu editor. When you put the menu live on your site, it’ll either display vertically or horizontally (left to right), depending on the location you select.
Most themes have several different locations where you can put menus. In this example, we’re using the Astra theme, which has 5 different locations.
After adding pages to the menu, select the location where you want to display the menu and click on the ‘Save Menu’ button.
Tip: If you’re not sure where each location is, try saving the menu in different places, then visit your site to see how it looks. You probably won’t want to use all the locations, but you might want to use more than one.
Here’s our finished menu on the site:
Creating Drop-Down Menus in WordPress
Drop-down menus sometimes called nested menus, are navigation menus with parent and child menu items. When you run your cursor over a parent item, all the child items will appear beneath it in a sub-menu.
To create a submenu, drag an item below the parent item, and then drag it slightly to the right. We’ve done that with 3 sub-items beneath ‘Services’ in our menu:
You can even add multiple layers of dropdowns so that your sub-menu can have a sub-menu. This can end up looking a bit cluttered, and many themes do not support multi-layer drop-down menus.
Here’s the sub-menu live on our demo site:
Adding Categories to WordPress Menus
If you’re using WordPress to run a blog, then you may want to add your blog categories as a drop-down in your WordPress menu.
We do this on WPBeginner and have multiple categories like news, themes, tutorials, and more.
You can easily add categories to your menu by clicking the Categories tab on the left side of the menus screen. You may also need to click the ‘View All’ tab to see all your categories.
Simply select the categories you want to add to the menu, and then click the ‘Add to Menu’ button.
The categories will appear as regular menu items at the bottom of your menu.
Next, you can drag and drop them into position. For example, we’re going to put all of these categories under the Blog menu item.
Here’s how different categories appear in the navigational menu on our demo site:
Adding Custom Links to Your WordPress Navigation Menus
Aside from categories and pages, WordPress also makes it super easy to add custom links to your menu. You can use it to link to your social media profiles, your online store, and other websites that you own.
You will need to use the ‘Custom Links’ tab on the Menu screen. Simply add the link along with the text you want to use in your menu and click the ‘Add to Menu’ button.
Editing or Removing a Menu Item in WordPress Navigation Menus
When you add pages or categories to your custom navigation menu, WordPress uses the page title or category name as the link text. You can change this if you want.
Any menu item can be edited by clicking on the downward arrow next to it.
You can change the name of the menu item here. This is also where you can click ‘Remove’ to take the link off your menu altogether.
If you’re struggling with the drag and drop interface, then you can also move the menu item around by clicking the appropriate ‘Move’ link.
Adding Navigational Menus in Full Site Editor (FSE)
The new full site editor allows you to customize your WordPress themes using the block editor. It was released in WordPress 5.9 and enables you to add different blocks to your templates to create a unique design.
However, the full site editor is still in beta and limited to specific themes that support it. We’ll use the default Twenty Twenty-Two theme for this tutorial. For more details, you can see our article on the best WordPress full site editing themes.
To add a navigational menu using the full site editor, you’ll first need to go to Appearance » Editor from your WordPress dashboard. You can also click the ‘Customize’ button on the Twenty Twenty-Two theme to open the full site editor.
Once you’re in the editor, go ahead and click on the navigational menu that appears at the top of the website header.
Next, you’ll see different options to customize the navigational menu block from the panel on your right.
For instance, you can change the layout, edit the display settings, show a submenu on click, change the color of the text, background, and submenus, and adjust the font size.
For more options such as changing the menu or creating a new one, you can click on the ‘Select Menu’ option to open a dropdown menu.
For example, you can select any menu you previously created under the Classic Menus section.
Simply click the ‘+’ sign to add a block to your navigational menu, and then select an option that appears in the dropdown menu.
The best part about using the full site editor is that you can add a navigational menu block anywhere on your site.
When you’re done, you can preview the changes to see how the menu looks in real-time. Then don’t forget to click the ‘Save’ button at the top.
Adding WordPress Menus in Sidebars and Footers
You don’t have to just stick to the display locations for your theme. You can add navigation menus in any area that uses widgets, like your sidebar or footer.
Simply go to Appearance » Widgets and then click the ‘+’ sign at the top and add the ‘Navigation Menu’ widget block to your sidebar.
Next, add a title for the widget and choose the correct menu from the ‘Select Menu’ dropdown list.
When you’re done, simply click the ‘Update’ button.
This lets you create a drop-down with lots of items including images.
Mega menus are a great option if you have a large site, such as an online store or news site. This type of menu is used by sites like Reuters, Buzzfeed, Starbucks, etc.
FAQs About WordPress Menus
Here are some of the most common questions we hear about WordPress navigation menus from beginners.
1. How do I add a homepage link to a WordPress menu?
To add your homepage to a navigation menu, you’ll need to click the ‘View All’ tab under Pages. From there, you should see your homepage.
Check the box next to ‘Home’ and click ‘Add to Menu’. Don’t forget to save your changes.
2. How do I add multiple navigation menus in WordPress?
In WordPress, you can create as many menus as you like. To place a menu on your website, you’ll need to add it to one of your theme’s menu locations, or to a widget area as we showed above.
To add multiple navigation menus to your WordPress site, first create the menus following our tutorial above.
To place them on your site, click on the ‘Manage Locations’ tab.
From here, you can select which menu you’d like to display in the menu locations that are available in your theme.
