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Joomla User Manual

Manual Index

Menu Items

Introduction

Menu items are the basic navigation units of a Joomla site. After arrival on a site Home page most menu items lead to other pages on the site. There are many different menu item types. For example: a Single Article menu item type will link to a single article; a Category Blog menu item type will lead to a page with a layout featuring tasters for several articles. A URL menu item type is used to link to an external site.

Menu Item Types

Menu item types are defined in each component that has site views. The Joomla core has about 10 such components, each with several views giving a total of over 30 types. The following screenshot shows the Menus: All Menu Items list with a selection of menu item types beneath the menu title in the Title column:

menu items list

Adding a Menu Item

To add a new menu item it is best to start from the menu you wish to add it to:

  • Select Menus → Main Menu or whichever menu you wish to add to.
  • In the Menus: Items (Main Menu) list select the New button in the Toolbar.

In the Menus: New Item form:

  • In the Title field enter a suitable short title for the menu item.
  • In the Menu Item Type field use the Select button to open the Menu Item Type dialog box.

menu items select type

  • Select whichever type you need, in this example a Single Article type.

The Menus: New Item data entry form will change to display fields that are relevant to the type. For the Single Article item type:

  • In the Select Article field use the Select button to open an Articles list dialog from which to select an article.
  • With the article selected check that it is being added to the correct menu in the Menu field at the right.
  • Save
  • If you wish to change the order of this item in the menu use the Ordering field at the right. By default it is last. You can make it First or to come after any other menu item you select.

menu items edit item

  • View the site to check that it is what you want.

Edit Form Tabs

Each menu item type has a specific set of appropriate fields. Each type also has a specific set of tabs to organise its fields. Some are common to many menu item types. For example, Options, Page Display, Link Type, Metadata and Menu Assignment are common to most. Blog Layout is common to Featured Articles and Category Blog menu item types. Information on these tabs may be found elsewhere.