Creating and Managing Menus in Joomla 6

Menus are a core part of every Joomla website. They control how users navigate your site and what content they can access. In Joomla 6, managing menus is easier than ever, thanks to a cleaner interface and new layout options.

1. What Are Menus in Joomla?

In Joomla, a menu is a list of links that point to different parts of your website — like pages, categories, or external URLs. Each menu contains multiple menu items, and each menu item links to a specific piece of content or function.

For example:

• Main Menu – your primary navigation (Home, Blog, Contact, About).
• Footer Menu – links at the bottom of your site.
• User Menu – links available only to logged-in users.

2. Viewing and Managing Menus

To access the Menu Manager:

• Go to Menus → Manage → All Menus.
• You’ll see a list of existing menus and their assigned modules.
• Click any menu name (e.g., Main Menu) to view its items.

3. Creating a New Menu

• Go to Menus → Manage → Add New Menu.
• Enter the following details:

• Title: The name of the menu (e.g., “Footer Menu”).
• Menu Type: A short identifier (e.g., “footer”).
• Description: Optional note about what the menu is used for.

Click Save & Close to create your new menu.

4. Adding Menu Items

• Go to Menus → [Your Menu Name] (for example, Main Menu).
• Click New.
• Choose a Menu Item Type — for example, “Articles → Single Article”.
• Select the article you want to link to.
• Enter a Menu Title (the name that appears on the site).
• Click Save & Close.

Your new menu item will now appear in your website’s navigation.

5. Organizing Menu Hierarchy

You can create submenu items by nesting menu items under others.

• Drag a menu item slightly to the right beneath another item in the list.
• This makes it a “child” item — useful for dropdown menus.

For example:

• Blog
• Joomla Tutorials
• Performance Tips

6. Linking Menus to Modules

Menus only appear on your site when they’re assigned to a menu module:

• Go to Content → Site Modules.
• Find the module named after your menu (e.g., “Main Menu”).
• Click to edit it and choose a Position (like “menu” or “sidebar”).
• Click Save & Close.

This tells Joomla where to display your menu in your template layout.

7. Setting the Default Home Page

Every Joomla site needs one menu item set as the Home page.

• In your menu list, click the star icon next to the page you want to be your homepage.
• The icon turns yellow — that’s your new default Home.

8. Assigning Menus to Specific Pages

You can control which pages each menu appears on:

• Open your menu module (in Site Modules).
• Under Menu Assignment, choose “Only on Selected Pages.”
• Tick the pages you want the menu to appear on.

9. Tips for Menu Organization

• Keep main menus simple — 5–7 items is ideal.
• Use submenus for detailed sections like tutorials or product categories.
• Always assign a module position; otherwise, the menu won’t appear.
• Use consistent naming conventions for better user experience.

10. Summary

Menus are the backbone of your Joomla 6 website’s navigation. With a clear structure and thoughtful hierarchy, you can guide visitors smoothly through your content.

In the next tutorial, you’ll learn how to display content dynamically using Modules in Joomla 6.