Navigation and Menus

Your site's navigation is like a table of contents — it shows visitors what’s available and helps them move around easily. The navigation is made up of a menu, which is the list of choices people see on the side of your site.

Within the menu, there are two main types of items:

Main menu items: The top-level categories of your site (examples: Home, About, Programs, Events, Resources). These are always visible in the menu.
Subpages: Pages that live under a main menu item. Subpages can appear in the menu as submenu items in a dropdown beneath their parent page (for example, “Mission & Vision” under “About”).

Good menus make it simple for people to find what they need. Complicated menus frustrate users and bury your most important content. This page will help you decide what belongs in the menu, when to use subpages, and how to avoid common mistakes.

Example: How It Looks vs. How It’s Structured

How it Looks

Screenshot of a vertical website navigation menu with the items: Home, About, Programs, Events, Resources, Contact Us — Example of a website navigation menu with links to Home, About, Programs, Events, Resources, Contact Us

How it’s Structured

Main menu item: About
- Subpage: Mission & Vision
- Subpage: Our History
Main menu item: Programs
- Subpage: 4-H
- Subpage: Master Gardeners
- Subpage: Nutrition Education
Main menu item: Events
- Subpage: Upcoming Events
- Subpage: Training & Workshops
Main menu item: Resources
- Subpage: Publications
- Subpage: Toolkits
- Subpage: Policies
Main menu item: Contact Us
- (no subpages)

Important: Don’t Use Submenu Items as Links

When you create a subpage, you can choose for it to appear in the menu.

Drupal does include a feature called Remote Content that can turn a menu item into a link (like a button that points to an internal or external site or resource). Do not use this feature except in extremely limited cases. If you believe you have a qualifying case, contact IT before using it.

Menu items are not for:

Linking to external websites
Linking directly to PDFs, Word files, or other documents

Your menu should reflect real subpages within your site.

If you need to point visitors to external resources or documents, add the links in the body of your page where they have context. This keeps your main menu clean, predictable, and easy to use.

Do’s and Don’ts of Navigation

Do:

Keep your main menu to 5–7 items
Make sure every menu item links to real, useful content
Keep main menu labels short and clear (e.g., “Events” instead of “Calendar of All Upcoming Events”)
Put the most important main menu items first (Home, About, Programs)
Use title case for labels (e.g., “Explore Our Programs”)

Don’t:

Don’t overload your main menu with too many items
Don’t create blank “holder” pages that have no content
Don’t use vague labels like “Miscellaneous” or “More”
Don’t use subpages as links to external sites, PDF files, Word docs. Put those links in the page content instead
Don’t use ALL CAPS, exclamation points (!), or unnecessary punctuation in labels

Want to Learn More?

The W3C Web Accessibility Initiative: Navigation Menus explains why accessible navigation matters and offers practical tips for building menus that work for everyone.