This guide requires a user within a Group with a Moderator or Manager group role. If you don't have either capability, you will NOT be able to make the necessary changes.


TABLE OF CONTENTS


Different menus are available to groups, these include:

  • Main Menu. Displayed in the header of your site, on the right, under the Search box. The main navigation also gives your site pages a structure see, "Change the Path or URL of a Page" below.
  • Secondary Menu. Displayed in the header of your site, on the right, over the Search box, in a smaller font than the Main menu.
  • Footer Menu. Displayed in the footer of your site, next to the address.
  • Social Menu. Displayed in the footer of your site, on the left, below the address.


In the Main Menu Navigation, subpages get added to the In This Section dropdown (see photo above). Users need to click the In This Section button in order to see the list of subpages.  You will only see this button if your page has subpages.



Add a Page to a Menu

When adding a page to a menu, we must use a special group-specific link format to add group content to that site's navigation. 

Drupal will then transform this into user-friendly URL formats when viewed on the public-facing site and update if any changes are made to the URL.

  1. From your Group Homepage or Content tab, navigate to the Group Menus tab
  2. Select the Menu you want to work with.
  3. Then to add another page to that menu, click Add Link
  4. Enter the Menu Link Title as needed. This is usually the same as the page's title but you can change it, for example, if it is too long.
  5. Copy and paste the Link to Group Content in the Link field. Ensure it doesn't add extra blank spacing before or after.
    • These links can be found on the Group Content tab, in the column Link to Group Content,
      i.e., group/{group_id}/nodes/{group_content_id}.

    • We have found it helps to open two browser windows, one with the Content tab list and one with navigation editing. This makes finding and copying this information much easier.
    • More on these links
  6. And click Save at the bottom


  1. Once a link has been added to a menu
  2. You can use the 4-way arrow to click-and-drag the link to the location you desire
    • You can drag a link under and to the right of another link to nest it as a subpage.
      • Nesting links ONLY applies to the Main Menu. Other menus will NOT display nested links.

  3. Once finished rearranging, use the Save button at the bottom of the page.


Change the Path or URL of a Page


The Main Menu also gives your site its structure. By placing a page within this menu, the page URL will be updated to match the location within the menu. To change the path of a page:

  1. Navigate to the Main Menu of your group
  2. Add or locate the target page
  3. Move the page under the desired "parent" page
    • For example, if you move it under About, the URL of that page will become: /about/page-title.
  4. And Save



IMPORTANT
Once the Main Menu has been modified, the paths must be regenerated. Currently, only the Web Team can perform this function.

Please submit a ticket with Web Team to have the paths updated after updating a menu.



Other Notes for Group Sites


New Group Sites Should Prioritize Building the Main Menu

When creating a website, it's crucial to prioritize building the main menu. This menu establishes the website's information architecture. It's best to refrain from working on other menus until the main menu has been established.


Footer Menu Supersedes Main Menu Paths

A page’s placement in the footer menu supersedes its position in the main menu and, in turn, throws off the URL path generated. Only add to the footer menu items that are top-tier pages (based on their position) in the main menu. Pathauto will use its location in the Footer Menu to generate its URL regardless of where it is positioned within the main menu,

e.g., publichealth.jhu.edu/[center-root]/[top-tier-page]


If a page deeper in the Main Menu must be added to the Footer Menu, use the path generated by the Main Menu, not its node reference.