Option #1: WordPress Adds Pages to Your Menu by Default

Unless you use custom menus, WordPress will add any new PAGES you create to your menu.

• Sub-menu items and dropdowns. You can make any page a sub menu item by giving it a “Parent.” When adding / editing a page, look on the far right for the Parent page setting.
• Ordering your menus. You can order your menu items by giving each item an “order” number. When adding / editing a page, just look on the far right for the “Order” field and enter a number. ALL pages must have an order number for this to work.
• Adding links to other sites. You CANNOT add external links unless you use custom menus – see below.
• Exclude pages. You can exclude pages by installing the exclude pages plugin. For installation instructions, see our recommended plugins page.

Option #2: Use Custom Menus for Greater Flexibility

Although using custom menus adds an extra step to menu management, we recommend using them for the additional flexibility.

• Overview. Pages will no longer appear automatically on your menu. You must go to Appearance > Menus. Create a menu. Add the pages you want. Drag and drop to arrange. Return to add new pages to your menu later.
• Header and Footer menus. You can now create header and footer menus. Set your header menu to “Primary”. If you want a footer menu, create another menu and set it to “footer.”
• Sub-menu items and dropdowns. You can make any page a sub menu item by dragging it under another page and indenting it a bit.
• Ordering your menus. Drag and drop menu items to re-order them.
• Adding links to other sites. You CAN add external links. Use the “Custom Link” box – add the URL, the name of the menu item, and click create.
• Exclude pages. To exclude pages, just leave them off the menu.