When Page Navigation Needs Some Help
I love WordPress, and I love the choice in themes, some that even allow you to choose categories over pages for the top or side navigation menu. However, as in most cases, I want both. I can’t help it, as I just seem to immediately want more than any basic software can provide. So, I find a way to get it done.
Using real estate as an example, I wanted dropdown page navigation across the top of my blog, but there were some issues:
- I want to have pages for visitor access, but I don’t want to design and keep changing them.
- I wanted a lot of them, as I have a lot of sub-topics under which my visitors might want to access information:
- Negotiation process
- Transaction process
- Building and development codes
- Land use regulations
There are more, but you’re getting the idea. I want the site visitor who is familiar with button page navigation to locate my information efficiently. But, I also don’t want a lot of layout and page design to make it happen.
Solution – Using categories in conjunction with the Angsuman Permanent Redirect plugin got the job done. By categorizing posts for main topics, such as one category for each of the bullet items above, I have all the related posts together when that category page is called for display. By creating a “Page” and redirecting it to the category page link, I then can send the visitor to all posts about a topic with one Page Navigation Click.
Step-by-Step –
- You’ll need to choose a theme that offers dropdown navigation along the top of the page. There are some plugins out there that say they can create this dropdown functionality in most themes that don’t have it. However, I’ve looked at a couple, and they require messing around in the header code, so I would rather just find a theme that’s already set up for it.
- Install and activate the Angsuman Permanent Redirect plugin.
- Post as you normally would to the blog, paying special attention to proper categorization. Categorize your posts however you want.
- Once you have identified categories that merit a navigation button in the dropdown at the top, just create a page. Leave the body of the page blank, and use the redirect plugin in Custom Fields to point the page to the category. Look at the Real Estate > Negotiations menu options at the top of this real estate site to see it working.
Using dropdown navigation and redirecting to categories allows your visitor a great deal of detail in how to locate what they want, but doesn’t use a lot of screen space. It also, once set up, allows you to forget about it. You just keep posting to the appropriate categories, and it all just works!
[important]There’s an instructional video in the Premium Content below the Related Artciles.[/important]
Related Articles:
{+++}
Download Free Database Layouts
Tagged as: categories, navigation, pages, posts, redirect, wordpress
Entries(RSS)
“You’ll need to choose a theme that offers dropdown navigation along the top of the page.”
This is great advice – but which theme is that ? Unfortunately I have yet to come across one.
Leo,
Thanks for the comment. Unfortunately, I don’t think that dropdown navigation is a search option in most cases.
I normally just find themes that look like they meet my other needs and go to their demo and check. Here’s a link to a plugin that says it will make your navigation dropdown:
http://wordpressgarage.com/plugins/wordpress-plugin-easily-creates-drop-down-navigation/