User-Friendly Navigation in Joomla

When you visit any website, it's pretty obvious that your eyes first stare at the stunning, unique images or designs. Shortly after, our focus tends to shift towards the 'Menu Bar'. This instinctive behavior reflects our subconscious desire for navigation options within the website. If we find it comfortable and hassle-free, then we presume that it's somewhat of a good website.

Every popular CMS tries to provide a user-friendly menu bar for greater customer retention. As a result, a User-Friendly navigation in Joomla is a must thing to do if you want to prioritize your visitors with a distinctive online experience.

Now, let’s discuss in depth about the effective user-friendly navigation experience in Joomla.

Necessary Aspects of User-Friendly Navigation in Joomla 

A menu is essential for users to navigate and choose their next destination on a website. Organized, user-friendly, and clear navigation enhances the user experience.

In this regard, you should understand the following three steps for making a user-friendly menu in Joomla:

• Planning: Choose a navigation system for your website based on your target users and create a navigation for it.

• Implementation: You need to create a navigation structure in the backend of your Joomla site’s Menu and Menu items.  

• Presentation: You need to add the Modules for the Menu to your Joomla site’s template.

Now, let’s dig deeper into the above points.

Planning 

Be cautious at the beginning, keep the structure simple and clear for effective planning. Ensure each page is easily accessible within two clicks for users. Deeply structured navigations are outdated and not suitable for mobile devices. As a Joomla developer, always create a concept before website implementation. Use tools like pencil and paper to plan your navigation layout in a draft.

Which Type of Menu You Can Find on Joomla? 

You can have lots of customizable menus in Joomla. However, the widely used template is called the Cassiopeia. It can be found on the Joomla version 4.0. This template lets you create a horizontal menu with which you can create expandable or collapsed types.

When you choose the expanded one, every menu option will be visible. However, collapsed are those where the buttons are visible at first glance. If you are familiar with the famous ‘’Hamburger Icon’’ then it will be easier for you to understand. Apart from that, menus can also be displayed vertically, usually in the menu's sidebars like the dropdown menu.

You can see different categories of Cassiopeia templates in the below image:

Implementation 

If you are done with the planning stage, then it’s your time to begin the implementation stage. In this stage, you need to put greater effort into the Joomla backend to build a seamless menu experience for your users.

You need to work in the Joomla backend's "Menus" section in the first phase. Then, you should install the ‘Blog Sample Data’ if this is a fresh installation. This will help you follow along with us as we go through the menu workflow in detail. Refer to the image below to see how to install sample data for blogs:

Menus 

Where Can You Modify on Menus?

The Menu block is located in the Administration dashboard's left sidebar. Some menus will already be installed if you have installed sample data. In addition, you can click on any of these menus to open it, or use the menu button at the top to create a new one.

You can see Cassiopeia’s one of many Menu Overviews or items in the link form, from the above image.

How Do You Make or Alter a Menu?

Click the title of a menu to open it, or click the "New" button to create a new one. Then, your website will have a minimum of one menu, but unlike other CMSs, you can have more than one menu. When you arrange the menus in the website's modules in the third step, you may select which menu goes on which page, where it appears on the page, and which user group can modify or even view that menu.

You will be surprised to know that less input is required, like a unique name, a purposeful description, and an occasional áccess right’ for the user groups in this aspect.

This image shows the exact thing described above.

Items in the Menu 

Once you have established your menu, then it's time for you to build the menu items or the links to your pages. As you can see from the menu overview below, there are numerous options available for you to insert items into a menu. Whichever direction you are coming from, the menu options will be displayed. This is where the site's bottom menu and published items are shown (not the administrative interface). To add a new menu item, click the "New" button at the top. To update an existing item, you can click the title.

A Menu Item comprises a title and a particular page on your website. This can a blog, an article, or a login/contact form. For your convenience, we recommend you look at the below list of page types:

• A Solo Article

• A blog by category in many different types

• A list of contact or a contact form

• An external website

• A tag list

Now the Menu Item needs to be linked to a menu, and since this is a ‘Tree Structure’, the parent item needs to be supplied. Then again, it is assigned to the menu's root item by default.

A frequently used menu item for a specific article page is shown on the screen. The system requests the article details and gives you the choice to create the article immediately. The link will be accessible to everyone (public) and included in the main menu at the root level.

With this setting, you can enjoy numerous advantages like: 

• Provide the page with a different look by using a different template.

• Limit access to the link to only logged-in users or a certain user group.

• Article details can be shown or hidden, as well as links and titles.

• You can use a pic as a link or add a picture to the link.

However, keep in mind that each item on the menu might have its definition. All of the menu item's settings take precedence over the corresponding page's settings.

Successful Presentation 

After successful implementation, you need to display your menus on the website. For contemporary Joomla websites, a header section with a horizontal menu bar is the de facto standard. Display the standard menu as sticky, centered, with expanded or collapsed defaults. Sidebars and bottom of the page are common locations for menus, which can vary from multi-column sitemaps to simple legal items.

How Glossy IT Can Help You Choose the Best User-Friendly Navigation Process in Joomla 

There was a time when a lot of Joomla website owners needed help finding the perfect collaborator to work with. Again, some of them also strived for better assistance on a day-to-day basis. However, we proudly claim that our expert and experienced Joomla Development Service team has ended that gap successfully. With proven global project experience, our team is ready to provide you with the best service with a budget-friendly quote.

Feel free to give us a shout on making your Joomla navigation more user-friendly and engaging.   

Ending Remarks 

Customization of the Joomla site’s menu is not an easy task at all. It requires the necessary knowledge and technical ability. However, you can step onto this user-friendly navigation modification arena easily with our above-mentioned actionable features. Then again, we will recommend you seek expert assistance whenever you feel confused at any stage.