This tutorial will show you how to create top bar navigation that pulls directly from your top-level pages. It will automatically create rollover drop-downs of all of your sub-level pages as well.
First thing, you need to review your primary navigation to cull your menu down to size. Usually you want no more than 5 – 7 links on a top bar, and you want to keep the link names short. For info on how to cull your menu, visit this tutorial.
If you think your current list of top-level pages is succinct enough to fit on a horizontal navigation bar, then take these steps to activate it:
Create a blank menu
Go to “Appearance > Menus.”
First, you’ll need to create and name a new blank menu. In this instance, I’m calling mine “Top Bar”. Name the menu, check off the box to automatically add top-level pages, and save.
- Click on the image above for an enlarged view
After you have saved a blank menu, on that same screen, look at the left-hand side. You will see several drop-down menus that give placeholders for your custom menu. In this case, you want to place your new menu into the Primary Navigation container. Once you’ve done that, click “save.”
Enable the menu to display
Go to Genesis > Theme Settings
Scroll down the page until you see “Secondary Navigation.” Check off the box next to “Enable Secondary Navigation.” Do NOT check off “Enable Fancy Dropdowns.”
Scroll up to the top of the page and click “Save Settings.”
Now, go to your page, and you should see your top-level links on your top bar:
The image above depicts a menu generated from an automatic list of primary navigation links.
That’s it!
