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How to Create a Menu in WordPress

Quick answer

Create a WordPress menu using the interface your theme and permissions provide. Classic themes normally use Appearance → Menus: add links, order them, assign a supported location and save. Block themes use a Navigation block in the Site Editor. Check the public destinations, submenu behaviour and mobile overlay after saving; an editor preview alone is not enough.

For WordPress owners creating classic or block-theme navigation and checking that saved links work in the actual public layout.

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Read time: 5 min
Sections: 8
Updated: 14 Nov 2026
Written by: WebJi® team

Last editorial update: 14 November 2026.

Where you create a menu in WordPress

The menu screen depends on the theme. If Appearance lists Menus, use that. A block theme normally uses the Site Editor and Navigation block; permissions or custom configuration can also affect which controls appear. If it lists Customize, you can also build the menu there and see it in the preview before you publish.

Where you create a menu in WordPress
What Appearance shows	Where you build the menu	How you know it worked
Menus	Appearance, then Menus, then Create Menu	Save Menu, then the ticked location shows the labels
Editor	Navigation block in the header template	Save in the Editor, then refresh the public site
Customize	Customize, then Menus, then Create New Menu	The preview updates, then Publish makes it public

Use Customize when you want a live preview. Open Appearance, then Customize, then Menus. Add links to the menu that is already there, or click Create New Menu, name it, and tick one location. Click Publish. Until you publish, only the preview has the change.

How to create your first menu in WordPress

On a classic theme, an Administrator does this under Appearance, then Menus. If WordPress is not on the site yet, install WordPress first, then open this screen.

Click create a new menu. Type a name such as Primary. Visitors never see this name. Click Create Menu.
Tick the pages you want on the left and click Add to Menu. For Home, use Custom Links and your site address if Home is not in the Pages list.
Drag the rows in Menu Structure until the order matches the header you want.
Under Menu Settings, tick one display location. Header, Primary, Top, or Main is the top bar on most themes.
Click Save Menu. Open the site in a private window and click each label. Each one should open the page you added.

Leave Auto add pages unchecked unless every new page should join this menu on its own. A normal brochure site stays clearer when you add pages yourself.

How to add pages, posts, categories and custom links

The left column is Add menu items. Pages lists published pages. Posts lists single posts. Categories lists blog sections. A category is the usual blog item in a header. A single post belongs in the menu only when that post is a permanent destination.

Custom Links takes any URL. Set the URL to your site address and the link text to Home when the Pages box has no Home entry. The same box adds an outside site. The new row sits at the bottom until you drag it and click Save Menu.

Create or verify the destination content and check its public URL before adding it; categories link to archive destinations.
The navigation label can differ from the page title. Expand the item to edit it.
Nothing reaches the header until Save Menu.

How to assign a WordPress menu to the header or footer

Menu Settings lists the locations this theme registered. Tick the one you want and click Save Menu. Footer or Secondary is the bottom list. The wording is the theme's, so match it to the empty slot you can see on the site.

A footer list should be a second menu with its own name. Tick only the footer location on that menu. Two menus ticked for the same header location leave one of them unused, which looks like a missing menu.

Social Links is not the page menu. It expects profile URLs and many themes print icons there. Leave it unticked for Home, About, and Contact.

After you change the WordPress theme, the menu remains saved, but its location assignment may need to be adapted. The new theme has its own location names. Open the menu, tick the new header location, and save. That is why a menu seems to vanish after Activate.

How a block theme creates a menu with the Navigation block

Open Appearance, then Editor. Select the header template, or click the header in the site preview. Select the Navigation block if it is already in the header. If it is not, add one from the block inserter by searching for Navigation.

You can start empty and add each link with the plus control. You can select a menu saved earlier under Menus. Or you can add all pages, which also inserts pages you publish later. Reorder that all-pages list only after you convert it to separate links.

For a dropdown, select the parent and add a link under it, or drag the child under the parent in List View. Click Save in the Editor, then refresh the public site. The Navigation block has overlay settings for mobile display; test the configured menu on a phone.

The WordPress Navigation block documentation describes saved menus, submenu controls and mobile overlays. A Page List automatically includes published pages until converted to individual links; removing a menu item does not delete the linked content.

The block editor guide helps with selecting and moving nested blocks. Test the link destinations and keyboard or tap interaction after saving rather than relying only on the editor preview.

What to do when Appearance Menus is missing

A missing Menus item can reflect the theme, account permissions or custom configuration. On a block theme, build the list with the Navigation block in the Editor. Your older menus are still stored. The block can select them. A classic theme shows Appearance, then Menus, again if you switch back.

A theme that is only a canvas for a page builder, including Elementor, often has no header location either. Create the menu under Menus when that screen exists. Then edit the header template in the builder and add its navigation widget, pointed at that menu. The links stay off the site until that widget is in the header.

How to rename a WordPress menu item or add a CSS class

Expand the item in Menu Structure. Navigation Label is the text in the header. It can be shorter than the page title. Change it, click Save Menu, and confirm the new word in a private window.

Open Screen Options at the top of the Menus screen and tick CSS Classes. Each item then has a class field. The class only does something if the theme stylesheet already has a rule for it. A menu walker is PHP in the theme that rebuilds the HTML. You do not need one to create the menu or to place it.

On WordPress hosting from WebJi®, this change is in the WordPress dashboard. Email support@webji.services if the dashboard will not load. That mailbox is 24/7 in Hindi and English, and the first reply averages under 60 minutes. Do not call the office number for support.

FAQ

Frequently asked questions

How do I create a menu in WordPress?

Open Appearance, then Menus, click create a new menu, name it, and click Create Menu. Add pages or custom links, tick a display location such as Header, and click Save Menu. On a block theme, use the Navigation block under Appearance, then Editor.

How do I add a dropdown to a WordPress menu?

In Menu Structure, drag the child item slightly to the right under its parent, then click Save Menu. On a block theme, select the parent in the Navigation block and add a submenu item under it. The child shows when you hover or tap the parent.

Where is Appearance Menus on a block theme?

A block theme replaces that screen with Appearance, then Editor. Open the header template, select the Navigation block, and add pages or pick a menu you already saved. If both Editor and Menus are listed, Menus still works.

How do I add a WordPress menu to the footer?

Create a menu, or open an existing one, and tick the footer display location under Menu Settings, then Save Menu. If the theme has no footer location, add a second Navigation block to the footer template in the Editor and choose that menu.

Why did my WordPress menu disappear after a theme change?

The menu is still saved. The new theme uses different location names, so the old assignment is empty. Open the menu, tick the new header location, and save. After a switch to a block theme, select that saved menu inside the Navigation block.

Last editorial update: 14 November 2026.

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