#  Managing menus 

 



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## How to manage menus and menu items

Note that **Site Administrators** and **Content Editors** can access menu management features.

### Step 1: Choose a menu to edit

1. Navigate to **Menus** to see a list of editable site menus (under **Site Settings** for **Site Administrators**; in the main menu for **Content Editors**).
2. Select **Edit menu** from the **Operations** menu of the menu you wish to edit (see [Menus](/resource/menus "Menus") for details about different types of menus).

### Step 2: Add a menu item

1. From the **Edit menu** page, select the **Add link** button.
2. Enter the following details for the new menu link: 
    1. **Menu link title:** The menu link title should be similar to or the same as the title of the linked content.
    2. **Link:** The best approach to providing the link location is to enter the first few letters of the name of the linked content in the autocomplete **Link** menu; then select the desired content from the menu.
    3. **Language:** See [Language Support](/resource/language-support "Language Support") to change your website's default language.
    4. **Parent link:** Locate the linked content within the site menus using the **Parent link menu**. Select **<Main navigation>** to include the content as a top-level link in the main site menu. Select a section or subsection link as the parent link to include the linked content as a submenu item.
    5. **Display** **settings > Weight:** The weight determines the order of the link within the selected menu. We recommend using the menu management features (for example, **Parent link** menu or **Drag** control) instead of weight values.
    6. **Description:** In most cases a link description is unnecessary. We recommend leaving this field blank.
3. Click on **Save** to save the menu item.

### Step 3: Arrange menu items

1. From the **Edit menu** page, review the listing view of all the menu items.
2. To reorder menu items, use the **Drag** control at the start of each menu item to reorder items in the list.
3. To restructure menus, use the **Drag** icon to indent items in the list to indicate main menu items and submenu items.

   ![Screenshot of Menus edit page showing menu items list with items arranged hierarchically, checkboxes to show/hide menu items, and operations menu.](/sites/g/files/omnuum1651/files/styles/hwp_1_1__720x720_scale/public/2024-10/screenshot_menu_list.png?itok=Xw5ln-5O) 

 

Use the **Drag** controls to change the order of menu items and to change the structure of main and submenu items. 4. Select the **Show in main navigation** and **Show in section navigation checkboxes** as needed show or hide display of menu items.
5. Click **Save** when you have finished arranging the menu.

   ![Screenshot showing page with callout numbers marking the site menu, breadcrumb navigation, and section navigation.](/sites/g/files/omnuum1651/files/styles/hwp_1_1__720x720_scale/public/2024-10/screenshot_navigation_menus.png?itok=aodOdWGS) 

 

Settings for **Main navigation** define the structure and links for the main navigation **(1)**, breadcrumb navigation **(2)**, and section navigation **(3)**. 

 

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##  Related how-tos 

 



  [### Adding content to menus

 ](/adding-content-to-menus)Learn how to add links to your menus.



 

 

   ![hree people dressed in Chinese clothing performing a dance with colored ribbons](/sites/g/files/omnuum1651/files/styles/hwp_16_9__480x270/public/2024-03/thumb_add_to_menu.jpg?itok=2lW22nNJ) 

 



 

 

  

 

 

 

 

##  Related resources 

 



  [### Highlight important actions in navigation (VIDEO)

 ](/resource/highlight-important-actions-navigation-video)How to use the Featured Link setting to highlight an important menu item on your site.



 

 

   ![a person tapping on a virtual menu in front of them](/sites/g/files/omnuum1651/files/styles/hwp_16_9__480x270/public/2026-06/AdobeStock_2027212164.jpeg?itok=JVJfZM4V) 

 



 

 

   [### Menus

 ](/resource/menus)How to work with different site menus, including Main Navigation, Utility Navigation, and Footer Navigation.



 

 

   ![Curved fence with rails of alternating pride colors in front of a modern geometric building.](/sites/g/files/omnuum1651/files/styles/hwp_16_9__480x270/public/2024-10/thumb_menus_resource.jpg?itok=BDLg5NdG) 

 



 

 

   [### Menus, navigation, & taxonomy: How it all works (VIDEO)

 ](/resource/menus-navigation-taxonomy-how-it-all-works-video)Understand how menus, navigation, and taxonomy work together in HarvardSites.



 

 

   ![a man using a laptop computer looking at a website](/sites/g/files/omnuum1651/files/styles/hwp_16_9__480x270/public/2026-04/AdobeStock_404126844%20copy.jpeg?itok=hqyArXPZ) 

 



 

 

  

 

 

 

 

 



 

 See also:- [ How-tos ](/content-structure/how-tos)
- [ Menus ](/general-site-management/menus)