Module: Content modeling guide

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Model navigation

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Website navigation helps users find the content they are looking for. Well-ordered navigation menus provide an overview of how the website’s content or its segments are structured. It can also keep users engaged and lead them to explore more of the site.

There are different approaches to modeling navigation that you can consider. The following text highlights the recommended approach. At the same time, your project requirement might differ and you’ll need to reach for a different approach for modeling navigation. That’s why we have collected examples suitable for Xperience projects into a dedicated model website navigation guide.

We recommend modeling website navigation via reusable content items. Developers prepare dedicated content types for individual Navigation items as well as for the Website navigation as a whole. Editors then manually build the website navigation in the content hub. Based on the site’s designs, they create the hierarchy and desired order of individual menu items that developers then display in the relevant locations. The editors can also organize the content items used for website navigation into folders in the content hub. This way they can make the menu hierarchy more visual and easily see in which channel application the navigation items are used.

What about modeling navigation using dedicated website pages without URLs within the content tree which was common in Kentico 13 and older versions?

In Xperience, this approach is less optimal, as it clutters the content tree with items that do not represent actual pages on the live site, which can be confusing to your content editors. See the guide about navigation to learn about additional options and practices to follow if you decide to place navigation into the content tree.

You can also ask developers to build a custom Menu widget. Editors can place the widget into appropriate section and select which content items the widget processes into a submenu. Similarly, you can request a custom Breadcrumbs menu widget. When an editor places the widget onto the page, the widget automatically displays the breadcrumb path to the page’s location.

Depending on your project’s requirements, the Navigation item content type may contain some or all of the following properties:

  • Page to link to – a page from the content tree that is selectable using the Page selector. The selector populates its assigned field with the GUID of the selected page, which developers can use to retrieve the URL of the linked page.
  • Depending on the project’s requirements, you may want to add some of the following fields:
    • External link
    • Link title
    • Link caption
    • Link icon
    • Additional properties (e.g., open in a new tab)

The Website navigation content type then contains all the Navigation items that are displayed in the navigation menu.

For more information and a sample implementation, see Model website navigation. For complex overview of approaches to modeling navigation, see a dedicated guide Model website navigation.

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