Using the Navigation Menu Builder - Best practices

The Navigation Menu builder that we provide within the WebStarts website editor is extremely flexible, allowing you many different ways to display and make use of it on your website. The possibilities are seemingly endless. That said, there are a few things that we suggest you do to make the most of your navigation menu...

1. Adding a menu to a page - To add the menu to a page, if not already on that page, simply click Add in the sidebar, followed by Menu. This will drop the menu on to the page where it can then me moved around and placed accordingly.
2. Keep your menu in your header - Once added to a page, I would strongly suggest placing it in to your Header. If you are not currently using the Header feature, I would consider using it as it is extremely helpful in terms of maintaining site consistency. In the same token, the Footer should be used as well if not being used already. For help with the Header and Footer, take a look at this: http://help.webstarts.com/article/368-working-with-the-header-and-footer
   
   Once placed inside the Header and saved, you will see that the Menu now shows up in the same place on every single page of the site. The importance of the consistency in where the navigation is located on your web pages can not be overstated. You do not want your site visitors to have to search around your website for the Navigation bar each time they visit a new page.
   
   If not using the Header, the menu will still show in the same place on every page by default, but you will no longer have the option to not display it. It is either on or off for the whole website in this case.
3. Arrange the pages in your menu - You can arrange the pages within the menu using the Pages section in the sidebar. Click Pages and then drag up and down to change the order in which your pages are shown within the editor.
   
   
4. Keep the pages in your menu to a manageable number - Websites come in all shapes and sizes and where some sites require just a few pages, others may require hundreds. This does not mean that all of these pages need to be on your navigation bar though. Keep the pages on your Navigation bar to a manageable number. You will quickly overwhelm your site visitors with too many directions. The ultimate goal is for you to direct the way your visitors interact with your website. Keep the important stuff on the menu and then link to the subsequent pages using either sub pages or secondary navigation.
   
   
5. How to create a sub-page - Creating sub pages in the menu is done similarly to how you re-order a page. Instead of dragging up or down to reorder, you can drag left and right to set a page as a sub-page of another. You can even create a sub-sub-page should you wish to do so by dragging a page to be a sub-page of a page which is already a sub-page.
6. Changing the style of your menu
   1. You can change the color and style of the menu by selecting the menu, then click Edit Style. Select the style you prefer from the provided options and review other settings and styles as needed. 
   2. To change the orientation or behavior of the menu, click the Settings Cog icon. Choose whether you want a vertical or horizontal menu or how you want the buttons to behave.

As you can see, there are quite a few ways to make use of the menu. Just remember what the goal of the menu is: To provide a clear and concise way to navigate your website.