WordPress.com

1. dekleverton
   Member
   Aug 8, 2012, 2:54 PM

   I am exploring different set up possibilites through my wordpress.com site (not currently public) in order to help another wordpress.com user set up their site. I know that I could create a diary for them by adding a parent page (Diary) then a child page for each day of the week (they run a complimentary health centre). But, could I hide these from the navigation bar and, rather than having them drop down, simply have the list of days showing in a fresh menu in the side column via a menu widget? If so how would I hide the parent page from the navigation bar but still access the day pages for the menu?

   The blog I need help with is dekleverton.wordpress.com.

2. timethief
   Member
   Aug 8, 2012, 2:57 PM

   We organize our posts by assigning Categories to them. When we publish a post it automatically appears on the running page for posts and also on the Categories pages and Archives pages. Note: There must be one published post in each Category in order for there to be anything to display.

   A custom menu allows you to display Categories with drop-downs to sub-categories in tabs along the horizontal navigation where normally only Pages tabs are displayed. If you wish you can also include Pages with drop-downs to sub-pages and/or Tags pages and/or Custom Links in your custom menu as well. You are in charge of what appears in a custom menu. You choose the order in which to display any and/or all the foregoing in your custom menu. You choose which to display and which to hide. http://en.support.wordpress.com/menus

   Here’s a link to a custom menu walkthrough > http://onecoolsitebloggingtips.com/2011/08/11/wordpress-com-custom-menu-walk-through/

   There are many common errors, misunderstanding and misconceptions when creating custom menus and you can read about them here > http://wpbtips.wordpress.com/2011/12/19/custom-menus/

3. dekleverton
   Member
   Aug 9, 2012, 11:27 AM

   Thanks timethief. That's a very clear article and a blog I will certainly return to. I understand how I can use or hide whichever pages I want to in my (vertical) custom menu. What I was looking for, but perhaps isn't possible, was to exclude the diary pages I had created from the default (horizontal) menu/navigation bar in my wordpress.com theme, which is Twenty Eleven. So I would end up with all of the main pages of the site (Home, About, Blog etc) along under the header image but with the diary pages only showing in a simple vertical list in the right hand column. Perhaps that's too complicated in the .com version of wordpress. Thanks again...Dek

4. justpi
   Member
   Aug 9, 2012, 11:51 AM

   No, it's not too complicated. The whole point of custom menus is that they display what you tell them to display. If you want a custom group of items in the nav bar and a different group of custom items in your sidebar, you create these two menus in Appearance > Menus, then assign the one to the nav bar (by selecting it from the Theme Locations pulldown), the other to the sidebar (by selecting it from the pulldown of a Custom Menu widget you add in Appearance > Widgets). See here for more:
   http://wpbtips.wordpress.com/2011/12/19/custom-menus/

5. dekleverton
   Member
   Aug 10, 2012, 8:26 AM

   That's great, thank you! I will now explore this option with a replacement header nav bar plus my sidebar custom menu. Sorry to have been a bit dim about this area but as you say the wordpress terminology isn't always that clear. All the links on this subject have been very helpfull.

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