Are you interested in adding a mega menu to your WordPress site?
Mega Menus enables you to organize numerous links into user-friendly columns and rows. Additionally, you can incorporate rich content, such as images and videos, to enhance the user experience.
Here, we will discuss how to seamlessly integrate a mega menu into your WordPress website. To create a mega menu for your WordPress site, you have two options:
- Check if your theme supports mega menus
- By using the WordPress mega menu plugin
But you also have to know how important it is.
Why Create a Mega Menu in WordPress
WordPress’s versatile drag-and-drop builder empowers you to craft various menus, including dropdown and header menus. Moreover, plugins are readily available to facilitate the creation of custom navigation menus in WordPress themes.
However, opting for a mega menu is imperative if your website boasts substantial content.
A mega menu enables you to seamlessly integrate multi-column dropdowns into the standard WordPress menu structure, thereby enhancing the organization of your content under distinct headings and subheadings, ultimately facilitating efficient visitor navigation.
For example, in an online marketplace, leveraging a mega menu to categorize all product categories and subcategories is indispensable.
Mega menus unequivocally showcase rich content to visitors, comprising videos, text, search, and recent posts. Moreover, the inclusion of images enhances the scannability of mega menus.
Now, let’s discuss both options to create a mega menu for your WordPress site one by one:
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Check if your theme supports mega menus
Some themes have built-in support for mega menus. The Hestia theme, for example, includes a feature for creating a mega menu.
We cannot confirm whether your theme supports a WordPress mega menu or provide a tutorial for setting one up because each theme is unique.
However, it is essential to start by checking your theme’s documentation to see if it offers a method for creating a mega menu.
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By using the WordPress mega menu plugin
If your theme lacks mega menu functionality, or even if it already has it, you should use a WordPress mega menu plugin to add this feature to any WordPress theme.
Consider using a mega menu plugin even if your theme already supports mega menus. Each approach has pros and cons.
Using your theme’s mega menu functionality will instantly match your theme’s styling, which is convenient. However, you’ll lose your mega menu functionality if you ever switch themes.
On the other hand, using a WordPress mega menu plugin means your mega menu will continue to work even if you switch themes, and you’ll likely get access to more functionality.
The downside is that you might need to adjust the plugin’s styling options to match your theme.
1. Creating Mega Menu with a Free Plugin in WordPress
Numerous plugins are available that can add mega menu functionality to your site, but the most popular and highly rated one is Max Mega Menu. This free plugin allows you to create your mega menu using regular WordPress widgets, making it very user-friendly, especially for beginners.
To begin, ensure that you install and activate the Max Mega Menu plugin. Once that’s done, you can proceed to follow the steps:
Enable the mega menu functionality
To enable mega menu functionality, navigate to Appearance >> Menus in your WordPress dashboard.
Then, choose the menu location for your header. This is usually the default menu, which is already selected. It will have a “Display Location” area like “Primary Menu“, “Top Menu“, “Top“, etc.
If you still need to create menus in WordPress, follow this guide to make your first menu. After selecting the menu location where you want to place your mega menu:
- Find the new Max Mega Menu Settings box on the left,
- Check the Enable box,
- And then press the Save button.
Create Mega Menu Layout
Once the mega menu functionality is enabled, follow these steps to open the mega menu:
1. Hover over the menu item you want to use.
2. Click the blue Mega Menu button.
For example, the mega menu will appear when a user hovers over the Shop menu item.
For open the mega menu builder interface by pressing the Blue button.
Select Display Mode and Add Widgets
Select the display mode you want to use. Mega Menu—Grid Layout is the recommended choice for this tutorial due to its flexibility. Use the drop-down menu on the right to add a widget to your mega menu.
You can use any of the standard WordPress widgets in your mega menu, which provides great flexibility.
Additionally, you should use the “+ Column” and “+ Row” buttons to structure the layout for your mega menu.
Keep adding widgets for all the content you want to display in your mega menu.
For Edit Widgets
To edit widgets and add content, simply click the wrench icon. To move them around, just use simple drag and drop.
Remember to save each widget after making any edits. Once you finish building your layout, it should look roughly like this:
You must explore the Settings and Icon areas. While configuring any settings is not mandatory, you now have a working mega menu.
However, the menu styling isn’t quite right yet—the black background on the menu items doesn’t match the rest of the theme. If you experience a similar issue, you must modify some colors in the plugin’s settings to ensure everything fits together.
Mega Menu Styling Configuration
To set up the style of your mega menu, navigate to Mega Menu >> Menu Themes in your dashboard. Then, click on the Menu Bar tab.
Here, you must adjust some colors to align with your theme. Typically, the most essential options to modify are the Menu Background and Menu Background Hover. You may also need to update the font color.
After completing that step, your mega menu will seamlessly harmonize with your theme’s unique design, creating a more polished and professional look for your website.
Conclusion
In conclusion, creating a mega menu in WordPress is a powerful way to enhance your website’s navigation and improve user experience. Remembering usability and ensuring your mega menu is organized, easy to navigate, and responsive across devices is crucial. By following these steps, you will streamline your site’s navigation and make it more engaging for your visitors, ultimately contributing to a better overall user experience.
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