Adding a menu item which points to an Article

The following tutorial will show you how to create a new item in the main menu that points to the article called Support and Documentation. Based on this information you will be able to add a new menu item to any of your defined menus pointing to any article you have previously created for your site.

Tutorial

If you are not currently logged in to the administration panel, you will need to do so. If you are already logged in, you do not need to complete this step.

1. Open a new browser window and type in the URL, which will be similar to http://www.your_site_name_here.com/administrator or, if you have Joomla! installed on your local computer, http://localhost/administrator. Here you will have to log in as an Administrator or Super Administrator.
2. Within the site administration panel, select Menus from the menu bar in the upper left corner. From the drop-down list, choose the menu you wish to work with. The menu can be Main Menu, available by default, or any other menu. This will open the Menu Item Manager page.
   Select Main Menu
3. From the row of actions in the upper-right corner, select New (represented by the green icon with the plus sign). This will open the Menu Item: [New] page.
   Click New
4. From the list titled "Select Menu Item Type," choose Articles (You'll find Articles under the Internal Link).
   Select Articles
5. Choose Article Layout in the previously expanded Articles section.
   Select Article Layout
6. We are getting really close. Hold on! On the new page fill in the different fields like this:
   Enter Article Details
   Menu Item Details
   
   • Title
     This will be the text displayed for the newly added menu item. For this particular case let's use the word Documentation.
   • Alias
     Usually, you will leave this empty and Joomla! will fill this in for you automatically. The content of this field will determine the page URL when SEF is activated.
   • Display in
     This should already be set to Main Menu (or the menu you have previously chosen). Here you have the possibility to move the item to another menu if you wish. This field is quite useful when you decide to change the item location later.
   • Parent Item
     Here you can specify where to place the new menu item. You can make it a top item or a sub-item of an already existing item. We will choose Top.
   • Published
     If you wish your new item to be shown on your site, set this to Yes. If you would like to remove this menu item from the site, simply set this to No. It will not delete the item but will make it invisible to your visitors.
   • Access Level
     This option will specify who will be able to see this new menu item:
     • Public - All visitors
     • Registered - Registered users only
     • Special - users assigned to any group besides "Registered"
   • On Click, Open in
     Here you can specify how to open the article. It can be the same browser window (Parent Window with Browser Navigation), a new browser window (New Window with Browser navigation) or a pop-up window (New Window without Browser Navigation)
7. Now, let's get to the right side of this page...
   • Parameters (Basic)
     The most important part in this section is the Parameters (Basic) setting. Here you can specify the article that will be opened when the user clicks the newly created menu item.
     • For this press the Select button near the Select Article input box.
       Click Select
     • In the pop-up window, select Support and Documentation from the list of articles by clicking on the article name.
       Choose Article From List
       Please note that you can choose any of the existing articles at this point.
   • Parameters (Component)
     Here you will find different options to help you customize the way your article will be displayed. Normally, you won't need to change anything in this section. If you decide to explore it, you will find good help in the tool tips that appear when you move your mouse over the labels (Show Unauthorized Links, etc.)
   • Parameters (System)
     This section will let you customize the way the page containing the article will be displayed.
     • Page Title - If this parameter is left blank, Joomla! will generate a Page Title automatically. This can be used to over-ride the page title set in the article. Don't forget that page titles are one of the most important points when it comes to search engine optimization (SEO)! Use them wisely.
     • Show Page Title - display (Yes) or not (No) the page title set in the previous parameter
     • Page Class Suffix - this allows you to generate unique CSS classes for this page. This comes in useful when you would like to change the look of the page to differentiate it from the rest of the site. If you don't need this, simply leave the field empty.
     • Menu Image - let's you choose an image to be displayed along with this item in the menu. The image you would like to associate with the item must be stored in the images/stories folder. You can upload your own image using the Media Manager or by FTP.
     • SSL Enabled
       Specify how a page is displayed:
       • On - As a secure page
       • Off - As a standard page
       • Ignore - Displayed as the other pages - secure or not
8. Once you are done, click the Save button in the upper-right corner (the floppy disk icon).
   Click Save
   This will save the new item and place it as the last element (or sub-element, in case of sub-menu items) in the menu. You can use the green arrows in the Order column to change the item position within the menu.
9. Now, get back to the front-end and refresh the page.
   Verify New Menu Item

Voilà! The new menu item is shown. Please note that you might need to log in as a registered user or administrator to view the new item. It all depends on the Access Level you have set (see above). When you click the new item, the article will be opened.