Help visitors reach your important pages by editing your site's header links, arranging their order, and grouping related destinations in dropdowns. Then check the result on a computer and a phone, both before and after signing in.
For example, a service business might show Services, About, and Contact to new visitors, with Bookings and Account available to signed-in customers.
Choose the right menu
Open Site → Menus in your site's admin. The Desktop Menus list includes the website's header and footer menus. Menu names can be customized; use the description beside each name to identify its purpose.
- Shown before visitors sign in: the signed-out header, commonly named Main.
- Shown after visitors sign in: the signed-in header, commonly named Main (signed in). This is available when Cedros Login is active.
- Footer support menu: links at the bottom of the website. Footer links are separate from the header.
The website uses these header menus on mobile browsers too. On a narrow screen, visitors open the Menu button to see the links. You do not need to create a second copy for phones.
You need permission to edit navigation. If the overview offers View instead of Edit, or the fields are disabled, ask your site administrator for the appropriate access.
Save publishes website menu changes immediately. There is no separate Publish step in the website menu editor. Review the labels, destinations, order, and dropdown contents before choosing Save. Publishing a menu does not publish a draft page that it links to.
Add or change a website link
- In Site → Menus, choose the edit icon beside the intended menu. Check the Signed-out menu or Signed-in menu heading.
- In Links, choose Add link. To change an existing item, select its row to expand it.
- Enter Label, the text visitors will click. Use a short, recognizable name such as “Services” or “Contact.”
- Set Destination. Use Choose a page to select a published page, or type the page's path or a complete external web address.
- Check the label after choosing a page. Cedros fills an empty label from the selected page's title; it preserves a label you have already entered.
- Place the item where it belongs, review the rest of this guide's checks, then choose Save when you are ready for the change to be public.
- Wait for Changes published. Open or refresh the public website and follow the new link.
Use the page's actual public address, not its admin editing address or a private preview link. For a new destination, finish Creating and publishing a website page before adding it to public navigation.
Enter the correct destination
For a page on your own site, use a path beginning with /, such as /about. Use / for the homepage. For another website, enter the full address, including https://, such as https://example.com/support; replace this example with the real destination.
To link to a section, use the page path and its existing anchor, such as /services#consultations. Confirm that the destination page actually has that anchor. A full page path keeps the link useful when visitors open it from a different page on your site.
A menu label is independent of the destination page's title. Changing “About us” to “Our team” in the menu does not rename or move the page. If you later change a page's address, review the links pointing to it; do not assume an entered path updates automatically.
The page chooser lists published pages. If a destination is absent, confirm its publication state and public address. A link can be complete enough to save while still pointing to a missing or inaccessible page, so always open it as a visitor.
Reorder, duplicate, or remove links
Drag a link's reorder handle to its new position. Alternatively, open the row's Actions menu and choose Move up or Move down. Review the resulting order before saving.
Use Duplicate when you want to start from an existing item. Update the copied label and destination, and review any copied dropdown contents so you do not publish an accidental duplicate.
Choose Remove from the row's Actions menu to take the item out of this menu, then Save to publish the removal. This removes the navigation entry; it does not delete, unpublish, or restrict the destination page.
Keep the most useful destinations easy to find. If the header feels crowded, group closely related links in a dropdown and keep its labels specific.
Menu visibility is not access control. A page omitted from a menu can still be visited through its address, search results, or another link. Likewise, putting a link in the signed-in menu does not itself make that page private.
Group related links in a dropdown
A dropdown belongs to a header link. It is configured within that item; dragging a row below another row only changes the order.
- Expand the header item that should contain the dropdown.
- Keep a useful Label and Destination for the main link, such as “Services” pointing to your services overview. The main link still has its own destination.
- Choose Add dropdown.
- Choose a Dropdown layout. Start with List for a straightforward set of related links.
- Add the dropdown's links, filling in each label and destination. Use Add group for named groups when needed. Remove incomplete sample or unused entries.
- Inspect the built-in Preview in both Desktop and Mobile modes. Check that every group is understandable and every label fits.
- Review the complete menu, then Save. On the public website, test both the main link and the separate control that opens its dropdown.
The available layouts serve different purposes:
- List: a vertical list of links.
- Grouped columns: named groups, useful for separating subjects such as Services and Resources.
- Image cards: links presented with images, titles, and descriptions.
- Spotlight: a featured image panel beside a compact link list.
Use Panel options for supporting text and an optional call to action. Image layouts offer image controls; choose images that help visitors recognize a destination rather than making the menu harder to scan. The theme supplies the colors and type.
For a larger panel, Add sidebar and Add bottom row add regions inside this dropdown. A dropdown's bottom row is part of that menu panel, not the website footer. Keep the structure shallow enough to understand at a glance.
Dropdown destinations must be valid site paths or HTTP/HTTPS web addresses. Complete any optional call to action with both its text and destination, or clear it. Read the error beside an incomplete link or image field before trying to save.
The built-in preview shows appearance; it does not prove destinations work. Test the published links separately. To return an item to an ordinary link, choose Remove dropdown from that item's Actions menu, check its main destination, then save.
Review signed-in menus and account controls
If Cedros Login is active, edit and save the signed-out and signed-in menus separately. A change in one does not automatically make the same change in the other. Keep shared destinations consistent where that helps customers, while placing account-specific links in the signed-in menu.
The signed-out menu includes Sign-in buttons controls. Use these to review sign-in and registration text, style, and destinations rather than adding duplicate ordinary links for the same actions.
The signed-in menu includes Profile menu controls. Its custom links appear above the account actions; the account details and sign-out actions use the visitor's signed-in account. Keep a clear way for customers to reach their account and sign out.
These account controls stay at the end of the menu rather than moving like ordinary links. Test with a normal customer account as well as while signed out; your admin session may show a different header from a new visitor.
Adjust icons and menu appearance
Expand a header link's Icon settings to choose its icon. The site's display style determines whether visitors see icons alongside the text.
For alignment, link style, and whether links show icons, follow Appearance → Navigation from the menu editor. Those controls are separate from the menu's link list. Save or discard unfinished link edits before leaving the editor.
If an icon is configured but not visible, check the navigation display style before choosing another icon. Keep labels meaningful even when using an icon-based desktop style; mobile website navigation retains text labels.
Check the published website on desktop and mobile
After saving each website menu, open a public page and check the complete visitor journey:
- Signed out: use a private browser window. Confirm the intended header, link order, sign-in actions, and dropdowns.
- Signed in: use a normal customer account and confirm the signed-in destinations, profile menu, and sign-out action.
- Desktop: follow every changed link and test the dropdown-opening control as well as the main link.
- Mobile browser: open the Menu button, expand each changed dropdown, follow its links, and confirm labels fit without clipping or horizontal scrolling.
- Keyboard: move through the menu with Tab and activate its links and dropdown controls. Confirm you can tell which control has focus.
- Several pages: repeat on the homepage and another public page that uses the site header. Check any specially designed page with its own header separately.
For every destination, confirm the expected page loads and is accessible to that visitor. A redirect, sign-in prompt, or access error may be intentional for an account page, but should not surprise someone following a public information link.
Fix common navigation problems
Save is disabled. Check whether you have unsaved changes and navigation write permission. Complete every required label and destination, including links inside dropdowns and the profile menu. Read the specific error instead of repeatedly trying Save.
The save failed. Keep the editor open, read the error, and resolve the reported connection, permission, or validation issue. Do not assume the public menu changed; refresh a separate public tab to check its current state.
Your edits appeared in the editor but not on the website. Confirm you saved successfully, then refresh the public page. Check the site, the signed-in state, and whether the page uses the standard site header or its own custom navigation.
The link opens a missing page or the wrong site. Check the exact public path and spelling, the page's published state, and the full address for external links. If a section link opens only the top of the page, confirm the anchor exists.
The phone menu still looks different. The website uses the same header links at every screen size, but presents them inside the Menu button on a phone. Check that you saved the intended signed-in or signed-out menu, then refresh the public page and open Menu.
A dropdown will not save or looks empty. Complete or remove unfinished links in every group and region. Check optional images and call-to-action fields, then use both preview modes. Keep a working destination on the main header item too.
You need to abandon unfinished edits. Choose Exit or ← Menus, then Exit without saving when prompted. Browser recovery can retain unfinished edits, but it is not a published version or a shared draft. Check the restored content carefully before saving; do not rely on recovery as your only copy of substantial work.
If you still need help, follow Getting help and reporting a problem. Include the public page address, menu name, expected destination, device/browser, sign-in state, and exact error. Never include passwords or private preview links.