Manage the Primary navigation

What's inside this article:


Basic information

The Primary navigation provides an overview of your site structure and lets visitors quickly access specific pages. On the public site, visitors can open the Primary navigation from any page by hitting the ≡ (three lines) button.

Sites can manually update the Primary navigation from Pangea CMS. This article contains detailed instructions.

The Primary navigation also includes Follow us buttons for social media platforms. Services cannot update these buttons manually from Pangea CMS. To request updates to the Follow us navigation, contact Pangea Customer Care.



Open the Primary navigation list

To get started, go to Settings > Navigation menu > Primary navigation.



About Primary navigation items

The Primary navigation on the public site might include the following item types:

  • (A): Link: A direct link to another page.
  • (B): Menu: A clickable title that reveals a collection of links.

On the Primary navigation list in Pangea CMS, you can identify these item types as follows:

  • (A): Link: Represented by a title with no subitems.
  • (B): Menu: Represented by a title with a subitem for each link.

For instructions on how to create the different item types, go to the following sections:



Create a link

To create a new link, select + Add new.

To configure the link, follow the steps in the sections below in order:


1. Define the link

Configure the following details on the New Primary navigation item dialog:

  • (A): Link: Select the type of page. Alternatively, select Manual link to manually define the URL for the link.
  • (B): Title: Enter text for the link that will be visible on the public site.
  • (C): Page: Select the specific page you want to link to. Start typing the name of the page to find it without scrolling.

If you select Manual link under Link, you need to configure the following details:

  • (A): URL: Define the URL for the link. For pages from the same site, you can enter a relative URL (such as /home). For pages from external sites, enter the full URL (such as https://rferl.org).
  • (B): Link option: Choose your preferred option:
    • Open in same window: Recommended for pages from the same site.
    • Open in new tab: Recommended for pages from external sites.


2. Set the status

Before saving the new link, select your preferred status:

  • Enabled: After you save the link, it will be visible on the public site.
  • Disabled: After you save the link, it will be visible in Pangea CMS but not on the public site. Select this option if you need to make further adjustments. For example, you might change the position of the link.


3. Save the link

When you are satisfied, hit Save or Save & close. If the status of the link is Enabled, it will be visible on the public site after you perform this action.


4. Set the position

By default, the new link is added as the last item in the Primary navigation. Use the drop-down menu to change its position. For example, if you select 2, the link will be positioned second.

If you created the link with the Disabled status, it is not yet visible on the public site. To display the link, hover over the panel and go to ... > Enable.



Create a menu

To create a new menu:

  1. Select + Add new.
  2. Enable Has subitems.

To configure the menu, follow the steps in the sections below in order:


1. Add the title

Under Title, enter the clickable title for the menu that will be visible on the public site.


2. Add links

Select + Add subitem to add the first link to the menu.

The options for defining the link are described here.

When you are satisfied with the link, hit Add. After you perform this action, the link will be visible in Pangea CMS but not on the public site.


3. Set the order of the links

After adding multiple links, you can set the order of the links. Use the drop-down menu next to a link to change its position within the menu. For example, if you select 1, the link will be positioned first.


4. Set the status

Before saving the new menu, select your preferred status:

  • Enabled: After you save the menu, it will be visible on the public site.
  • Disabled: After you save the menu, it will be visible in Pangea CMS but not on the public site. Select this option if you need to make further adjustments. For example, you might change the position of the menu.


5. Save the menu

When you are satisfied, hit Save or Save & close. If the status of the menu is Enabled, it will be visible on the public site after you perform this action.


6. Set the position

By default, the new menu is added as the last item in the Primary navigation. Use the drop-down menu next to the title to change the position of the whole menu (including all links). For example, if you select 1, the menu will be positioned first.

If you created the menu with the Disabled status, it is not yet visible on the public site. To display the menu, hover over the panel for the title and select Enable.



Hide a Primary navigation item

Every item on the Primary navigation list in Pangea CMS has one of the following statuses:

  • (A): Enabled: The item is visible on the public site.
  • (B): Disabled: The item is hidden and is not visible on the public site.

You can hide a whole item (including links if the item is a menu) so it is not visible on the public site:

  1. Hover over the title for the item.
  2. Select Disable.

The status for the item changes to Disabled and it is no longer visible on the public site. This action hides the whole item (including links if the item is a menu). However, the status for each link in Pangea CMS does not change.

You can also hide an individual link within a menu:

  1. Hover over the link.
  2. Select Disable.

The status for the link changes to Disabled (the link is hidden). This action hides just the individual link. The menu remains visible on the public site (minus the hidden link).