Navigation not only helps users access content throughout your intranet, but it also helps them to understand what information is available on the site.
There are two main types of navigation available for intranets: Global Navigation for every page, and Site Navigation for a specific site.
From the IC Blog
Not sure where to start with your navigation? Get users involved - they're the ones who will be using the intranet daily and need to locate information.
Card sorting is a very helpful method, learn more from this article from the UX review, Card Sorting - The Beginner's Guide.
Global Navigation
Global Navigation appears on every page of your intranet, typically along the top of the page, as shown in the example below.
To edit the Global Navigation, click the edit pencil on the right side of the top navigation, as shown in the image below. If you just want to edit the navigation, mouse over the area and follow the information for Edit Navigation.
Alternatively, if you don't have a top navigation and want to add one, you can access the edit options by:
- Navigate to Admin > Design tab
- Click Global Navigation
- Click the + icon to begin adding navigation
- Select one of the 3 options provided:
Note that it isn't possible to convert a Single Menu to a Mega Menu; you would need to create a new menu section of the type you want, then delete the unwanted type.
After making your changes click Save Menu at the bottom of your screen.
Single Menu
Single Menu is a simple drop-down menu, as shown below for Team Sites, with all of the navigation choices presented in one column.
To add a Single Menu, once you've chosen to edit the Global Navigation, choose the Single Menu option. After you've selected this option, you'll be prompted to add a title for your Section (which will show in the Global Navigation) as well as an icon if desired, and a link where a click of the name will take you. Once you're satisfied with those choices, you can click the X in the top right to close the box, then when you mouse over the new section you'll see the option + New Menu Item. Follow the directions under Edit Navigation to add choices to your new section.
If you change your mind about using a Single Menu, click Discard Changes at the bottom of your screen to exit without saving your new section.
Mega Menus
Mega Menus allows for more real estate in your navigation. You can section off multiple Menu widgets to categorize your links, a well as feed-in content or employee updates using application feed and employee profile widgets.
To add a Mega Menu, click the + icon while editing the Global Navigation and select the Mega Menu option. You'll be prompted to add a title for your Section (which will show in the Global Navigation) as well as an icon if desired, and a link where a click of the name will take you (optional).
Once you're satisfied with those choices, click the X in the top right to close the box, and mouse over the new section to see its associated menu. By default you'll have three sections to work with in your new Mega Menu, but you can add more columns on the right or delete a column (click on the trash can above its name). Mouse over one of the menu titles and you'll see three options - click the edit pencil to change its name.
Mega Menus have lots of flexibility - you can add images or an Application Feed, group menu categories by type - the possibilities are endless. Use the guidelines for working with widgets to alter your Mega Menu layouts. Remember that you can use any type of widget in your Mega Menu, though of course the most frequently used type of widget is the Menu Widget.
To edit the actual menu items, follow the directions under Edit Navigation to add choices to your new section.
If you change your mind about using a Mega Menu, click Discard Changes at the bottom of your screen to exit without saving your new section.
Watch our short video Building Mega Menus:
Mega Menu Best Practices
Mega menus can feel overwhelming for users, but you can help them with good design. When creating mega menus, aim to:
- Group similar items into sets, and keep sets roughly the same size to increase understanding
- Provide a short, descriptive label for each set, with formatting (e.g. font size, color, bold, lines) to make the label stand out
- Put the more important sets at the top towards the left, where users will start looking
Site Menu
As the name suggests, a Site Menu only appears within a specific Site, on the left side of the page. You can customize this menu to include all kinds of different links.
When you Add a Site to your intranet and start to build it, a basic Site Navigation is automatically added for you. If you Add a Page to your Site, you'll need to take the additional step to add that page to your Site Navigation by editing the navigation.
Note: Sites can also use the Home Site Navigation. This setting is set by going to Admin > Assets > Select the site > click Properties > select the option pin home site navigation in left column and save the change.
- If you're having problems seeing all of your menu to edit it, click Ctrl and the minus sign to reduce the size of your text on your screen. After you've finished editing, click Ctrl and 0 to return it to 100%.
- If you have your site width expanding to browser, this may cause the Site Menu to not appear when editing. This is adjusted by going to Admin > Global Site Layout > Site Width > set to Fixed Width.
Edit Navigation
Regardless of the type of navigation, the editing process is very similar. Follow these steps:
- Access the edit interface for the type of navigation:
- For Global Navigation, click the edit pencil (far right) in the top bar then either mouse over the section or for Mega Menus click the widget edit pencil.
- For Site Navigation, click the edit pencil to the right of the name to Manage Site Navigation.
- As you mouse over existing menu items, you'll see options to either drag and drop (1) that item to a different position within the navigation; edit the item (2) to change its name, link, or icon; or delete the item from the menu (3). Note that if you delete the item you're only deleting it from the menu, and it still exists on your site.
To add a new menu item:
- Go to the bottom of your menu and click + New Menu Item.
- Choose whether you're linking to a Site, App, Page, or Link (you can switch back and forth if you change your mind).
- If you choose one of the first three, you'll be shown a list of all of that type of asset, grouped by Site name.
- If you're not sure what type of intranet asset you're linking to, just paste its link and the software will automatically fill in its name (which you can edit if you like).
- If you're adding a Link
- paste the URL in the Link Address field (1)
- add a text display name in the Link Name field (2)
- in the Link Target field (3), choose whether the link should open within the same window or in a new window (best practice for links external to your intranet)
- Click OK to confirm your menu choice.
- If you're done adding menu items, click Save Menu at the bottom of your screen.
Navigation not only helps users access content throughout your intranet, but it also helps them to understand what information is available on the site.
Applying External Link View Security
Note: The external Link has a view security option so you can control who can view the external link on the menu. Permissions for other items (Site, App, Page) are automatically managed via the security settings on the App/ Page / Site.