sub items are appearing instead of categories in main menu
-
This feels like an Appearance issue.
For some reason, when my Categories have Pages (clearly set as sub-items in admin), these pages are appearing in the main menu where the category names should be. And there seems to be no way to directly click on the categories.
Specifically, I have two such Categories where this happening.
– St Steven’s Pop Apox
– A Young Person’s Guide …To be clear — everything seems to be set up correctly in admin (ie: Pages set as sub-items to the relevant Categories).
I was away for a chunk of time this summer and didn’t check my blog for a while. This problem showed up then (August sometime, I suspect).
The blog I need help with is: (visible only to logged in users)
-
Please review what I post below.
Pages are static and are for content that rarely if ever changes. They cannot automatically update. Pages and Posts are not the same at all. Please read https://en.support.wordpress.com/post-vs-page/
Static Pages we bloggers create and dynamic category pages created by the software are not the same either. The former do not update automatically; only the latter can do that.
This is an one or the other situation. You have two choices on any blog
(1) All posts on the front page.
(2) A static front page http://en.support.wordpress.com/pages/front-page/ and all posts on a different page.By default the front page of a blog displays all published posts in reverse chronological order with the most recently published post on top. When we publish a post on WordPress software the software automatically creates the same entry in the Archives, and on the dynamic (automatically updating) Categories and Tags pages in accord with the Categories and Tags we assign to that post.
So when we create custom menu and add the dynamic (automatically updating) category pages to that custom menu we create the appearance (not the reality) of posting to more than one page.
You need to be aware that:
1. There are differences between posts and pages described here
https://en.support.wordpress.com/post-vs-page/2. There are differences between static pages we bloggers create https://en.support.wordpress.com/pages/ that will not automatically update, and dynamic category pages created by the software when you publish a post which will automatically update https://en.support.wordpress.com/category-pages/.
3. We organize posts by category assignment prior to publication. http://en.support.wordpress.com/posts/categories/ and when we publish posts the dynamic category pages they automatically display on are determined by the categories we assign to them.
So the process you need to use is:
- Assign Categories to your Posts. https://en.support.wordpress.com/posts/categories
- Create a custom menu https://en.support.wordpress.com/menus/#1-create-a-custom-menu
- Add only the dynamic category page links into the custom menu that you want to appear in that menu https://en.support.wordpress.com/menus/view-all/#adding-category-pages and arrange them as you wish them to appear https://en.support.wordpress.com/menus/view-all/#changing-the-order-creating-sub-menus
- Create pages for static content, not for posts https://en.support.wordpress.com/pages/
- Add any custom links and other items like static pages into your custom menu https://en.support.wordpress.com/menus/view-all/#adding-custom-links and https://en.support.wordpress.com/menus/view-all/#adding-pages
Here are some tips that you may find helpful when it comes to assigning categories and tags to your posts http://onecoolsite.wordpress.com/2013/03/15/quick-blog-post-tagging-tips/
-
thanks for responding, but this is a pile of stuff to read and figure out (I’m not a programmer etc) and to my eyes, none of it speaks directly to my issue.
Which is, everything looks as it should in admin.
Category Name
sub-item (which is a page)But on my home page, it’s the sub-item which shows in the menu bar, not the category.
And everything was working fine until sometime this summer. That is, I didn’t change anything but suddenly this change happened.
-
Learning this stuff is tough for me. So before I spend a bunch of time, a quick question.
Did WordPress change something at their end this summer that might have caused my particular issue?
If so, that would be a bit of a relief because, like I said, I didn’t change anything at my end.
-
Learning this stuff is tough for me. So before I spend a bunch of time, a quick question.
Did WordPress change something at their end this summer that might have caused my particular issue?
If so, that would be a bit of a relief because, like I said, I didn’t change anything at my end.
-
I am multitasking from my business and do not have the time to get into problem solving but do not worry because I typed modlook into the sidebar tags on this thread for Staff help. How do I get a Moderator/Staff reply for my question? https://en.support.wordpress.com/getting-help-in-the-forums/#how-do-i-get-a-moderatorstaff-reply-for-my-question Then please subscribe to this thread so you are notified when they respond. To subscribe look in the sidebar of this thread, find the subscribe to topics link and click it.
-
-
You are welcome.
Specifically, I have two such Categories where this happening.
– St Steven’s Pop Apox
– A Young Person’s Guide …NOTES:
http://randophonic.com/what-is-a-young-persons-guide-to-getting-wasted/ is a static page that will never auto-update and the same is also the case with http://randophonic.com/st-stevens-pop-apocalypse/ I.E. neither one is a dynamic category page that will auto-update. -
I’m sorry. I admit that I can be very thick when it comes to making sense of this kind of stuff.
BEFORE THIS SUMMER:
My main menu included the categories St Steven’s and Young Persons. If you clicked on them, you landed on the most recent post in the relevant category. If you just hovered over them, you had the option of linking to the explanatory static pages (What is St. Steven’s — What is A Young Person’s Guide)
SINCE SOMETIME IN AUGUST:
My main menu no longer includes the categories (St Steven’s and Young Persons) and thus no link to all the posts therein; you just get direct links to the static pages (What is St. Steven’s — What is A Young Person’s Guide).
How has this rather significant change happened, given that I didn’t consciously alter anything at my end?
-
Hi @mullan49, I’ve verified your menu currently links to static pages. I don’t know whether you want to keep those pages or not, as they do contain content, but you will need to add category links. Here’s how:
https://en.support.wordpress.com/category-pages/And, if you’d like to more fully customize your menu, we have more tips here:
http://en.support.wordpress.com/menus/Cheers!
-
you’re right. my menu does currently link to static pages. That’s the problem. It didn’t used to (pre-summer), but now it does.
Okay, so now I should assign a category link.
Except, for some reason, when I try to assign the category for the page (What is St Steven’s Pop Apox?), the category I want isn’t available to me (St Steven’s Pop Apox).
Please note: I’m doing this via the Page Attributes/Parent option on the right sidebar of the What is St Steven’s Pop Apox edit page.
I’ve double-checked. The category does exist but, for some reason, the dropdown on the What is St Steven’s edit page doesn’t include it. The dropdown includes all the other categories; just not the one I want.
The exact same problem exists for my other problematic page (What is A Young Person’s Guide). Category exists (A Young Person’s Guide). Category isn’t available via Page Attributes/Parent on sidebar.
I remain confused.
-
The parent category St. Steven’s POP Apox does not have any articles in it, which is probably why you can’t assign it as a category. There is a sub category with some articles, though, so you can either use that, or create a custom link using this address:
http://randophonic.com/category/st-stevens-pop-apox/
- The topic ‘sub items are appearing instead of categories in main menu’ is closed to new replies.
WordPress.com Forums 