Does your menu contain links to popular parts of your site?

[JoelR]

Most of our menus contain links to the app, such as forums or blogs or gallery.  

One of the interesting design choices highlighted in the new Invision Community 5 video were links to popular categories, blogs, gallery albums, or other nodes: not to the apps, but to categories and boards within the apps.  

Anyone can do this today with manual linking, but I'm curious if anyone is actively incorporating this design choice already? 

[dismalbliss]

We have menu items that link to specific pages, such as Terms, Privacy Policy, DMCA Takedown Policy, Donate, as well as pages that explain important information about the community.

[Maria]

I like to use header menu on my sites, including forums and blogs. Having a header menu where you link your website categories and important pages can help your users and visitors navigate your site easily.

[Shortie]

At the moment on the sites I run or help run, we have links on the navigation that help the community find different things we have to offer within the community which has helped them become used a lot more. 

With a site I am working on at the moment, I am working on the navigation a little better to be sure that there are links to the important and on-topic places within that site. 

[Como]

Inspired by this thread, I decided to try out a dropdown menu for basic information for new members - basic how to's, that sort of thing. I decided that a single post (later, it will be a Page) was the best way to go.

I have already added my own text editor button to allow for the adding page anchors. This works fine. However, when adding the URL within the menu manager, it scrubs the #anchor. The only way around this is to utilize separate posts or Pages - neither option is remotely attractive, as it should be a one-stop post/page of short(ish) items for newer members to seek some basic information.

I do have an internal index at the top of the post which links to the anchors within the post, which seems like the only option. Though, I was intending to later expand upon the post/Page which all members might use - but it might then become less helpful to new members. (My intention was for a limited list of dropdown items would have linked directly only to the most important entries for them via the #anchor.)

I don't suppose anyone here has an idea for a workaround to prevent the menu manager scrubbing #anchors?

[JoelR]

This is only a workaround, but have you thought about consolidating everything into one new topic.  

Overall though, I agree and like the idea of links directly in the menu addressed to new members. Our sites need to become smarter and customized better to the archetypes of users.  New users should probably be presented with starting guides, best of links, asking your first question, etc.  Returning users or power users need to be presented with activity streams, latest unanswered posts, etc.  

All of this can be done with the existing menu, although I'm excited by the vertical menu on v5 to offer more room 

[Como]

11 hours ago, JoelR said:

This is only a workaround, but have you thought about consolidating everything into one new topic. 

As it happens, that's exactly what I had already decided upon. But, with a menu link to the short, basic guide for members with fewer than 10 posts; and another menu link for members with 10 posts or more to the full guide. The actual menu item will have the same title. So, members (depending upon post count group) will be automatically filtered towards what I think is generally the better guide for them.

At the top of each guide, there will be a link to other guide to catch those who end up with the less than optimal guide.

Edited April 6, 2024 by Como

[JoelR]

I really like that targeted approach.  Great job.  

This is the kind of individualization and targeting that I think we can all become better and smarter with - and it's not hard! Using simple permissions, we dynamically change our homepage and menu and widgets 

[MissB]

At my forum I have added the link to the paid apps section.