Navigation Settings in SharePoint

NAVIGATION NOTE: When navigation is changed, there is no approval required.  Any author with access to the navigation settings can make changes.  Once the 'Ok' button is used on the Navigation Settings page the changes will be present on the site momentarily.

This article is divided into sections to address the various aspects of navigation settings:

• Get to navigation settings
• Global Navigation
• Current Navigation
• Structural Navigation Sorting
• Structural Navigation Editing and Sorting
• Show and Hide Ribbon
• Navigation Behavior Options for the Site Collection

Overview

Navigation in SharePoint web sites can be either very simple or very complex depending on the needs of the site.  The size of the site does not really come into play in determining the complexity of the navigation as very large sites can have quite simple navigation if the arrangement is designed for it.

When we speak of navigation on Oregon.gov sites we basically have two areas that we reference:

Global Navigation which is known as the top nav and Current Navigation which is known as the left nav.

In the simplest of arrangements, the top nav stays the same throughout the site.  In more complicated arrangements, the top nav can be different from sub site to sub site.

The left nav can do lots of things such as only showing links to subsite landing pages, every page on the current subsite or a combination.  It can even stay static or be expandable if desired.  We will explore some of these possibilities in this article.

One thing to keep in mind about navigation is that it remains constant for all the pages in a subsite.

Navigation Settings

To reach navigation settings, Log in to your site collection and:

Gear cog → site settings → Navigation

Global Navigation

Global Navigation translates to Top Navigation on Oregon.gov web pages and appear on every page in a site.  Global navigation may change from sub site to sub site or may remain consistent throughout the pages in a site collection.  Depending on behavioral settings discussed below, Global Navigation items can either be direct links to other locations or expandable headings revealing one or more links to other pages.  A Global Navigation item cannot be both a link and an expandable heading as a single click would activate either.  Hover expansion is not supported due to limitations of mobile device user interfaces.

While the options are wide open, Global Navigation links might be used for quick paths to major sections or features of the site such as payment or registration applications, contact forms or primary program areas.

Current Navigation

Current Navigation translates to Left Navigation on Oregon.gov web pages and appears on any page using a page layout that includes 'Left nav'.  Like Global Navigation, Current Navigation can change from subsite to subsite or it can remain consistent site collection wide.  

Structural Navigation Sorting

This section simply toggles the manual sorting feature on and off. 

When 'Sort Automatically' is chosen, the options for automatic sorting of navigation items are shown.   Sort by: Title Created Date Last Modified Date Ascending Order Descending Order Also, the 'Move up', 'Move down' and 'Edit' buttons are disabled in the editing and sorting window
When 'Sort Manually is chosen, the automatic sorting options are hidden and the editing and sorting window is fully functional.

Structural Navigation Editing and Sorting

This section allows editing and organizing of certain items in both Global (Top) and Current (left) navigation structure.  

Items that are automatically added cannot be edited, but they can be moved as long as the 'Sort manually' option is selected above. 

Notice that the editing window has two major headings 'Global Navigation' and 'Current Navigation'.  These represent the two SharePoint navigation categories and cannot be moved or edited.  Items listed under these items will show up on Oregon.gov pages in the prescribed areas of Top navigation and Left navigation on page layouts where it is used.
Add or Delete an Item To add an item manually to the navigation scheme, select the category to which the item will be added, Global or Current and then use the 'Add Heading' or 'Add Link' options.
Add Heading A Heading in navigation is an item under which more links may be added. Headings may or may not have link URLS associated with them and when they do, they are expandable with a click on the page. Headings may not be nested under other headings. Description is optional and the Audience attribute is not used in Oregon.gov sites.
Add Link A link is the lowest increment of the navigation scheme.  A link must have a URL associated with it in order to save.  The link may be positioned directly under a  Category or under a Heading.
Delete Any item that is not automatically added to navigation can be deleted from the navigation scheme. Just click on the item to select it then click 'Delete' in the mini ribbon.
Edit or Move an Item Items that have been manually added may be edited any time to update links or verbiage.  They can also be moved to appear higher or lower in the navigation heirarchy.
Edit  Here too, click the Heading or Link item to select it and use the 'Edit' button to open the item for editing.
Move an Item Any item except the Global and Current navigation categories may be moved in the navigation scheme.  Items may be moved within the category but cannot be moved cross category.  In other words, if an item resides under Current Navigation it cannot be moved up into the Global Navigation.  It must be deleted and re-created under the new category. To move an item, simply click to select it and use the 'Move up' or Move down' buttons in the mini-ribbon.

Show and Hide Ribbon

The Show and Hide ribbon setting has no effect on the published site pages because Oregon.gov viewers do not have any ribbon command access.

Navigation Behavior Options for the Site Collection

A few navigation properties are available to change in the Site Template Settings.  Site Template Settings are found on the Site Settings page.

• Headers and Subsites can be set to be collapsible or not
• Headers and Subsites can be set to start out expanded on a freshly rendered page
• Links may be generated on expanded headings that link to the related subsite's home page.

These options are set at the site collection level and each sub site may be set to inherit those settings or not.

Expandable Navigation	Non-Expandable Navigation
Condensed:
Expanded: