How Do I Add a Navigation Menu to My Blog? | Blogger❀2

⑩

A cute lime-green kitten, a blogging pro, builds a menu with a single shiny block❣

Today's Contents:

▪Pages vs. Posts: 6 Key Differences

▪How to Create a New Page

▪From Page Setup to Navigation Menu using Gadgets  

Hello, Radiant Souls!✨ 

It's so good to see you again. In my last post, we explored the difference between a "Page" and a "Post" on Blogger.

Today, I'll walk you through how to build your "Menu" in the header bar on Blogger, using pages and gadgets—step by step. 

| Pages vs. Posts: 6 Key Differences

Before getting into the main topic, shall we quickly review what we covered in the last post? 

On Blogger, there are two ways you start writing up. You can either create a post by clicking "New Post", or a page by selecting "New Page in the left-hand menu on your Blogger dashboard. So, what's the difference between the two?

Here are Six key differences between pages and posts in Blogger:

1. Pages are mainly used to create or add menu items to the header bar—like greetings, blog info, helpful resources, announcements, contact details, and so on.

2. You can also create submenu items under the main menu by linking to posts you've already written.

3. Pages can include links to other website, allowing your readers to jump there directly.

4. In the Dynamic Views theme (a free theme from Google Blogger), pages can appear in the header bar if you add them using a Page gadget.

5. Pages don't support labels, posting dates, and permalinks to be set—they're meant to stay static and timeless, unlike posts.

6. Posts can be organaized into categories, but pages can't. That's why pages work well as standalone menu items in your header bar.

Based on this, let's create a page titled "Create a Page" and turn it into a menu item in the header bar.

| How to Create A New Page

• Click “Pages” in the left-hand menu in your Blogger dashboard, then click “New Page” to open a new page editor.

Image1. The "Pages" and "NEW PAGE" items in the dashboard

• After putting a title (in this part, the h1 tag is automatically applied) and content of your page, click "Publish." The title you enter will become the name of the menu in the header bar, and the content will appear when that menu is clicked—so write with this in mind.

Image2. Creating a page in the page editor

🎯 Little TIP

The page title will appear in the header bar exactly as you type it.

The "Publish" button to publish your page

Here's how to add a new page to Blogger so that it appears in the header bar.

• Click “Layout” in the left-hand menu in your Blogger dashboard.

Image3. The "Layout" item in the Blogger dashboard

• Click “Add a Gadget” in the right sidebar.

Image4. The "Add a Gadget" item in the layout section

Image5. "Pages" from the list of gadgets

• Click "Add  A NEW ITEM" in the Page List Configuration Panel.

Image6. "ADD A NEW ITEM" in the Page List Configuration box

🎯 TIP

• Click the "Page Name" text to open the drop-down menu.

Image7. The field for "PAGE NAME"

 

• You can find a list of all pages. Pick the page you want from the drop-down menu (e.g., "Create a Page"), then click "SAVE." 

Image8. Choose a page you want from the dropdown list

• Then, click "SAVE" to apply the change at the bottom right.

Image9. "Save" to save the change in the page list configuration panel

• Click “Save” once again at the bottom right to save all changes.

Image10. "SAVE" to save all changes

🎯 Neat TIP

When adding a page via the path "Layout > Add a Gadget > Pages > Add a New Item", the already published pages will automatically appear in the drop-down list.

• Page Name: Enter the title that will be displayed in the menu.
  
  
• Page URL: For pages selected from the drop-down, this field will be filled in automatically, so you do not need to type it separately.

That is, if you select a published page, you do not need to manually enter the URL.                                                              

💙🧡💚 Things to Keep in Mind

• If the page hasn’t been published yet, it won’t appear in the drop-down menu.
  
  
• To add an external link or a specific post to your menu, use the “Add external link” option and manually enter both the Page Name and the Page URL.    

• Click the "View blog" option at the bottom left. 

• Now click the “Create a Page” menu—You'll see your content live.

Image11. The menu "Create a Page" that you've just added

 

🎯 Bonus TIP

If you're using the "Dynamic Views" theme, your posts will always appear in the Classic View mode at the blog home screen—no matter what default settings you chose. 

Congratulations🎕 

That's how we add menu items we want to the header bar. If you followed along, I'm sure it wasn't too tricky. 

I'd love to hear what you think about today's post—your thoughts and experiences are always welcome! 

Next time, I'll show you how to create submenu items under a specific menu item. Yep, the power of pages comes into play again. Pretty cool, right?

I really hope today's post help you feel more confident with your blogging journey. Keep exploring, keep creating, and keep shining—I'll see you next again.

Posted by Ayul