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Display Related Pages with a Child Pages Menu

Overview

A Page can display a menu in the sidebar with links to related pages.

This menu is called a Child Pages Menu.

Example:

The Research page on the CALS site has a Child Pages Menu in the sidebar:

Research Page Showing Child Pages Menu in Sidebar.

Prerequisites:

  • Your site’s theme must be set to “A UW Madison Theme.”
  • Page Options must be set to display the side navigation (the default setting)
  • Pages must exist before they can become a parent or child Page
+Create a New Child Pages Menu

Offline – Plan the Child Pages Menu:

Write down, in order, the names of the Pages you want listed in the sidebar.  Common list orders include alphabetical and order of importance.  Number the list.

In WordPress – Create the Parent/Child Relationships in the Child Pages:

  1. Edit each Page on the list.
  2. Scroll down a bit and look to the right to locate the block titled “Page Attributes.”

Inside that block are two fields:
– a drop-down list called Parent
– a box called Order

  1. Set the Parent to the name of the parent Page (the one that will contain the sidebar menu).
  2. Referring to your planning sheet, enter a number in the Order column.
  3. Click Update.
  4. Browse to the parent page and click Refresh. The Child Pages Menu appears in the sidebar.
+Change the Order of the Items in the List

Offline – Plan Your Edits to the Child Pages Menu:

Print out the parent Page.  Next to each item, write down the number you want the item to appear in the updated list.

In WordPress – Change the Order of the Child Pages:

  1. Edit each child Page.
  2. Scroll down a bit and look to the right to locate the block titled “Page Attributes.”
  3. Referring to your planning sheet, enter a number in the Order column.
  4. Click Update.
+Add a Child Page to the List

Offline – Plan Your Edits to the Child Pages Menu:

Print out the parent Page. Add the item you want to delete. Number the edited list.

In WordPress – Add the Child Page to the List:

  1. Edit the child Page you want to add the list.
  2. Scroll down a bit and look to the right to locate the block titled “Page Attributes.”
  3. Set the Parent to the name of the parent Page (the one that will contain the sidebar menu).
  4. Click Update.

In WordPress – Renumber the Other Child Pages 

  1. Edit the other Pages.
  2. Referring to your planning sheet, enter the revised number in the Order column.
  3. Click Update.
+Remove a Child Page from the List

Offline – Plan Your Edits to the Child Pages Menu:

Print out the parent page. Cross the item you want to delete. Number the edited list.

In WordPress – Remove the Child Page from the List:

  1. Edit the child Page you want to remove from the list.
  2. Scroll down a bit and look to the right to locate the block titled “Page Attributes.”
  3. Reset the Parent to (no page).
  4. Click Update.

In WordPress – Renumber the Remaining Child Pages 

  1. Edit the remaining Pages.
  2. Referring to your planning sheet, enter the revised number in the Order column.
  3. Click Update.
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