Sidebar Navigation

Two-Column Page Templates

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In all 2-column templates, sidebar navigation is generated through the site’s folder structure and the pages contained within those folders. The file that controls this display is called a _nav.ounav. These files exist in every site’s main directory and any subfolder that contains page(s). Each navigation file controls the appearance of the side navigation for the pages within that same subfolder where the navigation file is located. Additionally, site editors can add custom links to their navigation files if they need to add a link to a page that does not live within their site’s directory, such as a file, a link to an external website, or link to a page that a site editor does not have access to.

Navigation Files are All Connected on Your Site!

All the navigation files within your site directory are connected, meaning they “talk” to one another other to display the contents of each subfolder. So, if you are on a 2-column page at the top of your site, you will see a broader view of your site’s entire structure, including expanding menus depending on how many pages are within your subfolders. Likewise, the deeper a site visitor navigates into your site, the more concise the sidebar navigation will display. It is important for this reason that you are using the dependency tag when editing this file so that your navigation recognizes the full contents of that subfolder.

Folder Structure Matters!
Pay close attention to the video tutorial to understand why page structure matters when it comes to sidebar navigation.