Easier WordPress Page Navigation

One of the most common questions I see in regards to WordPress menus is “How do I add a ‘Home’ link to my navigation menu?”

Typically – in the past, I’ve answered by stating that you place a static line before the call to wp_list_pages();, and that’ll do it for you. But today, I found something that snuck up on me – a tag that WordPress uses that I’ve never heard of before: wp_page_menu();

This one’s a bit different. Basically, it calls in you wp_list_pages(); function, but strips and edits some stuff to make the addition of a (nameable!) Home page link. Before, you had to do this in your template file:

<ul>
<li><a href="<?php bloginfo('home'); ?>">Home</a></li>
<?php wp_list_pages('title_li='); ?>
</ul>

To provide the link to your home page in he list. but now, it’s as simple as this:

<?php wp_page_menu('show_home=1'); ?>

It already provides you with a “wrapping div” (defaults to “menu” but you can rename it), the opening and closing <ul> tags, and you can even add text/classes before the text (within the anchor link tags). Nice and clean, and very useful.

Unfortunately, I haven’t found a “wp_categories_menu();” – but maybe I’m just not looking hard enough!

read more about and from Shelly at her web design company Brass Blogs