📖 WordPress Menus and Widgets

Navigation is the most significant element in web design. Since web-layouts don’t have any physical representation a user can stick to, consistent navigation menu is one of the few design elements which provide users with some sense of orientation and guide them through the site. Users should be able to rely on it which is why designers shouldn’t mess around with it. That’s why in most cases it’s where simple, intuitive and conventional solutions are usually the best option.

WP Beginner has some tutorial videos worth watching.

Navigation Should Be Easy to Find (Very Easy)

Web users are impatient, and they're not going to hang around a site very long if they can't find their way around. Navigation should be a prominent element of your design. Since it will often take up much less space than other elements, it should stand out enough so it doesn’t get lost amongst a sea of content. The most common location of a button bar is across the top of the page, as users should not have to scroll down to navigate further into your site.

Keep it Consistent

Site navigation should appear in the same location on every page of a site. It should also maintain the same style, type and colors. This will enable users to get used to a site and feel comfortable browsing it. If navigation were to jump from the top to the left, disappear, or change colors from section to section, frustrated visitors are more likely to go elsewhere.

Use Obvious Names

The page names, especially as labeled in the navigation, should clearly state what lies behind them. Obscure, general words like “resources” and “tools” should be avoided when possible, as they only lead to users clicking on multiple buttons before finding what they are looking for. Stick to obvious link names such as “news” and “podcasts” to avoid confusion.

Less is More

Too many navigation elements, while leading into more sections, may just leave a user with too many choices. A long list of options keeps the visitor from getting into the most important content areas of your site. Generally, you should have only 1 navigation section and it should display a maximum of 8-10 links.

Widgets
  • pieces of code you can insert in a sidebar, header or footer
  • some default widgets are automatically installed with WordPress
  • some themes may include theme specific widgets
  • widgets must run when the page loads, so my increase load time for your page
  • Use the Widgets link under Themes to drag widgets to and from the sidebar or other locations
Menus
  • Create custom menus under Appearance->Menus
  • Click on pages and categories to add to the menu
  • Themes generally will have a main menu. They may have additional menus in the footer, sidebars, etc.
  • You can create a custom menu and add it as a widget if you need additional menus
  • Menu items can created for static pages, all blog posts, or categories of blog posts.
  • You can also add links to external sites using Custom Links
  • More on links from wordpress.org