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Quick Guide on Building a Dynamic SharePoint Menu
Master the creation of dynamic menus in SharePoint with this in-depth guide from a seasoned Microsoft expert.
Creating an Informative Dynamic Menu in SharePoint
In a recent blog post by ExcelTrainer, he shared his experience of building a dynamic menu for a SharePoint communication site divided into multiple "chapters." He presented his challenges and methods used to overcome them in a detailed yet straightforward manner.
The aim was to create a menu system that automatically adds new pages when published, maintains page-level security while allowing for manual sorting, and quickly applies menu updates across all pages thereby eliminating the need to update each page individually.
ExcelTrainer initially planned to create a list to which he could apply a format, but soon realised the list would merely duplicate all the pages on his Site pages library.
Building, Integrating, and Maintaining the Menu
Fundamentally, the menus were views within the Site pages library. More specifically, each chapter had a distinct view allowing for expansion. Two essential columns, 'PageOrder' and 'ChapterOrder', were responsible for sorting the pages and chapters respectively.
The chapter-pages were given a PageOrder value of 0, distinguishing them from Content-pages. The system works in a way that new pages are always listed at the bottom of the list due to the default PageOrder value. This concept makes it simple to segregate and handle chapter-pages and content-pages differently.
Once the columns were in place, ExcelTrainer created dummy pages to see the impact of their views. A view named "Chapter # expanded" was made for each chapter to expand the pages within the respective chapter.
Adding Columns
PageOrder: The number order of the page inside its chapter.
ChapterOrder: The number order of the chapter which belongs to either Chapter-page or Content-page.
Creating the Views
Once the PageOrder and ChapterOrder columns were setup, views thus created had a unique look and feel thanks to the JSON format. Further details of this process are available on ExcelTrainer's detailed blog post which can be found here. All you need to do is copy the JSON code into each view and save it.
To present the modified Site pages library on the pages, ExcelTrainer used a Document Library webpart. He selected “Site Pages” library then the view “Chapter # expanded” from the options panel, adjusted the settings and then published it.
Final Thoughts
ExcelTrainer recommended that when adding new pages, one should create a copy of an existing page to avoid inserting the web part each time. He also noted that changing the order of pages in the Site pages library requires the pages to be republished. However, he could not find a way to modify the look-and-feel of the current page.
General Overview
SharePoint can seem complex, particularly for beginners. However, with adequate knowledge and guidance, the platform can provide versatile, dynamic and secure ways of managing digital content. By implementing ExcelTrainer's explained procedure, users can create dynamic menus on SharePoint with a few simple steps. Not only is this technique efficient for managing page-level security, but it also allows for quick updates across all pages without needing to modify each individually.
Read the full article How to build a SharePoint dynamic menu fast
Learn about How to build a SharePoint dynamic menu fast
In the pursuit of creating a sophisticated and dynamic menu within SharePoint Online, it becomes essential to optimize your available tools and resources. This blog post aims to guide you through the building process of this dynamic menu in a quick and organized way.
The first section of this blog post introduces a common challenge - to create a steadfast and structured navigation system on a communication site with a volume of pages divided into multiple varied sections or 'chapters'. Standard navigation won't cut it, something innovative is required. As per the blog post, a dynamic menu must be built keeping the following criteria in mind:
- Automatic addition of new pages when published
- Display pages and chapters in a chosen order
- Ensure page-level security
- Quickly apply menu updates to all relevant pages
The initial idea to cope with this presented requirement was to create a list to which a format could be applied. However, this list would simply imitate the pages within the Site pages library. Hence, the better option was to actually modify the Site pages library itself.
The final outcome is a dynamic menu with three levels of pages: the starting page, various chapters, and multiple content pages within each chapter. The key to this achievement is that the menus are views on the Site pages library.
For this to work flawlessly, you need to create two columns named “PageOrder” and “ChapterOrder” in your SharePoint. The Blog article then delves into the specifics of how these columns should be implemented. Firstly, a “PageOrder” column must be made, its type being a numerical value with no decimals and a default setting of 99. This indicates the order of the page inside its chapter.
Next, create a “ChapterOrder” column. The function of this column is the same as the former, but for chapters instead of pages. It is to be noted that both types of pages, Chapter-pages and Content-pages, use the ChapterOrder number.
The blog post subsequently delves into the technical how-to's of adding these columns and creating views. A dummy page is recommended to see if these actions are taking effect. The specifics of creating views is elaborated, including sorting, filtering, and formatting details.
Finally, the post covers how to embed the list on your pages. The final build is user-friendly with 'autosize-fits to the number of items' views, and hiding of bars and buttons for a clean interface. However, it does mention that it needs to republish your pages after altering the order of pages in the Site pages library.
In conclusion, the SharePoint solution discussed in this blog post allows users to build a dynamic menu that is both practical and highly functional. With these simple steps, one can create elaborate menus and make navigation within your SharePoint a breeze.
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