Having different menus on different pages

There are many instances when you need different menus on different pages.

For example, you might have a one-page website but want a dedicated shop or contact page. In this case, the navigation links from the top menu are unusable on those separate pages (e.g., contact or shop) since they are set to guide users through different sections on the same page (e.g., your home page).

Another case might be when users are on your shop page. Since that page has a different role than the rest of the website, you might want to use the top menu to display your product categories or other relevant information for those seeking to make a purchase.

To achieve the desired result, you need to create a different menu for each of these scenarios and display them only on those pages. Fortunately, since WordPress has such a massive community behind it, you can achieve this with the help of a free plugin.

Step 1 – Install a free plugin

To set a different menu for a certain page, you’ll need to use the Conditional Menus plugin. To install it, follow the steps below:

1. From your WordPress Dashboard go to Plugins → Add New;
2. In the search bar search for “Conditional Menus” and install the first result (screenshot);
3. After it installs, click on Activate.

Step 2 – Create different menus for different pages

To create the menus for each page you need to:

1. Go to WordPress Dashboard → Appearance → Customize → click on Menus;
2. Add a new menu, let’s call it “Contact Page Menu” (or any other name);
3. Add menu items for each page or custom link and click on Publish;
4. Repeat the process for all the other menus you need.

In case you can’t figure it out, you can read our detailed article on how to create menus in WordPress.

Step 3 – Manage the location for each menu

Go to Appearance → Menus → Manage Locations and start customizing your menus by following these steps:

• Click on + Conditional Menu to add a new menu in the same location (e.g., Primary Menu);
• Select the menu you want to add;
• Click on + Conditions to select the places where you want that specific menu to show up;
• Click on Save Changes and visit the page to make sure it works properly;
• Repeat the same process for any number of separate pages.

Here’s a helpful video that guides you through the steps required to show a different menu on a specific page: