Side navigation: the secondary navigation menus on aalto.fi

Side navigation menus on aalto.fi 

A side navigation is a collection of links that will appear on the left side of any page where the side navigation component called “Side nav” is added. The navigation menu offers users an overview of the content related to a content entity. For example, the Student Guide hub has its own side navigation, which consists of links to different pages in the Student Guide. This way, users visiting the Student Guide hub can easily see the content that can be found in the hub. 

Navigation is an important part of a website’s user experience. For this reason, you should always try to create a clear side navigation structure that helps users find the right content easily.    

Remember these when designing a side navigation menu

• There can only be one side navigation per page. 
• A side navigation can be added to most pages, except for News. 
• Links in the navigation can be internal or external URLs. 
• All labels in the side navigation must have an existing page linked to them.  
• When naming the navigation labels, try to keep the labels descriptive, clear and short. 
• Keep the number of links in your navigation reasonable to avoid creating a complex structure.  
• In addition to the main level links, links can be organised at sub-levels. Make sure that the sub-level links are clearly connected to the main level link they are under. No more than 3 levels of links (main level + 2 sub-levels) are recommended.  

• If a page is linked to a side navigation, the same side navigation should be added to that page. This means that each page should only be linked to one side navigation. 

Ask administrators to create a side navigation for you 

Side navigation is a Drupal component called Side nav that can be added to most page types, with the exception of News, by editors. However, the creation of new side navigations is restricted to aalto.fi administrators, i.e., the Digital experience and analytics team.  

If you have a need for a side navigation or would want support in designing one, you can contact us on our Teams channel or by sending an email to [email protected].