The new Horizontal Menu is HERE!!! You can create wide sub-menus, neatly arrange them in multiple columns, and design your sub-menu separately from your menu! You will notice additional style options from our latest-generation design panel. This menu has all our latest SEO improvements, performance, and accessibility.
Huge thanks to @Eyal Michael Cohen and team for opening this one up. Here is the message from the team:
What is it good for?
Absolutely something!
The new Horizontal Menu is recommended for use as:
A site’s main navigation menu with a prominent submenu arranged in multiple columns (typically used inside the Header)
A secondary navigation menu with a single row of items that can be scrolled horizontally
An auxiliary menu with links that can wrap over multiple rows (typically used at the bottom of the Footer)
How is it different from the current Horizontal Menu?
It has many customization of design and layout options.
The new Horizontal Menu boasts the latest-generation Design Panel.
It comes packed with lots of options, to name a few:
Layered backgrounds of images, patterns and gradients
Specialty borders of patterns and gradients
Text effects such as characters spacing, stroke and shadow
Multiple shadows
In addition, you can design your submenu completely separately from your menu.
It lets you manage a great deal of content seamlessly
Create wide submenus, neatly arranged in multiple columns.
In addition, it offers two alternatives to handling many top-level items: either have them wrap over multiple rows, or have them arranged in a single row that can be scrolled horizontally.
We decided not to provide an equivalent to the “More” item in the current Horizontal Menu, as it was a source of many complaints over the years.
It enjoys improved SEO, Performance & Accessibility
What’s coming next?
This initial Beta does not yet include all the features we have planned for release, but we sure built it with all of them in mind. Stay tuned as they are coming soon!
Sub-submenu items
If you arrange your submenu in multiple columns, you will be able to classify your items into titles and links.
If you use the Flyout layout, you will be able to open an additional, adjacent, list of items from each submenu item.
Dynamic menu content with Corvid or the Connect to Data Panel
This new menu was built to properly handle dynamic content.
Some examples for what would soon be possible:
Corvid users would be able to add menu entries for logged in users.
Content Manager users could create secondary navigation menus with items being categories managed in a Data Collection.
Swipe on Mobile
At the moment, this new Horizontal Menu is replaced by a Hamburger Menu on mobile, just like the current one.
However, we plan to support keeping it as a Horizontal Menu that lets visitors swipe through the items.
Many other features!
Additional features include icons, dividers, dropdown arrows, transition animations on hover and much more.
FAQ
Is the new Horizontal Menu replacing the old one?
Eventually, the new menu will replace the old one in the Add Panel and in templates.
For now you will find both in the Add Panel.
Can I convert an old Horizontal Menu on my website to a new one?
You cannot, as the two are incompatible. Keep in mind that a conversion feature will not be released. Therefore, you'll need to create a new horizontal menu for all sites currently using the previous version.
Will the new Horizontal Menu be available in the Themed Menus section and support the Copy Design feature?
Yes. This is planned and we will let you know once it’s available.
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OK, that came out a little long but I hope it covers most of the questions you may have upfront.
Hope you find this new product valuable. We are here to answer any questions you may have. Please share with us which features you desire the most so that we can prioritize our work better!
Enjoy!
THIS. IS. MEGA......big thanks to the team - amazing work and can't wait to play about with this. ❤️
Looks like i am going to spend one whole day trying and figuring out the options and versatility of this new menu.. :) . Thanks WiX
Thanks @Brett Haralson :) We are very excited and awaiting everyone's feedback!
I do want to point out two known issues that we have decided to open the Product Beta with, and intend to fix in the upcoming days:
The new menu lets you set a background image. The 9th and 10th built-in designs use this feature, as you can see in the Add Panel and in the Design Panel. However, once you add them to your site (or apply them from the Design Panel) you will not see the image properly. A fix should be available tomorrow. You can, however, set any other image and it should be displayed correctly.
Right now when you design how your menu and submenu items look on Hover, you are not seeing any preview of your actions. We do plan to support this within a week or two. For now you will need to click Preview to see the effects of your design choices on hover.
So, again, we hope you enjoy this new product, and please share any feedback you may have. Thank you!
Update: The first issue has been resolved. New menus added from the Add Panel will now render their images properly. If you used one of these built-in designs yesterday and want to fix it, you can now reset it to its original design from the Design Panel.
Update: About three weeks ago we released an update to the Design Panel. Now when you design the Hover or Current Page states of your Menu Items (or Submenu Items) you will see the effect of your actions in real time in the Editor. No need to go to Preview anymore. Same is true for the Hover state of the Scroll Buttons.
Two notes:
You will notice that as you are designing your items in Hover (or Current Page) state, all of them will be displayed in the Hover (or Current Page) design. This is consistent with the experience of designing the Hover state for any Editor Element. Of course, it is unlike what the Horizontal Menu will look like when your visitors interact with it, since only one item can be hovered at a time, and only one item can be the current page. If you would like us to look into changing the real time preview of designing states that apply for a single item at a time, please share your feedback with us.
There is a bug in the real time preview of the Current Page state as you are designing it. Folders and Links are also be displayed in the Current Page design, even though these can never actually be the current page (they are not Pages). Will update here when we fix this issue.
Please let us know what you think of this feature, and whether you have any suggestions for improvement. Thanks!
When is this available?????
It should already be available in the Add Panel, under Menu > New Menus (Beta).
Please let me know if you cannot find it.
@Eyal Michael Cohen I can't find it.
@Sissi If you happen to be using an Editor you opened more than a week ago, please refresh it. The Editor receives information about what Beta Products and A/B Tests to expose to users only when it loads.
Otherwise, it probably means you're not registered to the Beta programme. You can join from the Partners Dashboard.
@Brett Haralson Do we have a help article showing how to do this?
Obviously super awesome! One question on this info:
Can I convert an old Horizontal Menu on my website to a new one?
You cannot, as the two are incompatible. Keep in mind that a conversion feature will not be released. Therefore, you'll need to create a new horizontal menu for all sites currently using the previous version
Does this mean the "old" menu will eventually not be supported? E.g do I have to notify all my clients that we have to update their menus soon?
@Jacob Murphy Media The old menus will continue to be rendered properly in live sites, and if you open the Editor and click them you will be able to edit them just as you currently can.
The difference is that we will stop offering these menus from the Add Panel, so if you would like to create a new old menu 😎 then you will only be able to do so by copying an existing one. We encourage not to do so and use the new menu of course.
No worries, we will not remove the old menu from the Add Panel before we see from user feedback that the new menu is up to the level for all matters concerned.
It is not available
Great news.
@Pixel Media Design Limited Could you please refresh your Editor and check again?
Can anyone here confirm that the new menu is available in the Add Panel? If so, it might be because it can take longer for a new experiment to reach some Beta Partners than others.
I now have it, thank you. Also has the wix blog had a refresh as i can not see any new layouts or features.
@Pixel Media Design Limited Don't know, but I can ask the Wix Blog team. Can you please share a screenshot so that I fully understand what layouts or features you expect to see?
Yes - shows in add panel
Very nice! a great design addition. Thank you. I'm already using it! A quick question: Will you be incorporating the recently withdrawn beta that allows us to create multiple menus?
@David Rosenblatt Yes, the new Manage Menu Panel will become available to Wix users in the upcoming months. It is yet to be decided whether it will first be opened as a Beta, or just start rollout to users once the appropriate changes to the product are implemented.
@Eyal Michael Cohen Thanks Eyal this is awesome. Also looking forward to the Manage Menu Panel
@David Rosenblatt @Chris Derrell Just a quick update that the Manage Menu panel that allows you to create menus with different content is nearly ready. The team working on it expects being able to open it to Beta Partners soon. Fingers crossed :)
Hey @Eyal, liking it so far. Really glad to see this, and how immediately usable it is.
Quick one I'm seeing this beautiful prophecy of the Flyout design for submenus. Does this mean we'll soon be able to add a third level menu item, like a sub-sub menu?
@Chris Derrell Indeed it means just that.
@Eyal Michael Cohen can I have this beta feature for my client editor? we are about to launch the site, https://www.quierochocolate.com.uy/
@Brett Haralson How do we usually go about offering products in Beta to other Wix users who are not Beta Partners? This is the second such request I'm receiving for this product.
Can we add specific users to the Beta programme even if they don't meet the standard criteria?
Alternatively, I need to take a look at our experiments mechanism and see if we can open an experiment to Beta Partners + specific users.
If we can, do we want that?
I understand it was made clear to Beta Partners that a product in Beta comes with no guarantees. Whereas the expected scenario is receiving feedback, improving the product without breaking anything, and starting to release it to users, it is not the only possible outcome. It could happen that following the feedback we get we decide to make a change to the product that will break it in some way (possibly even in a live site) and Beta Partners will need to re-add it from the Add Panel and configure it all over again. In a worst scenario, it could even be that we eventually decide to withdraw the Product Beta following the feedback, and never open it to users.
If we provide specific users access to products in Beta outside the Beta programme, it has to be made sparkling clear to them that this is the deal (and, I guess, in a way that has Wix legally covered).
WDYT?
Knock Knock!!! Let me in! 😃
Hey @Keri with Big Magic, can you not see the new menu in the Add Panel, under Menu > New Menus (Beta)?
Could you please try refreshing your Editor and check again?
LMK how you're managing and if there seems to be an issue. Thanks!
Yessssss!!!! This was the best notice in a hard day! 🙏🏾
La mejor noticia de la semana :D Gracias!!!
This. Is. Amazing.!!!!! Thank you so much. Going to play right now with it, and also can't wait to see other things still coming with this. This is fantastic!!!
Great work team! Two points of feedback: 1. Please add the ability to style menu 'folders' differently from pages so that we can add title/heading styles to the column submenu. 2. Please remove the hover effect for 'folder' menu items so that it doesn't confuse users (as folders items do not link anywhere - see attached screenshot for example)
Really looking forward to seeing how this new menu progresses, especially the sub-submenu feature. Thank you
Thank you for the great feedback @Toby McDowell!
1. Just to clarify: would you like to style "Copy of New Page" (assuming it's a Folder and not a Page in your screenshot) differently from Pages, say Home? Or would you like to style Title, Title 1, Title 2 differently from Page, Page 1, Page 2? If the latter then this will become available as soon as we release sub-subitems support. For Flyout it will do as the thumbnail shows in the Layout Panel (hovering items in one list will open an adjacent list), and for Columns it will provide you with two types of items within the submenu: titles & links. You will be able to style each type independently.
2. Here too, do you mean, remove the hover effect on "Copy of New Page", or "Title 1"? If the latter then this too will be made available when we release support for sub-subitems. In such case, you will simply choose not to have a hover effect for title items.
HTH
Thanks @Eyal Michael Cohen 1. I'm referring to "style Title, Title 1, Title 2 differently from Page, Page 1, Page 2?". Great to hear it's being worked on! 2. I'm referring to "Title 1". Thanks for your response. Eagerly awaiting the next feature phase.
This is Super Awesome! Already using it. One request. Please don't completely remove the hover effect for "folder item". Instead, an option to enable or disable hover effect for such unlinkable items would be fantastic. Keep going team. You have given us this new freedom. Don't want to go back to the old one. Super eager to try sub-submenu.
I’m so excited! Thank you!
Thank you for your continuous efforts!
Is it possible to choose between a megamenu and an ordinary dropdown menu?
@Sara So did you manage to access the new Horizontal Menu eventually?
You can open the Layout Panel and switch to the Submenu tab.
There you have a choice between two option: Flyout & Columns.
Flyout opens the type of submenu that I assume you mean by "dropdown menu", and Columns opens the one I assume you mean by "megamenu".
Is this what you're after?
I don't see how it might confuse users as @Toby McDowell explains that the folder item being unlinkable might confuse some users. i have noticed and also @Eyal Michael Cohen has highlighted " hovering over a folder, the cursor does not change to hand - so no way any one gona click on it or even if they click, it's not gona have any effect. Also without the hover effect, one would lose the context to under which menu item the submenu items belongs. However, as every designer has their own way of styling things, I would suggest to keep the option of toggling the hover effect on/off for the folder items.
@Eyal Michael Cohen Me personally, i don't see any case where the behaviour would be undesirable. Let's hear what others have to say. Thanks for reading my views.
Awesome! As we expected!