We just streamlined the process you can use when adding a new page to your website with SiteBuilder. Now it’s easier to add a link in your site navigation menu to your new page. Here’s Jerry to tell you about it – Rochelle.
When you start working on creating a website, you need to decide what links to include in your site’s navigation menu. It’s important to give your site visitors an easy way to access key pages on your site with a single click, but, if you have a lot of pages, you don’t want to clutter up your navigation menu with a link to every one of them.
We’ve made it a little easier to make that decision right when you add a new page to your website. Now when you add a new page with SiteBuilder, you’ll see a new option that makes it a simple matter to either add a link in your site navigation to your new page, or remove it. You can always add or remove a link to your new page later by editing the navigation element, but the new option makes it more convenient.
Here’s how it works. To begin, add a new page in any one of the usual ways:
1) Click the New Page button in the toolbar
2) Select File, then New Page from the menu
3) Right-click and select New Page from the File Manager
You’ll get the familiar page template selector. It looks like this if you’re using a design from our Design Gallery:
Or like this if you’re using a design from SiteBuilder:
Here’s where the new option comes in. To add your new page to your navigation menu, make sure there is a checkmark in the box labeled ‘Add this page to my site’s navigation.’ By default, that checkbox is checked automatically; if you don’t want your new page to have a link in your navigation menu, just click the box to remove the checkmark. If you don’t have a navigation menu on your site, you won’t see that option at all.
Then make sure you give your new page a title. Search engines use page titles as part of their calculation for determining how prominently your site will appear in their search results. Perhaps more importantly, your page title will appear as part of the link to your site in those results.
When you’ve finished, just click Next.
The next step is deciding on the details of the link to your new page. Again, if you don’t have a navigation menu on your site, you won’t see this page.
Here’s how that works:
1) If your site has more than one navigation menu, choose the menu you want to use for your new link. Otherwise, the new page link will be automatically added to the only navigation menu on your site.
2) Next, decide where you’d like your new link to appear in your navigation menu. By default, SiteBuilder will add the new link to the end of your menu, but you can move it wherever you like in the menu by using the buttons below the list of links.
3) Now it’s time to give your new link a name. If you gave your new page a title as I suggested, SiteBuilder will by default give the link to that page the same name. If you prefer a different name (something shorter and more appropriate for a link, perhaps), you can change it here.
4) To finish, you can change the name of the file for your new page, and where it will be stored. By default, SiteBuilder will use your page’s title as the page’s file name, but you can change both file name and location by clicking the change file name or save location link.
When everything looks good, just click Finish, and you’re done!
Hope this makes things easier for you. If you have any questions about this new process, please let us know!
May 1, 2009 at 5:50 am |
This is great. I just used it this morning. I hadn’t read this yet but it works exactly like this – saves time and it’s easy
May 1, 2009 at 5:52 am |
Nice tool. I appreciate your useful developments.
Things just keep getting better everyday.
May 1, 2009 at 6:57 am |
This new feature does fit well with the SiteBuilder because of its ease of use.
I don’t see where this is a great improvement though. The old method for adding a navigation menu link only took a couple of clicks.
When the drop down menu gets added, then I think some of us will do back flips and get excited.
June 10, 2009 at 9:42 am |
I agree that if and/or when the drop down menu gets added only then will I be doing back flips of joy and get excited. Shouldn’t the drop down menu have been anready available for several years now? I think so!
May 1, 2009 at 8:17 am |
It is a handy useful tool. Well done Homestead.
May 1, 2009 at 11:01 am |
Waiting on the drop down menu myself. Please hurry!
May 1, 2009 at 3:59 pm |
Homestead users have been asking for a drop-down menu for years and instead we get this?
May 2, 2009 at 9:18 am |
I want to do website for myself and waiting on the drop down . please hurry
May 4, 2009 at 8:00 am |
Desparately awaiting a navigational system, that is not in JavaScript, and that search engines can traverse, thereby allowing all other pages than the Index/Home page to be made available to visitors.
Users can, of course, create their own Text Menu system. But this means that, for every change in menu content, each and every menu on each and every page must be changed manually. Yes, of course you can just copy the new menu, delete the old one and paste in the new one… but on very page is no joke!
May 4, 2009 at 8:02 am |
Typo amendment for above:
…but on every page is no joke!
May 5, 2009 at 7:24 pm |
Great feature! But when can you guys allow the .PNG feature? I really would like that feature for pictures.
May 9, 2009 at 10:45 am |
It would be nice if this tool was available in strorefront. When will it be ?
May 19, 2009 at 12:03 am |
Okay, this is a nice tool even though it really only took a couple clicks to add a new page to the menu. My question, which I’ve asked since Homestead went from free pages to paid, when the heck are you going to add drop down menus???? Your long-time users have been asking for this feature for years. While all the recent new stuff is nice, one key element to a successful site is navigation and sometimes we really need multi-level/drop down menu options! Come on…. when are you going to give us this?????
June 10, 2009 at 9:45 am |
I agree that if and/or when the drop down menu gets added only then will I be doing back flips of joy and get excited. Shouldn’t the drop down menu have been anready available for several years now? I think so!
May 19, 2009 at 12:15 pm |
This is a nice addition. Please create a drop down menu option? Please
May 27, 2009 at 4:28 pm |
It doesn’t sound like Homestead is being all that responsive to its clients.
I wonder if Homestead really cares about us?
June 3, 2009 at 2:47 pm |
is homestead ever going to get php ??? Please answer this
June 6, 2009 at 1:42 am |
Thanks for everything you are doing! Your company is a leader in web site development; I thank you for your assistance.
June 8, 2009 at 6:19 am |
I too am waiting for the drop down menu option. When will this be done. I like Homestead but will need to change to another hosting company very soon as this and a calendar are priorities for my organization. Thank you
September 3, 2009 at 3:26 pm |
HAving the same problem. s A photographer I def need calendar and for my pages a drop down would be great. If you find a web host that allows you to build your own site with drop dowwn menues. let me know.
June 9, 2009 at 12:30 pm |
Nice effort but dropdown menu would be great. I hope you can make
a plugin for WORDPRESS this woud make Homestead unbeatable.
June 9, 2009 at 5:08 pm |
Thank you for standing behind your product, your staff are very knowlegable and helpful when I have had questions or difficulties.
Bill Greguska
June 10, 2009 at 7:23 pm |
Hey
Don’t do anyting about java or drop downs… my ugly
site ranks 5-7 on the front page of google out of 34
million websites for MLM. You are sitting on a treasure
chest learn how to use it…. sign up to be get email on
the watchdog and you will be introduced to the Internet
University and many of my tricks…
Rod Cook
June 14, 2009 at 1:44 am |
I agree with all of you. A dropdown menu is definitly required. It wouldnt be so bad if Homestead told us that they were working on it. Are they listening to us. My contract is up in November, if no dropdown menu by then I will go elseware.
June 15, 2009 at 5:43 am |
Edsel, I think the plugin for wordpress is a geat idea. Is anybody else using Storefront ? It would be nice if some of these tools were available for Storefront .
June 15, 2009 at 9:30 am |
I agree with all the other posters. If nothing else – rather than leaving us hanging – please have someone in a position to know please adress the ‘drop down’ menu issue. At least address it…
June 15, 2009 at 12:53 pm |
Homestead users have been asking for a drop-down menu for years and instead we get this?
June 15, 2009 at 7:09 pm |
Great idea about the wordpress plugin Edsel. I am not sure how many people here are using StoreFront but If some of these tools could also be incorporated into StoreFront that would be great.
June 16, 2009 at 5:56 pm |
PLEASE!!!! Been waiting on DROP DOWN menus far too long. Can we get this sooner than later.
June 18, 2009 at 4:42 am |
Very interesting… thanks.
June 21, 2009 at 2:35 pm |
Drop Down Menus Get My Vote! This is a must to stay on top of current web design trends- and super important to ensure your site can be easily navigated while still maintaining SEO. Please make this happen!
June 22, 2009 at 6:34 am |
Thaks for your help in developing an outstanding website for entrepeneurs
July 5, 2009 at 11:54 am |
Can a blog be added to my website?
July 7, 2009 at 8:16 pm |
My vote goes for the Drop down Menu. Still, this is a good improvement. Actually all improvements are good.
July 7, 2009 at 10:14 pm |
Homestead needs more up to date media player options as well as drop down navigation menus. I have been with Homestead over 6 years and I have always been more than satisfied with product. But as the internet has evolved I feel HS has not kept up. My business is trying to stay up to date and ahead of the competition. To be honest glossy color buttons are not what my site needs. I need a media player that can display multiple videos
July 8, 2009 at 8:09 am |
I also would love the drop down . Want to know more!
July 8, 2009 at 12:52 pm |
Drop down menus are a definite must. Please add them soon. We are looking at alternatives as we are pushing HS to the wall in some areas and we need some more advanced features.
July 11, 2009 at 7:05 am |
Sounds great, I’ll have to give it a shot.
July 14, 2009 at 5:20 pm |
Why don’t we have a comment feature like this one that we can use on our websites built with Sitebuilder???
July 22, 2009 at 4:14 pm |
You have made this so simple that anyone can do it. Thank you for your contribution to those who are just getting started. Having resources like this available is a god send when you get stuck!
To Your Success!
Karl
July 31, 2009 at 1:12 pm |
Drop Down Menue PLEASE PLEASE
August 3, 2009 at 12:25 pm |
I really hope that the site builder is getting a REAL overhaul. For myself who’s been with Homestead for a long long time, I’m starting to feel that the internet is leaving Homestead behind.
There seems to be a limit to how cool you can make a homestead site and part of the reason is you can’t mess with the code. We really need the option to take the sites to the next level and that means a site builder reworking.
I really hope they can keep up with the times cause I’m getting ready to move on.
September 6, 2009 at 8:35 am |
Thank you for listening to your loyal customers. The ease of use of the new feature added has make life easy for all. Homestead blog is a fantastic software I am proud of.
Now that his is completed can you give us drop down menue please.
September 6, 2009 at 8:35 am |
Looking at the posts, I’m thinking you must have already added something that will allow us to put some of our pages as sub-pages into the navigation bar (via a drop-down of some sort). Only problem – I can’t figure out how to do it!
Please advise ASAP! I hate the look of a page that does nothing but have links to what SHOULD be in a drop-down from the Navigation bar.
September 8, 2009 at 8:38 am |
Do you charge for the additional page?
September 8, 2009 at 11:15 am |
I agree with mojo i am new on here but its just like he says .There seems to be a limit to how cool you can make a homestead site and part of the reason is you can’t mess with the code. We really need the option to take the sites to the next level and that means a site builder reworking.
I really hope they can keep up with the times cause I’m getting ready to move on.