Appearance > Menus > UberMenu Advanced Items
Overview
Menu segments allow you to separate your menu into different parts, then inject items from a separate menu into the current menu. A [Menu Segment] item will be replaced by the menu items of the segment assigned to it.
Please note that menu segments should not be used as direct children of Tabs advanced menu items.
When to use Menu Segments
Menu Segments are optional, they are there as a tool for your convenience.
In general, Menu Segments are good for organizing your menu, especially for breaking a large menu down into smaller, more manageable parts. One good strategy is to have a menu for your main menu bar that just contains the top level items and menu segments, then use a menu segment for each submenu. This is how we do it in the Demo Recreation Tutorial, and it allows for a good structural division of the menu.
Breaking down a large menu into smaller segments can also be useful when saving a large menu is too resource-intensive for your server – though if you’re running up against server limitations, make sure you’re not making your menu too large (for SEO purposes, you generally want less than 100 items in your main nav menu).
When NOT to use Menu Segments
The main thing you want to watch out for with menu segments is that they are not compatible with third party plugins. So, if you’re intending to reuse the same menu structure that you use for UberMenu in a separate menu system (for example, a third party mobile menu), then you should avoid using menu segments as they won’t be processed by other menus.
Example usage
Let’s say you have two menus, “My Main Menu” and “My Menu Segment”:
My Main Menu:
The Menu Segment menu item is set to My Menu Segment
My Menu Segment
Effective Menu
When the menu is generated, the menu items from My Menu Segment will replace the Menu Segment item in My Main Menu, effectively producing:
(Note this is just for illustrative purposes; the items in your Menus panel won’t actually change)
Result
Menu Segments have no structure
It’s important to be aware when designing your menu structure, that adding a menu segment only adds the exact items within that segment to the menu. It does not wrap the items in the menu segment in a separate structure (DOM element). If you would like to do so, you can add a Column or other item as a parent item to achieve a grouping for the menu segment.
Menu Segment Caching
As of UberMenu 3.2.1, you can cache menu segments just by checking a box. This saves you any processing that would occur within that menu segment. Read more about Menu Segment Caching
