Navigation and Search
How primary navigation, breadcrumbs, side navigation, and site search work on ND Theme CMS v4.
Related: Pages-and-Templates, Page-Tags, Page-Meta, Widgets.
The header primary menu is built from CMS pages that have In navigation turned on.
- Open the page’s settings (Create/Page settings in the CMS toolbar).
- Check In navigation for pages that should appear in the top menu.
- Uncheck it for utility pages, individual news stories, or event detail pages that should stay out of the menu.
- Arrange page order in the page tree — menu order follows the tree.
The same menu feeds the mobile / global menu experience.
Content templates show a breadcrumb trail for the current page (from the site root down to the page you are on). You do not configure breadcrumbs per page beyond the normal page tree and titles.
On templates that include side navigation (notably Page with side-nav), the theme can show a navigation tree based on the current section: children (and grandchildren) of the section root that are marked In navigation.
Keep section pages in a clear tree and use In navigation so the auto tree stays useful.
The Page with side-nav template also has a Side Navigation placeholder. Add widgets there when you need a curated side menu instead of (or in addition to) relying only on the automatic tree.
| Widget | What it does |
|---|---|
| Side Navigation Child Page List | Lists related/child pages; optional tag filter; order by page tree, title, or publication date; optional second-level children |
| Side Navigation Page Link | Single manual link to a page |
| Side Navigation Dynamic Filter | Shell for client-side dynamic filtering (works with the theme’s front-end behavior) |
Tag filters on the child list use Page-Tags assigned in Page-Meta, same idea as other listing widgets.
The global menu includes a search form that submits to /search/.
Visitors type a query and land on the search results page.
Editor name: Search form
Add this NDT Forms widget anywhere you want an on-page search box. By default it posts to /search/.
See Widgets-NDT-Forms for related form widgets.
- Results URL:
/search/ - Matching uses page titles and indexed plugin text maintained for search
- Pages tagged with Page-Tags that have search category enabled can appear grouped by those categories
There is also a Search Page CMS template (Page Content placeholder) if you need a dedicated search landing page in the tree.
- Use In navigation deliberately: landing pages and section hubs on; one-off stories and event details usually off.
- For people or nested section pages, Page with side-nav plus Side Navigation widgets keeps related links visible — see People.
- Align search categories with the tags you already use for News, Events, and People.