diff --git a/docs/source/getting-started.rst b/docs/source/getting-started.rst
index 4202b51..a90f870 100644
--- a/docs/source/getting-started.rst
+++ b/docs/source/getting-started.rst
@@ -306,6 +306,14 @@ by an instance-level ``check_auth`` method, that will not be used by the navigat
 -  NavItems can specify an icon to display in the menu item by passing an ``icon_class`` string to the
    NavItem constructor. e.g., ``NavItem('Title', NavURL(...), icon_class='fas fa-shopping-cart')``.
 
+-  NavItems can be given a ``class_`` kwarg that will be applied to the whole ``li`` tag in the default
+   render. This applies to both group items and the menu links themselves.
+
+-  NavItems can also be provided a ``code`` kwarg, which is useful when doing custom templating to render
+   the menu. The code is a code-only tag for the menu that can remain the same even if the menu wording
+   changes. For example, the code could be used in a conditional template block to render certain menu
+   items differently from the rest.
+
 Example:
 
 .. code-block:: python
@@ -324,6 +332,7 @@ Example:
                     'Nesting',
                     NavItem('Secret1', NavURL('private.secret1')),
                     NavItem('Secret1 Class', NavURL('private.secret1-class')),
+                    class_='my-nest-class',
                 ),
                 NavItem('Permissions On Stock Methods', NavURL('private.secret2')),
                 NavItem('Permissions On Methods', NavURL('private.someroute')),
@@ -333,7 +342,7 @@ Example:
                         'private.secret3', requires_permissions='permission3'
                     )),
                 NavItem('User Manage', NavURL('auth.user:add')),
-                NavItem('Logout', NavURL('auth.logout')),
+                NavItem('Logout', NavURL('auth.logout'), code='i-am-different'),
                 NavItem('Login', NavURL('auth.login', requires_anonymous=True)),
             )
         )
diff --git a/keg_auth/libs/navigation.py b/keg_auth/libs/navigation.py
index 69ed12b..3bc2db5 100644
--- a/keg_auth/libs/navigation.py
+++ b/keg_auth/libs/navigation.py
@@ -153,11 +153,12 @@ class NavItem(object):
                 NavItem('Users', NavURL('auth.user:list')),
                 NavItem('Groups', NavURL('auth.group:list')),
                 nav_group='admin',
-                icon_class='fas fa-briefcase'
+                icon_class='fas fa-briefcase',
+                class_='my-menu-group'
             ),
             NavItem(
                 'Reports',
-                NavItem('Frequency', NavURL('frequency-report')),
+                NavItem('Frequency', NavURL('frequency-report'), code='frequency'),
                 NavItem('Financial', NavURL('money-report', requires_permissions='secret-perm'))
             )
         )
@@ -167,7 +168,7 @@ class NavItemType(object):
         STEM = 0
         LEAF = 1
 
-    def __init__(self, *args, nav_group=None, icon_class=None):
+    def __init__(self, *args, nav_group=None, icon_class=None, class_=None, code=None):
         self.label = None
         if len(args) and (isinstance(args[0], str) or is_lazy_string(args[0])):
             self.label = args[0]
@@ -176,6 +177,8 @@ def __init__(self, *args, nav_group=None, icon_class=None):
         self.sub_nodes = None
         self.nav_group = nav_group
         self.icon_class = icon_class
+        self.class_ = class_
+        self.code = code
 
         # cache permission-related items
         self._is_permitted = {}
diff --git a/keg_auth/templates/keg_auth/navigation.html b/keg_auth/templates/keg_auth/navigation.html
index 3a34832..2b6e3b9 100644
--- a/keg_auth/templates/keg_auth/navigation.html
+++ b/keg_auth/templates/keg_auth/navigation.html
@@ -5,9 +5,12 @@
 {% macro render_node(node, expand_to_current) -%}
     {# render a node (and its children, if appropriate) #}
     {% set NODE_LEAF = 1 %}
+    {% set has_classes = node.has_current_route or node.class_ %}
 
     {% if node.node_type == NODE_LEAF %}
-    <li{% if node.has_current_route %} class="nav-current"{% endif %}>
+    <li{% if has_classes %} class="
+        {%- if node.has_current_route %}nav-current {% endif %}
+        {%- if node.class_ %}{{ node.class_ }}{% endif %}"{% endif %}>
         <a href="{{ node.route.url }}">{{ render_link_text(node) }}</a>
     </li>
     {% elif node.sub_nodes %}
@@ -18,7 +21,8 @@
 {%- endmacro %}
 
 {% macro render_group(node, expand_to_current) %}
-    <a class="menu-header group-header" data-toggle="collapse" href="#navgroup-{{ node.nav_group }}"
+    <a class="menu-header group-header {{- (' ' + node.class_) if node.class_ }}"
+        data-toggle="collapse" href="#navgroup-{{ node.nav_group }}"
         {% if expand_to_current and node.has_current_route %}aria-expanded="true"{% endif %}>
         {{ render_link_text(node) }}
         <b class="caret"></b>
diff --git a/keg_auth/tests/test_views.py b/keg_auth/tests/test_views.py
index 27db8ee..0f9b865 100644
--- a/keg_auth/tests/test_views.py
+++ b/keg_auth/tests/test_views.py
@@ -130,6 +130,20 @@ def test_navigation_group(self):
             nav_el = resp.pyquery('#navigation')
             assert nav_el('[href="#navgroup-auth"]').attr('aria-expanded') != 'true'
 
+    def test_navigation_group_class(self):
+        user = ents.User.testing_create(permissions=[self.perm_auth, self.perm1, self.perm2])
+        client = AuthTestApp(flask.current_app, user=user)
+        resp = client.get('/')
+        nav_el = resp.pyquery('#navigation')
+        assert nav_el('.group-header.my-group-class').text() == 'Sub-Menu'
+
+    def test_navigation_link_class(self):
+        user = ents.User.testing_create(permissions=[self.perm_auth, self.perm1, self.perm2])
+        client = AuthTestApp(flask.current_app, user=user)
+        resp = client.get('/')
+        nav_el = resp.pyquery('#navigation')
+        assert nav_el('.my-link-class').text() == 'Secret View'
+
     def test_navigation_icon(self):
         user = ents.User.testing_create(permissions=[self.perm_auth])
         client = AuthTestApp(flask.current_app, user=user)
diff --git a/keg_auth_ta/events.py b/keg_auth_ta/events.py
index 1d02e37..47cf368 100644
--- a/keg_auth_ta/events.py
+++ b/keg_auth_ta/events.py
@@ -19,7 +19,8 @@ def init_navigation(app):
             NavItem(
                 'Sub-Menu',
                 NavItem('User Manage', NavURL('private.secret2')),
-                NavItem('Secret View', NavURL('private.secret_nested')),
+                NavItem('Secret View', NavURL('private.secret_nested'), class_='my-link-class'),
+                class_='my-group-class'
             ),
             NavItem(
                 'Menu-Group',