SmartEdit allows nontechnical users to manage Web site links embedded in three places out of the box:
- The category navigation component at the top,
- The footer navigation component at the bottom,
- The account navigation component, but its visibility is limited to logged in users.
Laura can conveniently manage the Web site's navigation links on her own. She uses SmartEdit to define a hierarchical structure of CMS Navigation menu items and entries. Each navigation component on the page provides the menu items, their entries, and links that customers use to navigate through the Web site.
Let’s see how the three storefront navigation components on the left-hand side of the image are linked to SmartEdit’s navigation management tree on the right side:
As you can see, the navigation tree components with their menu items and entries are shown on the storefront. Each navigation component type displays its internals differently.
The following images illustrate how the navigational menu items and entries are handled in SmartEdit and also how they are presented on the storefront. They show all three navigation components after synchronization.
We start off with the storefront Category Navigation component on the left side of the next image. On the right, you see its representation in SmartEdit with the corresponding six top-level menu items. The name of each menu item is visible on the storefront.
Now, let’s have a look at the storefront Footer Navigation component on top of the next image. Below, you see its representation in SmartEdit with the corresponding three top-level menu items. The last menu item is open and contains three menu entries. These entries are invisible, but they contain and expose visible links as navigational components, which users can see on the storefront.
Now, let’s look at the last of our three out-of-the-box navigation components, the Account Navigation component. This component is only visible to logged in users.
On the left-hand side of the next image, you see the Account Navigation component on the storefront. And on the right side, you see its representation in SmartEdit with just one top-level menu item. The menu item is open and contains several menu entries. Each of these entries exposes a visible link. So, in fact, what the logged in user sees on the storefront is the link. The entry itself stays invisible.
Let's Clarify Some Terms Commonly Used in the Documentation
A Menu Item represents a navigation menu on the storefront, perceived as the nodes in the tree structure of our navigation components. Laura can add, edit, move, and delete menu items. A menu item can have one or more entries.
Entries themselves are invisible to the storefront user. However, those entries contain visible navigation components that customers can use to navigate the storefront. Laura creates entries by adding them to a navigation menu. Each entry must have a component assigned to it.
Navigation Components are provided by entries in the navigation tree, usually links but banner components are also allowed.
Note
The term "Navigation Component" refers to two different things in WCMS. To clarify: Laura can manage Web site links, which are also called "navigation components" and are found in menu entries inside a menu item. Menu items are exposed by our three main navigation components in the storefront: Footer, Category, or Account.
A component cannot be deleted once created, but Laura can edit its content.
Regarding links: The link name specified in the component is the name that is displayed in the storefront afterward. A link component can target one of the following:
- A Content page
- A Category page
- A Product page
- Any internal or external URL link
Note
Be careful! When you delete a menu item, you also delete all its entries, and all its child menu items with their entries. But you don't delete the components associated with these entries. They remain available for reuse.
Learn more about these concepts of navigation in the following video: