SharePoint Navigation and Links Manipulation

A SharePoint tutorial by Peter Kalmstrom

The SharePoint navigation links in the Top Bar and Quick Launch can be manipulated in several ways. In the demo below Peter Kalmstrom, CEO of kalmstrom.com Business Solutions and Microsoft certified SharePoint specialist, shows some examples on what you can do.

Peter explains the differences between the Top Bar (also called Global Navigation) and the Quick Launch (also called Current Navigation), and he shows how you can manipulate both.

SharePoint Server Publishing Infrastructure

How much you can manipulate the navigation, depends on if the SharePoint Server Publishing Infrastructure is enabled for your site collection or not. This feature can be found among the site collection features in all licenses of SharePoint except the Foundation versions.

Manipulate the SharePoint navigation without the Publishing Infrastructure

At first Peter shows what you can do without enabling the Publishing Infrastructure feature, by using the EDIT LINKS command in the Quick Launch:

Specify that a link should always be visible in the Quick Launch. Peter shows two ways of doing this.
Change the order of the Quick Launch links by drag and drop.
Add a new link to the Quick Launch.

Links may also be removed from the Quick Launch via the Edit links command.

In the Top Bar links can be added and moved on sites that has the EDIT LINKS control. (Sites without this control are inheriting the Top Bar navigation from a parent page.)

Manipulate the SharePoint navigation with the Publishing Infrastructure enabled

Peter shows how to enable the SharePoint Server Publishing Infrastructure for a site collection and explains some of the possibilites the new Navigation Settings control gives.

Add a link that opens in a new window.
Move links up and down, not only in the Quick Launch but also in the Top Bar.
Create a dropdown in the Top Bar navigation, to avoid a long row of links or even a row break.