Implementing Sticky Navigation in WordPress Themes

Posted on 19th June 2023

What is sticky navigation?

Sticky navigation is a feature that allows a website’s navigation menu to remain visible at the top of the screen as the user scrolls down the page. This can be a useful way to keep your site’s most important links accessible at all times, without taking up too much space on the screen.

Why use sticky navigation?

There are a few reasons you might want to use sticky navigation on your WordPress site:

• It can help reduce the amount of scrolling required to access your site’s content.
• It can make it easier for visitors to find your site’s most important links.
• It can give your site a more modern and professional look.

How to implement sticky navigation in WordPress themes

There are a few different ways to implement sticky navigation in WordPress themes. In this article, we’ll cover two of the most popular methods: using the wp_nav_menu() function, and using the WordPress Customizer.

Method 1: Using the wp_nav_menu() function

The wp_nav_menu() function is the easiest way to add sticky navigation to your WordPress site. Simply add the following code to your theme’s header.php file:

<?php

wp_nav_menu( array(
	'theme_location' => 'primary',
	'container' => 'div',
	'container_class' => 'sticky-nav',
	'menu_class' => 'nav-menu'
) );

?>

Replace “primary” with the name of your theme’s primary menu location. You can find this in the register_nav_menus() function in your theme’s functions.php file.

Next, add the following CSS to your theme’s style.css file:

.sticky-nav {
	position: fixed;
	top: 0;
	width: 100%;
}

.nav-menu {
	float: right;
}

.nav-menu li {
	float: left;
}

.nav-menu li a {
	display: block;
	padding: 10px;
}

Be sure to adjust the CSS to match your theme’s existing styles. For example, you may want to use a different float value for the .nav-menu class, or use a different padding value for the .nav-menu li a class.

Method 2: Using the WordPress Customizer

If you’re using the WordPress Customizer to manage your theme’s settings, you can also use it to add sticky navigation to your site. Simply go to Appearance > Customize and click on the Header section. Then, select the Enable sticky header option.

Once you’ve enabled the sticky header option, you can adjust the following settings:

• Header height: The height of the header, in pixels.
• Header background color: The background color of the header.
• Header text color: The color of the header text.
• Header link color: The color of the header links.

Be sure to click the Save & Publish button when you’re finished.

Conclusion

In this article, we’ve covered two methods for implementing sticky navigation in WordPress themes. We hope this has been helpful!

As we scroll down the page, the “sticky” navigation menu remains fixed to the top of the screen, making it easy for us to navigate to different sections of the page without having to scroll back up to the top.

In this tutorial, we’ll show you how to implement sticky navigation in your WordPress theme.

We’ll assume that you have a basic understanding of HTML and CSS. If you’re not comfortable with these technologies, we recommend that you take some time to learn the basics before proceeding.

1. Create a Child Theme

If you’re not already using a child theme, we recommend that you create one before proceeding.

Child themes are a great way to customize your site without having to worry about losing your changes when the parent theme is updated.

To learn more about child themes, check out our article on the topic.

2. Add the following code to your child theme’s stylesheet

Now that you have a child theme set up, you’re ready to start customizing it.

The first thing we need to do is add some CSS to make our sticky navigation menu.

Add the following code to your child theme’s stylesheet (style.css):

3. Include the jQuery library in your child theme

In order for the code we just added to work, we need to include the jQuery library in our child theme.

The easiest way to do this is to add the following code to your child theme’s functions.php file:

4. Add the following code to your child theme’s functions.php file

Now that we have jQuery included in our child theme, we can add the code that will make our navigation menu sticky.

Add the following code to your child theme’s functions.php file:

5. That’s it!

That’s all there is to it! You should now have a sticky navigation menu on your WordPress site.

If you run into any problems, be sure to check the developer’s documentation for the Sticky-Kit jQuery plugin.

As you can see, implementing sticky navigation in WordPress is relatively simple. However, it’s important to note that this technique will not work on all sites.

If your theme uses a fixed-width layout, you’ll need to make sure that the width of your navigation menu is less than the width of your content area. Otherwise, the menu will not be able to “stick” to the top of the screen as you scroll down the page.

In addition, this technique will not work if your theme uses a horizontal navigation menu.

If you’re looking for an alternative to sticky navigation, you might want to consider using a “back to top” button.

When implemented properly, a “back to top” button can provide your users with an easy way to navigate to the top of your page, without having to scroll all the way back up.

To learn more about “back to top” buttons, check out our tutorial on the topic.