path: root/userguide/content/en/docs/adding-content/navigation.md

---
title: "Navigation and Search"
date: 2017-01-05
weight: 3
description: >
   Customize site navigation and search for your Docsy site.
---

## Top-level menu

The top level menu (the one that appears in the top navigation bar for the entire site) uses your site's [`main` menu](https://gohugo.io/content-management/menus/). All Hugo sites have a `main` menu array of menu entries, accessible via the `.Site.Menus` site variable and populatable via page front matter or your site's `config.toml`/`config.yaml`/`config.json`.

To add a page or section to this menu, add it to the site's `main` menu in either `config.toml`/`config.yaml`/`config.json` or in the destination page's front matter (in `_index.md` or `_index.html` for a section, as that's the section landing page). For example, here's how we added the Documentation section landing page to the main menu in this site:

{{< tabpane persistLang=false >}}
{{< tab header="Front matter:" disabled=true />}}
{{< tab header="toml" lang="toml" >}}
+++
title = "Welcome to Docsy"
linkTitle = "Documentation"

[menu.main]
weight = 20
pre = "<i class='fa-solid fa-book'></i>"
+++
{{< /tab >}}
{{< tab header="yaml" lang="yaml" >}}
---
title: "Welcome to Docsy"
linkTitle: "Documentation"
menu:
  main:
    weight: 20
    pre: <i class='fa-solid fa-book'></i>
---
{{< /tab >}}
{{< tab header="json" lang="json" >}}
{
  "title": "Welcome to Docsy",
  "linkTitle": "Documentation",
  "menu": {
    "main": {
      "weight": 20,
      "pre": "<i class='fa-solid fa-book'></i>"
    }
  }
}
{{< /tab >}}
{{< /tabpane >}}

The menu is ordered from left to right by page `weight`. So, for example, a section index or page with `weight: 30` would appear after the Documentation section in the menu, while one with `weight: 10` would appear before it.

If you want to add a link to an external site to this menu, add it in `config.toml`/`config.yaml`/`config.json`, specifying the `weight`.

{{< tabpane persistLang=false >}}
{{< tab header="Configuration file:" disabled=true />}}
{{< tab header="config.toml" lang="toml" >}}
[[menu.main]]
    name = "GitHub"
    weight = 50
    url = "https://github.com/google/docsy/"
{{< /tab >}}
{{< tab header="config.yaml" lang="yaml" >}}
menu:
  main:
    - name: GitHub
      weight: 50
      url: 'https://github.com/google/docsy/'
{{< /tab >}}
{{< tab header="config.json" lang="json" >}}
{
  "menu": {
    "main": [
      {
        "name": "GitHub",
        "weight": 50,
        "url": "https://github.com/google/docsy/"
      }
    ]
  }
}
{{< /tab >}}
{{< /tabpane >}}

### Adding icons to the top-level menu

As described in the [Hugo docs](https://gohugo.io/content-management/menus/#add-non-content-entries-to-a-menu), you can add icons to the top-level menu by using the pre and/or post parameter for main menu items defined in your site's `config.toml`/`config.yaml`/`config.json` or via page front matter. For example, the following configuration adds the GitHub icon to the GitHub menu item, and a **New!** alert to indicate that this is a new addition to the menu.

{{< tabpane persistLang=false >}}
{{< tab header="Configuration file:" disabled=true />}}
{{< tab header="config.toml" lang="toml" >}}
[[menu.main]]
    name = "GitHub"
    weight = 50
    url = "https://github.com/google/docsy/"
    pre = "<i class="fa-brands fa-github"></i>"
    post = "<span class='alert'>New!</span>"
{{< /tab >}}
{{< tab header="config.yaml" lang="yaml" >}}
menu:
  main:
    - name: GitHub
      weight: 50
      url: 'https://github.com/google/docsy/'
      pre: <i class="fa-brands fa-github"></i>
      post: <span class='alert'>New!</span>
{{< /tab >}}
{{< tab header="config.json" lang="json" >}}
{
  "menu": {
    "main": [
      {
        "name": "GitHub",
        "weight": 50,
        "url": "https://github.com/google/docsy/",
        "pre": "<i class="fa-brands fa-github"></i>",
        "post": "<span class='alert'>New!</span>"
      }
    ]
  }
}
{{< /tab >}}
{{< /tabpane >}}

You can find a complete list of icons to use in the [FontAwesome documentation](https://fontawesome.com/icons?d=gallery&p=2). Docsy includes the free FontAwesome icons by default.

### Adding a version drop-down

If you add some `[params.versions]` in `config.toml`, the Docsy theme adds a
version selector drop down to the top-level menu.

You can find out more in the guide to
[versioning your docs](/docs/adding-content/versioning/).

### Adding a language drop-down

If you configure more than one language in `config.toml`, the Docsy theme adds a language selector drop down to the top-level menu. Selecting a language takes the user to the translated version of the current page, or the home page for the given language.

You can find out more in [Multi-language support](/docs/language/).

## Section menu

The section menu, as shown in the left side of the `docs` section, is automatically built from the `content` tree. Like the top-level menu, it is ordered by page or section index `weight` (or by page creation `date` if `weight` is not set), with the page or index's `Title`, or `linkTitle` if different, as its link title in the menu. If a section subfolder has pages other than `_index.md` or `_index.html`, those pages will appear as a submenu, again ordered by `weight`. For example, here's the metadata for this page showing its `weight` and `title`:


{{< tabpane persistLang=false >}}
{{< tab header="Front matter:" disabled=true />}}
{{< tab header="toml" lang="toml" >}}
+++
title = "Navigation and Search"
linkTitle = "Navigation and Search"
date = 2017-01-05T00:00:00.000Z
weight = 3
description = '''
Customize site navigation and search for your Docsy site.
'''
+++
{{< /tab >}}
{{< tab header="yaml" lang="yaml" >}}
---
title: "Navigation and Search"
linkTitle: "Navigation and Search"
date: 2017-01-05
weight: 3
description: >
  Customize site navigation and search for your Docsy site.
---
{{< /tab >}}
{{< tab header="json" lang="json" >}}
{
  "title": "Navigation and Search",
  "linkTitle": "Navigation and Search",
  "date": "2017-01-05T00:00:00.000Z",
  "weight": 3,
  "description": "Customize site navigation and search for your Docsy site.\n"
}
{{< /tab >}}
{{< /tabpane >}}

To hide a page or section from the left navigation menu, set `toc_hide: true` in the front matter.

To hide a page from the section summary on a [docs section landing page]({{< ref "content#docs-section-landing-pages" >}}), set `hide_summary: true` in the front matter. If you want to hide a page from both the TOC menu and the section summary list, you need to set both `toc_hide` and `hide_summary` to `true` in the front matter.

{{< tabpane persistLang=false >}}
{{< tab header="Front matter:" disabled=true />}}
{{< tab header="toml" lang="toml" >}}
+++
title = "My Hidden Page"
weight = 99
toc_hide = true
hide_summary = true
description = '''
Page hidden from both the TOC menu and the section summary list.
'''
+++
{{< /tab >}}
{{< tab header="yaml" lang="yaml" >}}
---
title: "My Hidden Page"
weight: 99
toc_hide: true
hide_summary: true
description: >
  Page hidden from both the TOC menu and the section summary list.
---
{{< /tab >}}
{{< tab header="json" lang="json" >}}
{
  "title": "My Hidden Page",
  "weight": 99,
  "toc_hide": true,
  "hide_summary": true,
  "description": "Page hidden from both the TOC menu and the section summary list.\n"
}
{{< /tab >}}
{{< /tabpane >}}

### Section menu options

By default, the section menu shows the current section fully expanded all the way down. This may make the left nav too long and difficult to scan for bigger sites. Try setting site parameter `ui.sidebar_menu_compact = true` in `config.toml`.

With the compact menu (`.ui.sidebar_menu_compact = true`), only the current page's ancestors, siblings and direct descendants are shown. You can use the optional parameter `.ui.ul_show` to set a desired menu depth to always be visible. For example, with `.ui.ul_show = 1` the first menu level is always displayed.

As well as the completely expanded and compact menu options, you can also create a foldable menu by setting the site parameter `ui.sidebar_menu_foldable = true` in `config.toml`. The foldable menu lets users expand and collapse menu sections by toggling arrow icons beside the section parents in the menu.

On large sites (default: > 2000 pages) the section menu is not generated for each page, but cached for the whole section. The HTML classes for marking the active menu item (and menu path) are then set using JS. You can adjust the limit for activating the cached section menu with the optional parameter `.ui.sidebar_cache_limit`.

### Add icons to the section menu

You can add icons to the section menu in the sidebar by setting the `icon` parameter in the page front matter (e.g. `icon: fa-solid fa-screwdriver-wrench`).

You can find a complete list of icons to use in the [FontAwesome documentation](https://fontawesome.com/icons?d=gallery&p=2). Docsy includes the free FontAwesome icons by default.

Out of the box, if you want to use icons, you should define icons for all items on the same menu level in order to ensure an appropriate look. If the icons are used in a different way, individual CSS adjustments are likely necessary.

### Add manual links to the section menu

By default the section menu is entirely generated from your section's pages. If you want to add a manual link to this menu, such as a link to an external site or a page in a different section of your site, you can do this by creating a *placeholder page file* in the doc hierarchy with the appropriate weight and some special parameters in its metadata (frontmatter) to specify the link details.

To create a placeholder page, create a page file as usual in the directory where you want the link to show up in the menu, and add a `manualLink` parameter to its metadata. If a page has `manualLink` in its metadata, Docsy generates a link for it in the section menu for this page and in the section index (the list of the child pages of a section on a landing page - see [description in the Docsy docs](/docs/adding-content/content/#docs-section-landing-pages)), but the link destination is replaced by the value of `manualLink`. The link text is the `title` (or `linkTitle` if set) of your placeholder page. You can optionally also set the `title` attribute of the link with the parameter `manualLinkTitle` and a link target with `manualLinkTarget` - for example if you want an external link to open in a new tab you can set the link target to `_blank`. Docsy automatically adds `rel=noopener` to links that open new tabs as a security best practice.

 You can also use `manualLink` to add an additional cross reference to another existing page of your site. For internal links you can choose to use the parameter `manualLinkRelref` instead of `manualLink` to use the built-in Hugo function [relref](https://gohugo.io/functions/relref/ "External link to official Hugo Docs"). If `relref` can't find a unique page in your site, Hugo throws a error message.

 {{% alert title="Note" %}}
 Although all generated menu and landing page links based on your placeholder file are set according to the parameters `manualLink` or `manualLinkRelref`, Hugo still generates a regular HTML site page for the file, albeit one with no generated links to it. To avoid confusion if users accidentally land on a generated placeholder page, we recommend specifying the URL for the external link in the normal content and / or page description of the page.
 {{% /alert %}}

## Breadcrumb navigation

Breadcrumb navigation links appear at the top of each page by default. To disable breadcrumb navigation, set site param `ui.breadcrumb_disable = true` in `config.toml`.

Breadcrumb navigation links are also shown for each item on the taxonomy results page (i.e. when you click one of the taxonomy labels, e.g. Tags/Categories). These breadcrumbs can be disabled in `config.toml` by setting site param `taxonomy_breadcrumb_disable = true`.

## Site search options

Docsy offers multiple options that let your readers search your site content, so you can pick one that suits your needs. You can choose from:

* [Google Custom Search Engine](#configure-search-with-a-google-custom-search-engine) (GCSE), the default option, which uses Google's index of your public site to generate a search results page.
* [Algolia DocSearch](#configure-algolia-docsearch), which uses Algolia's indexing and search mechanism, and provides an organized dropdown of search results when your readers use the search box. Algolia DocSearch is free for public documentation sites.
* [Local search with Lunr](#configure-local-search-with-lunr), which uses Javascript to index and search your site without the need to connect to external services. This option doesn't require your site to be public.

If you enable any of these search options in your `config.toml`, a search box displays in the right of your top navigation bar. By default a search box also displays at the top of the section menu in the left navigation pane, which you can disable if you prefer, or if you're using a search option that only works with the top search box.

Be aware that if you accidentally enable more than one search option in your `config.toml` you may get unexpected results (for example, if you have added the `.js` for Algolia DocSearch, you'll get Algolia results if you enable GCSE search but forget to disable Algolia search).

### Disabling the sidebar search box

By default, the search box appears in both the top navigation bar and at the top of the sidebar left navigation pane. If you don't want the sidebar search box, set `sidebar_search_disable` to `true` in `config.toml`/`config.yaml`/`config.json`:

{{< tabpane persistLang=false >}}
{{< tab header="Configuration file:" disabled=true />}}
{{< tab header="config.toml" lang="toml" >}}
sidebar_search_disable = true
{{< /tab >}}
{{< tab header="config.yaml" lang="yaml" >}}
sidebar_search_disable: true
{{< /tab >}}
{{< tab header="config.json" lang="json" >}}
"sidebar_search_disable": true
{{< /tab >}}
{{< /tabpane >}}

## Configure search with a Google Custom Search Engine

By default Docsy uses a [Google Custom Search Engine](https://cse.google.com/cse/all) (GCSE) to search your site. To enable this feature, you'll first need to make sure that you have built and deployed [a production version of your site](/docs/deployment#build-environments-and-indexing), as otherwise your site won't be crawled and indexed.

### Setting up site search

1.  Create a Google Custom Search Engine for your deployed site by clicking **New search engine** on the [Custom Search page](https://cse.google.com/cse/all) and following the instructions. Make a note of the ID for your new search engine.
1.  Add any further configuration you want to your search engine using the **Edit search engine** options. In particular you may want to do the following:

    * Select **Look and feel**. Change from the default **Overlay** layout to **Results only**, as this option means your search results are embedded in your search page rather than appearing in a separate box. Click **Save** to save your changes.
    * Edit the default result link behavior so that search results from your site don't open in a new tab. To do this, select **Search Features** - **Advanced** - **Websearch Settings**. In the **Link Target** field, type "\_parent". Click **Save** to save your changes.

{{% alert title="Tip" %}}
Your site search results should show up within a couple of days. If it takes longer than that, you can manually request that your site is indexed by [submitting a sitemap through the Google Search Console](https://support.google.com/webmasters/answer/183668?hl=en).
{{% /alert %}}

### Adding the search page

Once you have your search engine set up, you can add the feature to your site:

1. Ensure you have a Markdown file in `content/en/search.md` (and one per other languages if needed) to display your search results. It only needs a title and `layout: search`, as in the following example:

    {{< tabpane persistLang=false >}}
{{< tab header="Front matter:" disabled=true />}}
{{< tab header="toml" lang="toml" >}}
+++
title = "Search Results"
layout = "search"
+++
{{< /tab >}}
{{< tab header="yaml" lang="yaml" >}}
---
title: Search Results
layout: search
---
{{< /tab >}}
{{< tab header="json" lang="json" >}}
{
    "title": "Search Results",
    "layout": "search"
}
{{< /tab >}}
    {{< /tabpane >}}

1. Add your Google Custom Search Engine ID to the site params in `config.toml`/`config.yaml`/`config.json`. You can add different values per language if needed.

    {{< tabpane persistLang=false >}}
{{< tab header="Configuration file:" disabled=true />}}
{{< tab header="config.toml" lang="toml" >}}
gcs_engine_id = "011737558837375720776:fsdu1nryfng"
{{< /tab >}}
{{< tab header="config.yaml" lang="yaml" >}}
gcs_engine_id: '011737558837375720776:fsdu1nryfng'
{{< /tab >}}
{{< tab header="config.json" lang="json" >}}
{
  "gcs_engine_id": "011737558837375720776:fsdu1nryfng"
}
{{< /tab >}}
    {{< /tabpane >}}


### Disabling GCSE search

If you don't specify a Google Custom Search Engine ID for your project and haven't enabled any other search options, the search box won't appear in your site. If you're using the default `config.toml` from the example site and want to disable search, just comment out or remove the relevant line.

## Configure Algolia DocSearch

As an alternative to GCSE, you can use [Algolia DocSearch](https://docsearch.algolia.com/) with this theme. Algolia DocSearch is free for public documentation sites.  Docsy supports Algolia DocSearch v3.

{{% alert title="Note" %}}
Docsy previously supported Algolia DocSearch v2, which is now deprecated. If you are an existing Algolia DocSearch v2 user and want to use the latest Docsy version, [follow the migration instructions](https://docsearch.algolia.com/docs/migrating-from-v2) in the DocSearch documentation to update your DocSearch code snippet.
{{% /alert %}}

### Sign up for Algolia DocSearch

Complete the form at [https://docsearch.algolia.com/apply/](https://docsearch.algolia.com/apply/).

If you are accepted to the program, you will receive the code to add to your documentation site from Algolia by email.

### Adding Algolia DocSearch

1. Enable Algolia DocSearch in `config.toml`/`config.yaml`/`config.json`.

    {{< tabpane persistLang=false >}}
{{< tab header="Configuration file:" disabled=true />}}
{{< tab header="config.toml" lang="toml" >}}
algolia_docsearch = true
{{< /tab >}}
{{< tab header="config.yaml" lang="yaml" >}}
algolia_docsearch: true
{{< /tab >}}
{{< tab header="config.json" lang="json" >}}
{
  "algolia_docsearch": true
}
{{< /tab >}}
    {{< /tabpane >}}

2. Remove or comment out any GCSE ID in `config.toml`/`config.yaml`/`config.json` and ensure local search is set to `false` as you can only have one type of search enabled. See [Disabling GCSE search](#disabling-gcse-search).

3. Disable the sidebar search in `config.toml`/`config.yaml`/`config.json` as this is not currently supported for Algolia DocSearch. See [Disabling the sidebar search box](#disabling-the-sidebar-search-box).

3. Add the CSS and JS to use Algolia to the head and body of every page in your site, following the instructions in [Add code to head or before body end](/docs/adding-content/lookandfeel/#add-code-to-head-or-before-body-end).

   * In `head-end.html` add the DocSearch CSS:

      ```html
      <link rel="stylesheet" href="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/npm/@docsearch/css@3" />
      ```


   * In `body-end.html` add the DocSearch script, replacing the `docsearch` details with the snippet you get from Algolia (the example below is Algolia's own site index!). You must provide `#docsearch` as your `container` value as that's the ID of the `div` we provide in Docsy's layout:

      ```html
      <script src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/npm/@docsearch/js@3"></script>
      <script type="text/javascript">docsearch({
        container: '#docsearch',
        appId: 'R2IYF7ETH7',
        apiKey: '599cec31baffa4868cae4e79f180729b',
        indexName: 'docsearch',
        });</script>
     ```

You can find out more about how to configure DocSearch in the Algolia DocSearch V3 [Getting started](https://docsearch.algolia.com/docs/DocSearch-v3) guide.

When you've completed these steps, Algolia search should be enabled on your site. Search results are displayed as a pop-up, so you don't need to add any search results page.

## Configure local search with Lunr

[Lunr](https://lunrjs.com/) is a Javascript-based search option that lets you index your site and make it searchable without the need for external, server-side search services. This is a good option particularly for smaller or non-public sites.

To add Lunr search to your Docsy site:

1. Enable local search in `config.toml`/`config.yaml`/`config.json`.

    {{< tabpane persistLang=false >}}
{{< tab header="Configuration file:" disabled=true />}}
{{< tab header="config.toml" lang="toml" >}}
offlineSearch = true
{{< /tab >}}
{{< tab header="config.yaml" lang="yaml" >}}
offlineSearch: true
{{< /tab >}}
{{< tab header="config.json" lang="json" >}}
{
  "offlineSearch": true
}
{{< /tab >}}
    {{< /tabpane >}}

2. Remove or comment out any GCSE ID in `config.toml`/`config.yaml`/`config.json` and ensure Algolia DocSearch is set to `false`, as you can only have one type of search enabled. See [Disabling GCSE search](#disabling-gcse-search).

Once you've completed these steps, local search is enabled for your site and results appear in a drop down when you use the search box.

{{% alert title="Tip" %}}
If you're [testing this locally](/docs/deployment/#serving-your-site-locally) using Hugo’s local server functionality, you need to build your `offline-search-index.xxx.json` file first by running `hugo`. If you have the Hugo server running while you build `offline-search-index.xxx.json`, you may need to stop the server and restart it in order to see your search results.
{{% /alert %}}

### Changing the summary length of the local search results

You can customize the summary length by setting `offlineSearchSummaryLength` in `config.toml`/`config.yaml`/`config.json`.

{{< tabpane persistLang=false >}}
{{< tab header="Configuration file:" disabled=true />}}
{{< tab header="config.toml" lang="toml" >}}
#Enable offline search with Lunr.js
offlineSearch = true
offlineSearchSummaryLength = 200
{{< /tab >}}
{{< tab header="config.yaml" lang="yaml" >}}
offlineSearch: true
offlineSearchSummaryLength: 200
{{< /tab >}}
{{< tab header="config.json" lang="json" >}}
{
  "offlineSearch": true,
  "offlineSearchSummaryLength": 200
}
{{< /tab >}}
{{< /tabpane >}}

### Changing the maximum result count of the local search

You can customize the maximum result count by setting `offlineSearchMaxResults` in `config.toml`/`config.yaml`/`config.json`.

{{< tabpane persistLang=false >}}
{{< tab header="Configuration file:" disabled=true />}}
{{< tab header="config.toml" lang="toml" >}}
offlineSearch = true
offlineSearchMaxResults = 25
{{< /tab >}}
{{< tab header="config.yaml" lang="yaml" >}}
offlineSearch: true
offlineSearchMaxResults: 25
{{< /tab >}}
{{< tab header="config.json" lang="json" >}}
{
  "offlineSearch": true,
  "offlineSearchMaxResults": 25
}
{{< /tab >}}
{{< /tabpane >}}

### Changing the width of the local search results popover

The width of the search results popover will automatically widen according to the content.

If you want to limit the width, add the following scss into `assets/scss/_variables_project.scss`.

```scss
.td-offline-search-results {
  max-width: 460px;
}
```

### Excluding pages from local search results

To exclude pages from local search results, add `exclude_search: true` to the the frontmatter of each page:

{{< tabpane persistLang=false >}}
{{< tab header="Front matter:" disabled=true />}}
{{< tab header="toml" lang="toml" >}}
+++
title = "Index"
weight = 10
exclude_search = true
+++
{{< /tab >}}
{{< tab header="yaml" lang="yaml" >}}
---
title: "Index"
weight: 10
exclude_search: true
---
{{< /tab >}}
{{< tab header="json" lang="json" >}}
{
  "title": "Index",
  "weight": 10,
  "exclude_search": true
}
{{< /tab >}}
{{< /tabpane >}}