About the Navigation Menu

Navigation Menu enables administrators to create comprehensive, organized navigation experiences for portal users. This powerful configuration system allows organizations to structure portal navigation into Apps containing Menu Items, providing tailored navigation pathways that guide partners, customers, and employees to the content and functionality most relevant to their roles and responsibilities.

Navigation Menu transforms traditional static navigation into dynamic, role-based experiences that adapt to different user types and organizational needs. The system supports two-level nested navigation through Folders, enabling logical grouping of related Menu Items while providing detailed control over visibility through role and group assignments.

Core Functionality

Navigation Architecture and Structure

Apps as Navigation Containers: Apps serve as top-level navigation containers that define complete navigation experiences for users. Each App contains a collection of Menu Items organized in a specific structure, and users access different Apps through the App Selector based on their role and group memberships.

Menu Items as Navigation Destinations: Menu Items represent individual navigation entries that direct users to specific destinations within or outside the portal. Menu Items can link to entities, Active Pages, external websites, or custom URLs, providing flexible navigation options for diverse portal requirements.

Two-Level Nested Navigation: Navigation Menu supports hierarchical navigation structures through Folders. Folders exist at the root level of an App and can contain Menu Items, enabling logical grouping of related navigation options. This two-level structure (Root → Folder → Menu Items) provides organized navigation without overwhelming complexity.

Landing Menu Item Configuration: Each App designates a landing Menu Item that determines which page loads when users enter or switch to that App. This ensures users immediately arrive at the most relevant content for their navigation context.

Menu Item Types

Navigation Menu provides five distinct Menu Item types to address different navigation requirements:

Entity Menu Items: Navigate users to entity browse pages where they can view and interact with entity records. Entity Menu Items automatically respect system permissions and content availability.

Active Page Menu Items: Navigate users to configured Active Pages within the portal. Visibility depends on role to the underlying Active Page.

Link Menu Items: Navigate users to custom or dynamic URLs. Link Menu Items support merge fields and functions, enabling personalized navigation destinations based on user context. These Menu Items can be shared to specific roles and groups for visibility control.

Web Menu Items: Display external web pages within an iframe inside the portal. Web Menu Items require HTTPS URLs and support configurable content frame height. These Menu Items can be shared to specific roles and groups for visibility control.

Feature Menu Items: System-managed Menu Items automatically created by Magentrix when certain platform features are configured. Feature Menu Items cannot be deleted or fully customized, and their visibility is controlled by the underlying feature permissions.

App Management

App Creation and Configuration: Administrators create Apps to define navigation experiences for different user communities. Each App includes identifying information (name, icon, logo, description) and a structured collection of Menu Items organized through the Menu Builder interface.

Menu Builder Interface: The drag-and-drop Menu Builder enables administrators to construct App navigation structures by adding Menu Items from the available pool, creating Folders for nested organization, and arranging items in the desired display order.

Role and Group Assignment: Apps are assigned to security roles and user groups to control which users can access them. Users see only the Apps assigned to roles or groups they belong to, ensuring appropriate navigation experiences for different user communities.

Visibility and Access Control

App-Level Access

Role-Based App Access: Apps become available to users when assigned to at least one security role the user belongs to. Multiple roles can be assigned to a single App, enabling broad or targeted access configurations.

Group-Based App Access: Apps can also be assigned to user groups, providing additional flexibility for controlling navigation access based on organizational structure, geography, or other grouping criteria.

App Selector: When users have access to multiple Apps, the App Selector appears in the portal interface, allowing users to switch between available navigation experiences. The App Selector displays App names and icons for easy identification.

Menu Item-Level Visibility

Sharing for Link and Web Menu Items: Link and Web Menu Items support manual sharing to roles and groups. A Menu Item must be shared to at least one role or group to be visible to users, even if the Menu Item is assigned to an App.

Permission-Based Visibility: Entity and Active Page Menu Items do not support manual sharing. Their visibility is controlled by system permissions and access to the underlying entity or Active Page content.

Feature Menu Item Visibility: Feature Menu Items visibility is controlled entirely by the underlying feature that created them. Administrators cannot manually share Feature Menu Items.

Folder Auto-Hide Behavior: Folders are automatically hidden if none of their child Menu Items are visible to the current user. This ensures users do not see empty navigation containers.

Runtime Visibility Evaluation

Menu visibility is evaluated at runtime based on multiple factors including App assignment to roles, user role membership, group sharing rules for Menu Items that support sharing, and system permissions tied to Menu Item types. This dynamic evaluation ensures users always see navigation appropriate to their current access level.

Integration with Platform Features

Feature Menu Items

Certain Magentrix platform features automatically generate Feature Menu Items when configured. These system-managed Menu Items provide navigation to feature-specific content and functionality. Examples of features that generate Feature Menu Items include:

• Article Types
• Article Lists
• Storefronts
• Wikis

Feature Menu Items can be assigned to Apps like other Menu Items, but their configuration options are limited to icon selection only. Labels, URLs, and behavior cannot be modified.

Dynamic URL Capabilities

Link Menu Items support dynamic URL construction using entity fields, merge fields, and functions. This enables personalized navigation destinations that incorporate user-specific, organization-specific, or system context information. For detailed guidance on dynamic URL configuration, refer to:

• About Functions and Merge Fields
• Understanding Merge Fields
• Understanding Functions

Security Integration

Navigation Menu integrates with the Magentrix security framework to ensure appropriate access control. Role assignments, group memberships, and underlying feature permissions work together to determine which navigation options users can access. For comprehensive security configuration guidance, refer to:

• About Magentrix Security Roles
• Managing User Groups

Common Use Cases

Role-Based Portal Experiences

Partner Portal Navigation: Create dedicated Apps for partner users containing Menu Items for deal registration, training, marketing resources, and partner-specific content. Assign the App to partner roles to ensure partners see only relevant navigation options.

Customer Portal Navigation: Configure Apps for customer users with Menu Items for support cases, knowledge base access, product documentation, and community forums. Customer-focused navigation streamlines access to self-service resources.

Administrator Navigation: Build comprehensive Apps for administrators with Menu Items providing access to configuration pages, user management, reporting, and system settings. Administrative Apps support efficient portal management workflows.

Organized Content Access

Departmental Organization: Use Folders to group Menu Items by department or function, such as Sales, Marketing, Support, and Training. This logical organization helps users quickly locate relevant resources.

Process-Based Navigation: Structure Apps around business processes, with Menu Items and Folders organized to guide users through sequential workflow steps or related activities.

Multi-Audience Portals

Audience-Specific Apps: Create separate Apps for different user communities (partners, customers, distributors, employees) with navigation tailored to each audience's needs and access levels.

Tiered Access: Configure Apps with different Menu Item collections for users at different program tiers or permission levels, ensuring navigation reflects access privileges.

Best Practices

Navigation Design Strategy

User-Centric Organization: Design navigation from the user perspective, considering how different user types think about and search for content. Organize Menu Items and Folders based on user goals rather than internal organizational structure.

Clear Naming Conventions: Use descriptive, consistent names for Apps, Menu Items, and Folders that clearly communicate their purpose. Avoid internal jargon that users may not understand.

Logical Grouping: Group related Menu Items together using Folders to reduce navigation complexity. Keep the number of root-level items manageable to prevent overwhelming users.

Access Control Planning

Role-Based Strategy: Plan App and Menu Item assignments around security roles to ensure consistent navigation experiences for users with similar responsibilities and access levels.

Sharing Configuration: For Link and Web Menu Items, configure sharing to appropriate roles and groups before assigning to Apps. Menu Items without sharing configuration will not be visible to users.

Testing Across Roles: Test navigation experiences by logging in as users with different roles to verify appropriate Menu Items and Apps are visible for each user type.

Ongoing Management

Regular Review: Periodically review navigation structure to ensure it remains aligned with organizational needs and user feedback. Remove or reorganize Menu Items that are no longer relevant.

Feature Menu Item Awareness: Monitor Feature Menu Items created by platform features and incorporate them into appropriate Apps to ensure users can access feature-generated content.

Landing Page Optimization: Review and update landing Menu Item selections to ensure users arrive at the most valuable content when entering each App.

Navigation Menu Checklist >>