Add links to your header and footer so readers can reach your main website, your status page or your contact page from anywhere in your help center. You keep them in one list, and your header menu and footer share it.
Who can do this: Owners and Admins (Editors through Customize on your help center) · Plans: All plans
Add a link
In the left menu, click Template editor, then open the Navigation tab.
Click Add link. A link called "New link" appears at the end of the list.
Type a Label: the text readers see.
Enter the URL: a path on your help center that starts with
/, such as/categories, or a full address that starts withhttps://.Pick a Kind: Internal link, Category or External link.
Check the link in the preview, then click Publish. Readers see it once you publish.
Does the tab say These links don't show anywhere yet? Your header has no place for them yet, and one click fixes it: see Show your links in the header below.
Where your links appear
Your links show wherever a page has a Navigation block, and in a Footer without columns of its own, which lists them in a "Links" column.
In Compass, the theme new help centers start with, the header of every page ends with a Navigation block. Your links appear there, on a row of their own. Compass's footer has columns of its own, so they don't show in it.
In most other themes, they show in the header and in the footer.
Contact links (anything that points to
/contacts) stay hidden while your contact page is off. The page switches on when your contact form has a recipient email.
A link to a private category doesn't make it public: readers who can't see the category still can't open it.
Show your links in the header
When no page has a place for your links, the Navigation tab says so: Links you add here won't show yet while the list is empty, and These links don't show anywhere yet once it has links. It happens on a help center that started on Compass before its header had a Navigation block, or after the Navigation blocks were removed.
In the Navigation tab, click Add to header. A Navigation block is added to the end of every page's header, and you see Added to your header.
Check your links in the preview, then click Publish.
Changed your mind? Press ⌘Z (Ctrl+Z on Windows): one undo takes the block back out of every page.
If your links show on some pages but not others, the tab says Not shown on every page and names the pages that miss out. Add to header then adds the block to those pages, or to every page if your header is the same on every page.
Change how the menu looks
Click Change how it looks in the Added to your header message to open the block's settings. To find them later, open Pages, pick the Header region and click Navigation.
Position: Own row (block) gives the links a full-width row of their own. The inline positions (left, center or right) put them on one row with the components beside them. In Compass, keep Own row (block): inline, the links share a row with your logo, which can squeeze it on a phone.
Variant: Horizontal, Vertical (sidebar) or Pills.
The block shows the list from the Navigation tab, not links of its own. Its settings say how many links it shows, and Edit links takes you back to the tab. In Compass each page has its own header, so a change to the block applies to one page, as the label next to its name says (for example Home only). Make the same change on each page where you want it. See Pages, regions and shared headers explained.
Which kind to pick
Kind | Use it for |
|---|---|
Internal link | A page of your help center, such as |
Category | One of your categories. Open the category on your help center and copy the part of its address after your domain, for example |
External link | Another website, such as your product or your status page. In your header menu it opens in a new tab. |
The easiest way to get an internal path right is to open the page on your live help center and copy what comes after the domain in the address bar. On a help center with several languages, paths that start with / keep the reader's language automatically.
Reorder, edit or remove links
Use the up and down arrows on a link to change its place in the list. Your menu shows the links in this order.
Edit any field in place. Changes show in the preview right away.
Click the trash icon to remove a link. Changed your mind? Press ⌘Z (Ctrl+Z on Windows).
Translate link labels
On a help center with more than one language, the Navigation tab shows an Editing texts in bar. Pick a language, then type the translated Label for each link. The URL is shared by every language.
Style one link with a CSS class
Want your "Contact support" link to look like a button? Type a class name in CSS class (advanced), such as support-cta, without a leading period. The class is added to that link in your header menu, so you can target it from Advanced → Custom CSS. The Custom CSS reference has a ready-made example.
Troubleshooting
Your link doesn't show in the header. Your header has no Navigation block. If the page shows your links nowhere else either, the Navigation tab tells you, and its Add to header button adds one: see Show your links in the header above. A footer that lists your links counts as showing them, so then the tab says nothing. To add one by hand, open Pages, pick the Header region, click Add component and pick Navigation, then publish. In Compass, set its Position to Own row (block), and add it on every page where you want the menu: each page has its own header.
Your links show twice. The header has two Navigation blocks. It happens when you add one to a Compass header that already ends with one, and the block's settings warn you about it. Open one of the two in Pages → Header, click Delete and confirm with Remove, then publish.
Your link doesn't show in the footer. Your Footer uses its own columns (Compass's does). Add the link to a Links column in the Footer. See Customize the header and footer.
The Contact link disappeared. Your contact page is off. Add a recipient email to your contact form and publish. See Set up your contact page and form.
The link leads to a "not found" page. Check the URL. Internal paths start with / and must match an address on your help center; copy it from your browser's address bar.
The preview is right but your help center isn't. Click Publish. Saved changes stay in your draft until you do.
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