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    The menu object and methods for site menus.

    A menu is loaded with the menu method and rendered by walking its items. menu.items holds only the top-level items; each menu_item's own items holds its direct children. A nested menu therefore renders with one loop per level, not one flat loop:

    {% menu var main_menu = "Main Menu" %}
    <ul>
    {% for item in main_menu.items %}
    <li>
    <a href="{{ item.href }}">{{ item.name }}</a>
    {% if item.items.size > 0 %}
    <ul>
    {% for child in item.items %}
    <li><a href="{{ child.href }}">{{ child.name }}</a></li>
    {% endfor %}
    </ul>
    {% endif %}
    </li>
    {% endfor %}
    </ul>

    Add a loop for each further level the menu actually uses. If a nested menu renders flat, the usual cause is a menu item saved without its parent item, not the template.

    {{ menu }}

    Properties
    Name Type Description
    object_type string Will always be menu
    is_valid boolean True if this references a published menu
    guid string The unique identifier for this menu
    value string Contains the same value as guid
    name {{ text }} The name of this menu, primarily used for identification and organization
    items {{ menu_items }} A list containing all of the top-level menu_items in the current menu
    field_id string The identifier for this field
    label string The label for this field
    output string The default output that the menu produces when output directly to the template. The default output may change at any time. Template developers should avoid using this and should handle the output of menus themselves
    Example Fetch and display menu itemsFetch menu items (e.g. from a datastore or menu object) and output them in a list or nav.
    Liquid
    {%- menu var mainMenu = "Main" -%}
{%- for item in mainMenu.items -%}
	<a href="{{item.href}}">{{item.title}}</a>
{%- endfor -%}
    Example Fetch menus and list their names{% menus %} returns a menus list; use shared list options such as limit and sort_by to page results.
    Liquid
    {%- menus var navs = limit:25 sort_by:"name" -%}
<ul>
{%- for nav in navs -%}
	<li>{{ nav.name }} ({{ nav.items.size }} top-level items)</li>
{%- endfor -%}
</ul>

    {% menus %} is the list method for menu entities. Shared list options such as limit and sort_by apply. Iterate the resulting menus object directly; each menu exposes items for its top-level menu_item list. For a single menu by name, use {% menu %}.

    {{ menus }}

    Contains multiple menus.

    Properties
    Name Type Description
    object_type string Will always be menus
    is_valid boolean True if this contains at least one published menu
    output string The default output that the menus will produce when it is output directly to the template - using the "output_in_list" property of each menu in the items list
    prepended list List containing any prepended menus.
    fetched list List containing all of the menus that were fetched from the database (as opposed to prepended or appended).
    appended list List containing any appended menus.
    appended_unique list List containing any appended menus excluding any menus that are in either the list of prepended or fetched menus.
    items list List containing all of the combined menus from the prepended, fetched, and appended lists. If unique is true, this list will not contain any duplicates. If max_size is set, this list will not contain more than the number of menus specified.
    size integer The total number of menus in the items list, including prepended, fetched, and appended lists, and respecting the unique and max_size properties.
    max_size integer If set, this is the maximum number of items that will be returned in the items list and the maximum number of items that will be included when this menus object is enumerated as a list. When not set, this value will be 0.
    unique boolean When true, the items list will not contain any duplicates. Only the first instance of each menu will be included.
    limit integer The maximum number of items that were allowed to be in the list of fetched menus. May be 0 in some cases (such as when when there are no fetched menus.
    start integer The 1-based index of the first item in the list of fetched menus.
    page integer The 1-based index of the paginated results returned in the list of fetched menus, which is calculated from the start and limit parameters. Useful for paginated results.
    total_count integer The 1-based index of the first item in the list of fetched menus
    total_pages integer If any items were fetched from the database, total_pages will contain the number of paginated result pages in the database for the provided arguments. This may also be calculated using the total_count and limit properties.
    Example Fetch menus and list their names{% menus %} returns a menus list; use shared list options such as limit and sort_by to page results.
    Liquid
    {%- menus var navs = limit:25 sort_by:"name" -%}
<ul>
{%- for nav in navs -%}
	<li>{{ nav.name }} ({{ nav.items.size }} top-level items)</li>
{%- endfor -%}
</ul>

    {% menus %} is the list method for menu entities. Shared list options such as limit and sort_by apply. Iterate the resulting menus object directly; each menu exposes items for its top-level menu_item list. For a single menu by name, use {% menu %}.

    {% menu %}

    {% menu output_to_template? [[var, set, or assign]? variable_name]? output_to_template? = value %}
    Parameters
    output_to_template optionalflag
    Include this flag to write the menu's output into the page at this point. What that output is differs by type, and for most types it is a built-in default that may change at any time, so see the output property of the menu object before relying on it. The flag may come before or after the variable name. When the call names no variable, the output is written whether or not the flag is present, which makes {% menu = value %} the smallest valid use of this method. When the call names a variable, the flag saves the menu to the variable and writes its output as well.
    var, set, or assign optionalkeyword
    Chooses the scope that holds the variable. var, the default, stores it in the current scope. set and assign can store it in outer scopes; Variable Scopes compares the three and when each fits.
    variable_name optionalvariable
    The variable that receives the menu. It may also be written as a reference, &name, which reads the variable's name from another variable (see Methods Overview). Leave it out to write the menu to the template instead.
    value requiredexpression
    Required; without a value the method call is not valid. Identifies which menu to fetch. It can evaluate to the menu itself, to its GUID, or to other text that identifies it, which for most types is its name; a type identified some other way, or only by GUID, says so in its summary. Names are matched without regard to case, but accented letters must match. A GUID identifies exactly one record, whereas when several records share a name, which of them is returned is not specified, so giving the records you fetch by name unique names avoids the question. A name reads better in a template and a GUID is exact; neither suits every site. When nothing matches, no error is raised: the variable holds an invalid menu, whose is_valid is false, so check is_valid before using it. When the expression itself has no value, for example an undefined variable, the method does nothing and the variable keeps any earlier value. May use liquid filters.

    Fetches a single {{ menu }}.

    Example Fetch and display menu itemsFetch menu items (e.g. from a datastore or menu object) and output them in a list or nav.
    Liquid
    {%- menu var mainMenu = "Main" -%}
{%- for item in mainMenu.items -%}
	<a href="{{item.href}}">{{item.title}}</a>
{%- endfor -%}

    {% menus %}

    {% menus output_to_template? [[var, set, or assign]? variable_name]? output_to_template? = arguments %}
    Parameters
    output_to_template optionalflag
    Include this flag to write the menus list's output into the page here. That output is a built-in default for most types and may change at any time, so see the output property of the menus object before relying on it. The flag may come before or after the variable name. With no variable named, the output is written whether or not the flag is present; with one, the flag saves the list and writes its output too.
    var, set, or assign optionalkeyword
    Chooses the scope that holds the variable. var, the default, stores it in the current scope. set and assign can store it in outer scopes; Variable Scopes compares the three and when each fits.
    variable_name optionalvariable
    The variable that receives the menus list. It may also be written as a reference, &name, which reads the variable's name from another variable (see Methods Overview). Leave it out to write the list to the template instead.
    arguments requiredcollection
    Key:value pairs. May use the variable arguments syntax. Written after a required =. The name:value pairs choose which menus to fetch and how to narrow, order and page them. Nothing is fetched unless the call gives an argument other than prepend, append, unique, exclude_prepended, exclude_appended, max_size and cache_random; without one, the list holds only the prepended and appended menus.

    Options

    prepend optionallist
    May be a single menu, a list of menus, or the name or guid of one menu, to be included at the beginning of the menus list.
    append optionallist
    May be a single menu, a list of menus, or the name or guid of one menu, to be included at the end of the menus list.
    exclude optionallist
    May be a single menu, a list of menus, or the name or guid of one menu that should NOT be included in the fetched results. Has no effect on prepended or appended menus.
    exclude_prepended optionalboolean
    True to specifically exclude all prepended menus from the fetched results. If "unique:true" is specified this is the default behavior, although you may also specify "exclude_prepended:false" to allow any prepended items to be fetched along with other results anyway.
    exclude_appended optionalboolean
    True to specifically exclude all appended menus from the fetched results. This is false by default - even if "unique:true" is specified - so that results are returned in the proper order.
    unique optionalboolean
    True to remove duplicates from each of the resulting lists (prepended, fetched, appended, and items), although there may be duplicates between the prepended, fetched, and appended lists. The "items" list will include objects in the order in which they appear - with prepended items first, then fetched items, then appended items.
    max_size optionalinteger
    The maximum number of items to be included in the "items" list. If there are any prepended or appended items, this will automatically lower the "limit" to only fetch as many menus as needed. Note that this may also impact both the "page" and "total_pages" values in the resulting menus. In order to use pagination with a list loaded using "max_size" use "start" instead of "page" and "limit".
    date_created_start optionalvalue
    Only include menus with date_created greater than or equal to date_created_start. Remember that date_created will typically be the date that the menu was first published.
    date_created_end optionalvalue
    Only include menus with date_created less than or equal to date_created_end. Remember that date_created will typically be the date that the menu was first published.
    start optionalinteger
    Set the 1-based index of the first menu to fetch.
    page optionalinteger
    Used to automatically calculate the first menu to fetch based on both the "limit" and the 1-based "page" value. Defaults to 1, but is ignored if "start" is set.
    limit optionalinteger
    The maximum number of menus to fetch. Defaults to 10; a value that is not a number also gives 10. The largest limit is 1000, and a limit of 0 or less, or above 1000, returns up to 1000 menus. Note that if "max_size" is defined, then "limit" may be automatically lowered even if specified separately.
    sort_by optionalstring
    Specify which property to sort the results by. Has no effect on prepended or appended menus. An unrecognized value is ignored without an error and the default order is used. Some methods accept more values than the built-ins listed here; see each method. Options include:
    • date_created: the date each menu was first published. Unpublishing and republishing one resets date_created to the current date.
    • random: results will be returned in a random order, which prevents the page from being fast-cached. Setting cache_random:true overrides this behavior and allows the page to be fast-cached anyway.
    • name
    • title
    • url
    • browser_title
    sort_direction optionalstring
    asc or desc. Defaults to desc; any value other than asc sorts descending.
    cache_random optionalboolean
    True to allow the results to be cached when sort_by is "random".

    Fetches a list of {{ menus }}.

    Example Fetch menus and list their names{% menus %} returns a menus list; use shared list options such as limit and sort_by to page results.
    Liquid
    {%- menus var navs = limit:25 sort_by:"name" -%}
<ul>
{%- for nav in navs -%}
	<li>{{ nav.name }} ({{ nav.items.size }} top-level items)</li>
{%- endfor -%}
</ul>

    {% menus %} is the list method for menu entities. Shared list options such as limit and sort_by apply. Iterate the resulting menus object directly; each menu exposes items for its top-level menu_item list. For a single menu by name, use {% menu %}.