SharePoint 2010 sites can display dropdown menus in the tabbed navigation across the top of the page. Shown within dropdown menus are a nest of sites, and the dropdown method of making links available helps us to organize sites cleanly. In this article, we will take a look at how to activate the dropdown menu in SharePoint 2010 sites.

Challenge:

Unfortunately, activating dropdown menu functionality isn’t as easy as simply checking a checkbox; rather, everything must be set up the right way. If you want your SharePoint 2010 site to show dropdown menus, walk through the following steps and make sure that the following is true in all cases:

Solutions:

1. Create a SharePoint 2010 portal site.

Click on the Create Site Collection hyperlink:

Select the Publishing tab, then the Publishing Portal option, and fill in the required information on the Form:

You will see that the portal site will have been created as shown below:

2. From the root of the parent site (Home), choose to create a new site (Site 1). Once that site has been created, you will be in that new site. From here, choose to create a new page:

From Site 1, go to Site Actions -> Site Settings -> Navigation.

Select the Display the same navigation items as the parent site radio button, and check the Show subsites and Show pages checkboxes as shown below:

3. Once Site 1 has been created, choose to create another new site (Site 2). Then create a new page in Site 2:

From Site 2, go to Site Actions -> Site Settings -> Navigation.

Again select the Display the navigation items below the current site radio button, and check the Show subsites and Show pages checkboxes as shown below:

4. The end result of your efforts will be a tab in the horizontal bar for Site 1, with a vertical dropdown menu which will reveal Site 2:

See Also:

• Introduction to Site Navigation [Microsoft]
• SharePoint Tip: How to Activate the Drop Down Menu in MOSS Sites [Heather Solomon]