Title: Sharing Navigation Menus Last modified: August 20, 2016 --- # Sharing Navigation Menus * Resolved [everwill](https://wordpress.org/support/users/everwill/) * (@everwill) * [14 years, 11 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/sharing-navigation-menus/) * Maybe it’s not possible to do this, but it should be. Once I create and name a menu for a site in WP MS, the admin should have the power to use that same menu for another site on the same machine. As far as I know there is no way to do this right now, so does anyone have an easy tip for exporting a navigation menu? Viewing 12 replies - 1 through 12 (of 12 total) * [Tim Moore](https://wordpress.org/support/users/tmoorewp/) * (@tmoorewp) * [14 years, 11 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/sharing-navigation-menus/#post-2097810) * No, it shouldn’t be possible. When you create a menu under Appearances -> Menu, it is created for that specific site. MultiSite, by design, keeps the content of each site separate. Think of MultiSite like WordPress.com; separate sites for separate users. * Currently, there isn’t a way to import/export menus unless you get right down to an import/export at SQL levels. * [Andrea Rennick](https://wordpress.org/support/users/andrea_r/) * (@andrea_r) * [14 years, 11 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/sharing-navigation-menus/#post-2097818) * Custom menus can actually be exported if you do a full blog export under Tools- > Export. You can;t specify just menus tho. At some point in the future, you may be able to but you can also edit that export file. * Thread Starter [everwill](https://wordpress.org/support/users/everwill/) * (@everwill) * [14 years, 11 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/sharing-navigation-menus/#post-2097820) * Except . . . * Whenever a designer makes it impossible to use a tool in a particular way, a user will find a perfectly valid and important reason to do that which is forbidden. * Parable follows. * One day, a caveman logs in to the support forum for all things caveman. He posts:“ I want a wheel, but I want a wheel that is light-weight with no hub.” * Your friendly neighborhood Woodland Hacker says, “No. Wheels must be strong and sturdy, lest they collapse under the weight of the goods in your cart. If you don’t have a hub you won’t have a way to secure your wheel to the cart.” * Once that reply is posted, does it make any sense explaining what a Frisbee is? * Moderator [Ipstenu (Mika Epstein)](https://wordpress.org/support/users/ipstenu/) * (@ipstenu) * 🏳️‍🌈 Advisor and Activist * [14 years, 11 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/sharing-navigation-menus/#post-2097852) * Why are you asking a wheelmaker/cart tech support about a frisbee? * You don’t ask a plumber to fix your window, do you? * The point, and there is one, is this: WordPress MultiSite, by design, is meant to be separate, non-related, sites. That many people want to use it differently means that as it _grows_ it will probably adapt. But right now, we’ve only had it in full blow WordPress support since 3.0, so it’s a baby. Give it time. * > Once I create and name a menu for a site in WP MS, the admin should have the > power to use that same menu for another site on the same machine. * The major flaw with this concept that I can see is not every site uses the same themes, so a menu that works perfectly on site A may break on Site H. * Not to mention the hassle of sorting out how to copy it over, how often do you sync, how do you handle permissions? * Right now, not easily possible. Maybe someone can come up with a plugin for it. 🙂 * [Andrea Rennick](https://wordpress.org/support/users/andrea_r/) * (@andrea_r) * [14 years, 11 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/sharing-navigation-menus/#post-2097856) * And right now, the custom menus have been here in 3.0 or less, so there ya go. * > The major flaw with this concept that I can see is not every site uses the > same themes, so a menu that works perfectly on site A may break on Site H. * And Site b may not even have the same pages. What then? * DOes it make sense to blame the baker if the pork is off? 😉 * Thread Starter [everwill](https://wordpress.org/support/users/everwill/) * (@everwill) * [14 years, 11 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/sharing-navigation-menus/#post-2097859) * Short story: it’s not possible. * Editorial: it should be. * Details: I’ll provide them when that gets moved to the top of the new features design pile. * Thread Starter [everwill](https://wordpress.org/support/users/everwill/) * (@everwill) * [14 years, 11 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/sharing-navigation-menus/#post-2097865) * > Why are you asking a wheelmaker/cart tech support about a frisbee? * Because there is no such thing as a Frisbee . . . yet. * Moderator [Ipstenu (Mika Epstein)](https://wordpress.org/support/users/ipstenu/) * (@ipstenu) * 🏳️‍🌈 Advisor and Activist * [14 years, 11 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/sharing-navigation-menus/#post-2097876) * Short story: it’s possible, but not implemented. * Editorial: You invent it if you want/need it 😉 That’s how all of us got into plugins, really. We saw something we WANTED that didn’t exist. * If a frisbee doesn’t exist and you want to make one, then you’re the inventor and you have to figure it out for yourself. Which sucks, but that’s how new gets made 🙂 * Thread Starter [everwill](https://wordpress.org/support/users/everwill/) * (@everwill) * [14 years, 11 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/sharing-navigation-menus/#post-2097877) * Yes, but before you … ahem … reinvent the wheel it’s a good thing to ask around to see if someone else has already done so. * Moderator [Ipstenu (Mika Epstein)](https://wordpress.org/support/users/ipstenu/) * (@ipstenu) * 🏳️‍🌈 Advisor and Activist * [14 years, 11 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/sharing-navigation-menus/#post-2097879) * *giggle* This wheel has not yet been invented. Tally ho. * [binarywhisper](https://wordpress.org/support/users/binarywhisper/) * (@binarywhisper) * [14 years, 10 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/sharing-navigation-menus/#post-2098022) * So have you invented the wheel that will allow a menu to be used on multiple sites yet? I could sure use such a feature and I had an other WPMU developer sitting across the table over lunch today that could use it as well. We both agreed we could likely use it for future projects as well. * Hard coding it into the template is a method of doing it but it is a bad method IMO. Might be fine or some one running one or two sites but it is enough work doing tweaks on a portfolio of sites as it is without more hard coding. * As a work around I am going to attempt to build one finished blog layout and clone it for each new MU blog. * [Andrea Rennick](https://wordpress.org/support/users/andrea_r/) * (@andrea_r) * [14 years, 10 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/sharing-navigation-menus/#post-2098023) * [http://wpmututorials.com/plugins/networkwide-menu/](http://wpmututorials.com/plugins/networkwide-menu/) * gotta follow our blog for the cool stuff. 😉 Viewing 12 replies - 1 through 12 (of 12 total) The topic ‘Sharing Navigation Menus’ is closed to new replies. ## Tags * [export](https://wordpress.org/support/topic-tag/export/) * [Navigation Menus](https://wordpress.org/support/topic-tag/navigation-menus/) * [navigation-menu](https://wordpress.org/support/topic-tag/navigation-menu/) * In: [Networking WordPress](https://wordpress.org/support/forum/multisite/) * 12 replies * 5 participants * Last reply from: [Andrea Rennick](https://wordpress.org/support/users/andrea_r/) * Last activity: [14 years, 10 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/sharing-navigation-menus/#post-2098023) * Status: resolved ## Topics ### Topics with no replies ### Non-support topics ### Resolved topics ### Unresolved topics ### All topics