Menu customization overview

PPM provides the following methods for menu customization: using Web UI and using xml files. This section introduces the methods in details.

Menu customization methods

The following table lists the differences between the two methods.

Method	Details
Web UI (recommended)	Introduced in version 24.4 as the default method for customizing the side navigation menu. Supports the customization of main menu items but does not support the customization of administration menu items. For details about main menu and administration menu, see Main menu and administration menu. For details, see Customize menus.
xml files	Legacy method for customizing the top navigation menu, disabled by default in 24.4 and later versions. Can still be used if side navigation menu is disabled, but this is not recommended. For details, see Customize menu using xml files.

Method

Details

Web UI

(recommended)

Introduced in version 24.4 as the default method for customizing the side navigation menu.
Supports the customization of main menu items but does not support the customization of administration menu items. For details about main menu and administration menu, see Main menu and administration menu.

For details, see Customize menus.

xml files

Legacy method for customizing the top navigation menu, disabled by default in 24.4 and later versions.
Can still be used if side navigation menu is disabled, but this is not recommended.

For details, see Customize menu using xml files.

Interaction between the two methods

The menu customization using Web UI and xml files interact with each other as follows:

In version 24.4 and later

Web UI and XML file customizations are independent of each other. Changes made to one menu does not affect the other.

In versions before 24.4

Menu customizations using xml files are automatically merged to the side navigation menu after the upgrade to 24.4. For details, see How the menu looks after upgrade to 24.4.

Note: Only customizations in the update_menu.xml and delete_menu.xml files located in the content/conf/menus directory are merged with the side navigation menu. Customizations placed in any other directory are not merged with the side navigation menu after the upgrade.

After the upgrade, you can continue customizing the menu using Web UI, except the following:

Custom menu items under the HELP menu (supported starting from 25.1).
Custom menu items under the Administrator menu.
Web UI menu customization supports up to three levels of sub-menu items. If more than three levels were added using xml files, these menu items remain from Web UI but you cannot add further levels of sub-menu items.