Purpose of header menus?

[Ebla]

Most sites have a normal navigational menu below the header. Some sites have an additional menu of two or three links above the header.

My question is Does the header menu serve a specific purpose? Is there a convention about which links should be in the menu above the header vs which to place in the main navigational menu?

What is your opinion on the value of the "header menu" (the one above the header)?

[Laura B]

I don't think there is any rule, written or unwritten, about what goes where - it's all about what makes the most sense for your niche and what will make it easiest for your visitors to find your content.

Sometimes I have one menu above and one below the header because they fall into two different categories. Some are "necessary" links like the contact page, about page, sitemap, etc. and the others have to do with my specific niche.

[nathan.joshua]

Like Laura said, there are no rules to follow when implementing header and menu alignment.

However, I tend to place the menu where it can be seen. Navigation is the UI that visitors use to drive around your website. Make it logical and you cannot go wrong.

[bigjay]

Its purpose is to be visible and accessible to most (even noobie) users.

[ScriptMan]

The only time I personally see a header menu to be of value is when you are melding two or more sets of scripts or combining a set of script with and existing platform and want everything to blend.

[bannerweaver]

I think, there is no set of rules for this. Sometimes people want to put few common links (as described by Laura B) into different category, hence the "header menu" born.

In some cases (may be most) when the web-designers can not able to accommodate all links in the main menu bar, due to maintain the aesthetics, and they put some of them at top of the header.

[freeadstime]

We normally have a file called head.php and we include it in every page. Menu is needed in every page, so it will be a win win situation for us to put the menu in the head.

[ananth]

There is no rules for including the menus. Menu is very important for every page.

[animizminstitute]

I think to create this type of header menu in your site is your creativeness. As everyone said that their not any set rule for that so anyone can use it but the person who is using it effectively for their visitor to navigate them is the real hero.

[concerto49]

It needs to fit the theme of your site. It has to be easy to use and reduce the number of clicks required. Usually a side navigation menu is only used when there is a lot of layers/nesting, otherwise stick to the top menu.

[Lil Mark]

Because most CMS themes offer menus below the header image/header logo, it became a misconception that it is the most appropriate way on where to put the menu items. Same thing goes to the left and/or right vertical menus. However, like what everyone said, there isn't a rule on where to put them. You can actually put them wherever you want. Left. Right. Top. Or bottom part of your site. You can even scatter them anywhere in the site.

The main point is, menu bar should be distinguishable as one group. At first glance, the end-user should think, "Yeah! This is the Menu buttons/links. This is what I will use to navigate the site pages."

It all depends on the web designer's creativity on where he will put the menu items.

[Judith Burns]

The important thing is that to make a menu that the visitors can use without difficulty

[bermuda]

Header graphics naturally are attached to the top pixels of web pages to make them more beautiful, and make a big impression on the audience. Without them, most websites will become similar to each other. Since improving click-through rates of the navigation menus can also be very important, webmasters add additional sets of links below or above header images because in most cases, when the audience arrives at homepages of websites, they will immediately have a look at the higher spots to find some stuff.

[Lil Mark]

Originally Posted by bermuda

Header graphics naturally are attached to the top pixels of web pages to make them more beautiful, and make a big impression on the audience. Without them, most websites will become similar to each other. Since improving click-through rates of the navigation menus can also be very important, webmasters add additional sets of links below or above header images because in most cases, when the audience arrives at homepages of websites, they will immediately have a look at the higher spots to find some stuff.

Respected! If we are talking about commercial websites, then that thought "might" be applicable. Though I am not entirely sure if that is entirely true because web designers nowadays find ways to make their website designs unique and not templated.

[paulstrahann]

The menu is dynamically designed when you perspective the website. While you could perspective the resource of a web page and get the HTML that makes the selection, and new web pages you add will not appear unless you get the resource again.

[aravindbalaji]

Originally Posted by Ebla

Most sites have a normal navigational menu below the header. Some sites have an additional menu of two or three links above the header.

My question is Does the header menu serve a specific purpose? Is there a convention about which links should be in the menu above the header vs which to place in the main navigational menu?

What is your opinion on the value of the "header menu" (the one above the header)?

hey the most important use to have headers is for navigation. Whenever a new visitor visits he don't know where to go. So for quick guidance of navigation header menus are required.

[simplyamazing12]

For me, I like simplicity so I go without the header menu but I see the need and purpose for it sometimes.

Navigational menus are getting very complex and it would be nice to the visitor to easily navigate to the more frequented pages by a header menu.