Joomla menus allow you to create different levels. This is essential for creating any kind of sub-menu such as a dropdown menu.

Sometimes it's necessary to show only one or two levels from the menu. For example, you may show the top level links in the main navigation and sub-links in a sidebar navigation.

In this post, we'll show you how to display only specific menu levels in a sidebar module.

The menu items structure

Here's an example of my Main Menu menu items structure with three different levels:

• Level 1 A
  • Level 2 A
    • Level 3 A
    • Level 3 B
    • Level 3 C
  • Level 2 B
  • Level 2 C
• Level 1 B
• Level 1 C

Let's see if we display our menu item levels selectively.

Step #1. Display the menu items with a sidebar module

Joomla displays menu items in modules by the Menu type. If you have not created such a module, let's do it together.

• Go to Extensions > Modules > New > Menu.

• Give your new menu module a title. For my demonstration, I called my module Menu Levels.
• Assign a valid module position. I selected the Protostar's position-7.
• In the Select Menu option, choose the menu that contains your menu items. For my demonstration, I selected the Main Menu you have seen in the previous step.
• Click Save.

• Here's how our menu module looks by default:

• Let's take a look at the result when the menu is published. As you can see, all the three levels links are showing:

Let's learn how to display our three levels of Joomla menu items selectively, at will.

Step #2. Display only second level menu items

Let's assume, you would like to display the only Level 2 menu items in your module.

• Set the Start Level to 2.
• Set the End Level to 2.
• Click Save.

• Check the result. You will see that now your Joomla sidebar module will display the only Level 2 menu items.

Excellent! You now know how to set a Joomla menu module to display only level 2 menu items.

Will it work for our Level 3? Let's find out.

Step #3. Display only third level menu items

• Click Select.

• You will see the Select or Change Menu Item modal box. Click on any of your level 3 menu items. For my demonstration, I clicked Level 3 B, as you can see on the image below:

• Set the Star Level to 3.
• Set the End Level to 3.
• Click Save.

• Go to your site front end and check the result. You will see that your menu module now displays only Level 3 menu items:

This will be the result:

Good job! You are now able to explicitly display your Joomla menu levels in a Joomla sidebar module.

Let's learn how to display our levels in combination.

Step #4. Display both second and third level menu items

Let's show menu items belonging to Level 2 and Level 3.

• Go to the Base Item parameter and click Clear:

• The parameter will then display Current:

• Click Select and then select Level 2 A menu item.
• Set the Start Level to 2.
• Set the End Level to 3.
• Click Save.

• Check the result:

What's Next?

What's Next?

Save $1,000's when you sign up for Joomlashack's Everything Club.

You will get your hands on our extensive range of over 20 extensions, plus legendary support!

Click here to join the Everything Club