How To Add WordPress 3.0 Menu To Thesis

I have seen a few ways to add WordPress 3.0 menu support to Thesis and they do “work”, but they really aren’t optimal. So, I have written a fix for this issue until Thesis can get updated.

First, let’s identify exactly what we need to get accomplished. This tutorial will only cover replacing the current navigation menu, called by the function thesis_nav_menu();, if and only if a replacement has been assigned by the WordPress functionality. It is important to remember that you lose some, but not all, of the CSS native to the Thesis navigation.

Let’s get started by opening custom_functions.php and entering the following function:

function register_menu() {
register_nav_menus(
    array(
        'primary'=> 'Primary Menu'
    ));
}

Basically, this allows us to register the area where we want a navigation bar to appear. Since we are using an array, this will allow us to go back at any point and register another area.

Next, we need set up the following 3 scenarios:

1. No WordPress menu is detected, so the Thesis menu is shown.
2. At least one WordPress menu exists, but none are selected for the nav bar, so the Thesis navigation is shown.
3. At least one WordPress menu exists and one is selected for the area.

It is important to remember that this next function must be repeated to register other areas. Unlike register_nav_menus();, each area where you want a navigation bar to appear must have its own code to register. For the primary navigation, we will use the following code:

function wordpress_menu_support() {
if (function_exists('wp_nav_menu'))
	wp_nav_menu('theme_location=primary&fallback_cb=thesis_nav_menu');
else
	thesis_nav_menu();
}

Now, let’s register the menus and areas and take the default Thesis nav menu out.

add_action( 'init' , 'register_menu' );
remove_action('thesis_hook_before_header','thesis_nav_menu');
add_action('thesis_hook_before_header','wordpress_menu_support');

Now, Let me show you what all the code looks like together:

add_action('init','register_menu');
remove_action('thesis_hook_before_header','thesis_nav_menu');
add_action('thesis_hook_before_header','wordpress_menu_support');

function register_menu() {
register_nav_menus(
    array(
        'primary'=>'Primary Menu'
    ));
}

function wordpress_menu_support() {
if (function_exists('wp_nav_menu'))
	wp_nav_menu('theme_location=primary&fallback_cb=thesis_nav_menu');
else
	thesis_nav_menu();
}

Remember that the WordPress menu system is not as clean and robust as Thesis, so you will have to make some CSS changes. Some of the things that the WordPress menu does not contain are the home, current and current-parent classes. Why? Because Thesis‘ nav menu has a specific purpose and the WordPress menu system is for generic menu creation.