The left side of the screen contains the Details section. This section is the same for all menu item types and has the following fields.
Menu Item Type. The first step when creating a menu item is to select the menu item type. Click the Select button to open a modal window that lists the available menu item types, as shown below.
Click on the link for the desired type to select that type. Note that more types may be available if you install third-party components.
When the menu item type is selected, the modal window will close and the Menu Item Type field is filled in automatically. When the screen redisplays, the available options on the right side of the screen will vary depending on which type is selected. The Details section, on the left, and the Link Type Options, Page Display Options, Metadata Options, and Module Assignment for this Menu Item, will show for all menu item types. Other options specific to the selected type may also be available.
Menu Title. The title that will display for this menu item.
Alias. The internal name of the item, also used in the URL when SEF is activated. Normally, you can leave this blank and Joomla! will fill in a default value. The default value is the Title or Name in lower case and with dashes instead of spaces. You may enter the Alias manually. The Alias should consist of lowercase letters and hyphens (-). No blank spaces or underscores are allowed. Non-Latin characters can be allowed in the alias if you set the Unicode Aliases option to Yes in Global Configuration. If this option is set to No and the title includes non-Latin characters, the Alias will default to the current date and time (for example "2012-12-31-17-54-38").
Note. Item note. This is normally for the site administrator's use (for example, to document information about this item) and does not show in the front end of the site.
Link. The system-generated link for this menu item. This field cannot be changed and is for information only.
Status. (Published/Unpublished/Archived/Trashed) The published status of the item.
Access. The viewing level access for this item.
Menu Location. The menu that this menu item (choice) will be part of. The menus defined for the site will show in the list box.
Parent Item. The parent menu item for this menu item. Used to determine whether a Menu Item is a top-level item or a submenu item. Select 'Menu Item Root' (the default value) if this is a top-level Menu Item. Otherwise, select the Menu Item that is this item's parent.
Ordering. Indicates the order of this Menu Item in the Menu. The default Order is to add the Menu Item to the end of the Menu. This Menu Item will moved to the order position just after the Menu Item selected from the drop-down list. Note that the Order of Menu Items can also be changed in the Menu Item Manager.
Target Window. This determines how the new page will be opened. Options are:
Parent: Open new menu item in parent window. This is the default.
New Window With Navigation: Open menu item in a new window with full browser navigation (for example, "back" button).
New Without Navigation: Open menu item in a new window without browser navigation.
Default Page. If Yes, this menu item is the default or home page for the site. There must be exactly one menu item set as the default page. You can change the default page in two ways:
Open the menu item for the new default page and change the Default Page setting to Yes.
Language. Item language.
Template Style. Controls the template style for this menu item. A list box will show the available template styles for your site, similar to the following: Select "Use Default" to use the default style for the site. Select a specific template style to always show this menu item with that style.
ID. This is a unique identification number for this item assigned automatically by Joomla!. It is used to identify the item internally, and you cannot change this number. When creating a new item, this field displays 0 until you save the new entry, at which point a new ID is assigned to it.
