Title: The Menu: Custom mobile navigation with icons Author: Ryan Wiggill Published: October 19, 2024 Last modified: October 14, 2025 --- Search plugins ![](https://ps.w.org/the-menu/assets/banner-772x250.png?rev=3172288) ![](https://ps.w.org/the-menu/assets/icon-256x256.png?rev=3172053) # The Menu: Custom mobile navigation with icons By [Ryan Wiggill](https://profiles.wordpress.org/ryanwiggilldistinct/) [Download](https://downloads.wordpress.org/plugin/the-menu.1.2.22.zip) [Live Preview](https://pcd.wordpress.org/plugins/the-menu/?preview=1) * [Details](https://pcd.wordpress.org/plugins/the-menu/#description) * [Reviews](https://pcd.wordpress.org/plugins/the-menu/#reviews) * [Installation](https://pcd.wordpress.org/plugins/the-menu/#installation) * [Development](https://pcd.wordpress.org/plugins/the-menu/#developers) [Support](https://wordpress.org/support/plugin/the-menu/) ## Description Transform your WordPress site’s mobile navigation with The Menu – a powerful mobile- friendly navigation solution featuring custom icons, role-based visibility, and extensive customisation options. Perfect for creating professional bottom navigation bars, sticky menus, and app-like mobile experiences. This responsive menu plugin offers SVG icon support, smooth animations, and seamless integration with popular themes and page builders. The Menu plugin is designed to enhance your website’s usability and aesthetic appeal, providing a navigation experience that’s both visually stunning and functionally robust. Whether you’re building a mobile-first website, an online shop, or a Progressive Web App (PWA), The Menu adapts to your needs. #### Core features * Mobile-optimised bottom navigation bar * Custom SVG icon support and built-in Dashicons * Extensive colour customisation options * Transparent menus that adapt on scroll * Role-based menu item visibility * Additional “add-on” menu for extra navigation items * App-like mobile navigation experience * Smooth animations and transitions * Compatible with popular page builders * PWA-friendly design * Responsive and touch-optimised * Custom icon upload support * Page-specific menu visibility * Multiple menu styles (Pill, Rounded, Flat) #### Perfect for * Mobile-first websites * Online shops * Restaurant menus * Progressive Web Apps * Service businesses * Portfolio sites * Business directories * Event websites * Community platforms * Educational sites #### Professional customisation The Menu offers extensive customisation options to match your brand: * Custom colours for icons and backgrounds * Multiple menu styles and layouts * Icon-only or icon-with-text display * Transparent scroll effects * Custom icon uploads * Built-in Dashicons support #### Advanced features * Role-based visibility: Show different menu items to different user roles * Page exclusions: Choose which pages show or hide the menu * Add-on menu: Additional menu space for extra navigation items * Mobile-only option: Display the menu only on mobile devices * Loading animations: Smooth transitions between pages * SVG colour controls: Customise icon colours directly * Multiple menu positions: Left, right, and add-on menu locations * Transparent effects: Menu adapts as users scroll #### Compatible with popular tools Works seamlessly with: * WooCommerce * Elementor * Divi Builder * Gutenberg * Popular WordPress themes * Custom theme frameworks * Other navigation plugins ### Terms of use By installing and activating The Menu plugin, you agree to the following terms: 1. Licence and usage 2. The Menu is licensed under GPL-2.0-or-later. You are free to use, modify, and distribute this plugin in accordance with the terms of this licence. 3. Third-party services 4. This plugin communicates with https://plugins.distinct.africa for the following purposes: 5. a. Licence validation: To verify the authenticity of your licence key. b. Usage statistics: To count the number of active installations of our plugin. c. Version checking: To ensure your plugin is up-to-date. 6. Data transmitted: 7. * Your website’s domain name * The plugin version you’re using * Your licence key if you have one 8. No personal data (such as email addresses or user information) is collected or transmitted. 9. This check occurs once every 12 hours to minimise server load. 10. Future use 11. In upcoming versions, this service may be used to unlock premium features for licensed users. 12. Data usage and privacy 13. We are committed to protecting your privacy. The data collected is used solely for the purposes stated above and is not shared with any third parties. 14. Disclaimer of warranty 15. The Menu plugin is provided “as is” without warranty of any kind, either expressed or implied, including, but not limited to, the implied warranties of merchantability and fitness for a particular purpose. 16. Limitation of liability 17. In no event shall the authors or copyright holders be liable for any claim, damages or other liability, whether in an action of contract, tort or otherwise, arising from, out of or in connection with the plugin or the use or other dealings in the plugin. 18. Support and updates 19. While we strive to provide regular updates and support, we reserve the right to discontinue or modify any part of the service at any time. 20. Changes to terms 21. We reserve the right to modify these terms at any time. Continued use of the plugin after any such changes shall constitute your consent to such changes. By using The Menu plugin, you acknowledge that you have read, understood, and agree to be bound by these Terms of Use. If you do not agree to these terms, please uninstall and stop using the plugin. For any questions or concerns regarding these terms, please contact us at hello@distinct. africa. Last updated: 18/10/2024 ## Screenshots * [[ * The Menu by Distinct – Mobile navigation made beautiful * [[ * Highly customisable interface with multiple style options * [[ * Add-on menu for extra navigation items * [[ * Perfect companion for Progressive Web Apps * [[ * Seamless integration with WordPress menu editor * [[ * Easy-to-use customisation options ## Installation * Upload the plugin files to the /wp-content/plugins/the-menu directory, or install the plugin through the WordPress plugins screen directly * Activate the plugin through the ‘Plugins’ screen in WordPress * Navigate to ‘The Menu’ in your admin sidebar to configure the plugin * Set up your menus under ‘Appearance > Menus’ #### Quick start guide * Create a new menu in WordPress * Assign it to one of The Menu’s locations (Left, Right, or Add-on) * Add icons to your menu items * Customise colours and styles * Configure visibility settings * Test on mobile devices ## FAQ ### How do I add icons to menu items? You can add icons in two ways: * Upload custom SVG icons through the menu item settings * Select from the built-in Dashicons library * Each menu item has these options when editing in the WordPress admin area. ### Can I control who sees certain menu items? Yes, you have granular control over menu item visibility: * Show to everyone * Show only to logged-in users * Show only to logged-out users * Show to specific user roles * Hide on specific pages ### Is the menu responsive? Yes, The Menu is fully responsive and mobile-optimised. You can: * Set it to appear only on mobile devices * Configure different styles for various screen sizes * Optimise for both portrait and landscape orientations ### Will it work with my theme? The Menu is designed to work with any properly coded WordPress theme. It’s been tested with: * Popular theme frameworks * Custom themes * WooCommerce themes * Page builder themes ### Can I customise the colours? Yes, you have complete control over: * Background colours * Icon colours * Text colours * Featured item colours * Add-on menu colours * Transparency effects ### Does it support touch gestures? Yes, The Menu is optimised for touch devices with: * Smooth touch interactions * Touch-friendly hit areas * Mobile-optimised animations ## Reviews ![](https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/4498a0640a61dbc9eb56434009e5d3fe988e2d72e22d8fe86eb21c38c7b0cf75? s=60&d=retro&r=g) ### 󠀁[Best mobile menu](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/best-mobile-menu-2/)󠁿 [Tevin Hendricks](https://profiles.wordpress.org/tevin16/) November 12, 2024 This is a great plugin to set up an easy to use mobile menu. It is great that they have dashicons available and that I can upload my own if I choose. I like how customisable it is from the backend setup and how easy it is to see your changes in real time with their live preview. I highly recommend this plugin for anyone looking for a lightweight menu solution with tons of features. [ Read all 1 review ](https://wordpress.org/support/plugin/the-menu/reviews/) ## Contributors & Developers “The Menu: Custom mobile navigation with icons” is open source software. The following people have contributed to this plugin. Contributors * [ Ryan Wiggill ](https://profiles.wordpress.org/ryanwiggilldistinct/) [Translate “The Menu: Custom mobile navigation with icons” into your language.](https://translate.wordpress.org/projects/wp-plugins/the-menu) ### Interested in development? [Browse the code](https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/browser/the-menu/), check out the [SVN repository](https://plugins.svn.wordpress.org/the-menu/), or subscribe to the [development log](https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/log/the-menu/) by [RSS](https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/log/the-menu/?limit=100&mode=stop_on_copy&format=rss). ## Changelog #### 1.2.22 – 14/10/2025 * FIXED: SVG file size limit was incorrectly being applied to all media uploads, now only applies to SVG files * Security: 1MB size limit now correctly restricts only SVG uploads, not other media types #### 1.2.21 – 14/10/2025 * FIXED: Links inside folder sub-menus on the addon overlay are now clickable and navigate correctly * Improvement: Enhanced event handling to prevent interference with link navigation in folder overlays #### 1.2.20 – 13/10/2025 * WP version check * Added: more loader animation options * Security: Fixed possible SQL injection vulnerability in uninstall process * Security: Enhanced SVG sanitization to prevent XSS attacks * Security: Improved file path validation and SVG content validation * Security: Added security event logging when WP_DEBUG is enabled * Improvement: Enhanced error handling, validation, and documentation * Code Quality: Added security constants, fixed naming consistency, and improved code structure * Privacy: Anonymized user IDs in debug logs for GDPR compliance #### 1.2.19 – 22/05/2025 * FIXED: There were a couple misalignments with css on subfolders, this has been fixed. #### 1.2.18 – 20/05/2025 * Added submenu capability for App icon, Icon, and List styles in the addon menu, check this out its pretty cool. * As well as being able to adjust visibility of menu items by role, I have added being able to changes visibility by capability. * Improved SVG handling. #### 1.2.15 – 17/02/2025 * WP version check. * ADDED: If you add custom classes to a menu item they will now display for the menu item. * ADDED: If you add a WooCommerce cart menu item a cart count now displays. #### 1.2.14 – 20/11/2024 * The preview on the settings page is now sticky so it always remains in view when editing settings. * ADDED: All dashicons in the native WordPress menu editor. * FIXED: Searching dashicons on the settings page. * A few css improvements #### 1.2.13 – 13/11/2024 * With the release of WordPress 6.7 we have checked that The Menu is still running as expected… it is. * Updated Walker classed to not display submenu items, there is no support for submenus at this stage. * Updated the help page to be more descriptive. * FIXED: Dashicon colours didn’t update in the add-on menu, these now update to your selected icon colour. * FIXED: Icon upload didn’t save in the native menu editor, this has now been corrected. #### 1.2.12 – 08/11/2024 * Enhancements for first time users looking at the live preview * You can now click menu locations to create menus for that location * In the preview clicking an item will link correct menu for the user to edit it * Tweaks and enhancements to flex on the addon-menu to make it a bit mor asthetically pleasing #### 1.2.11 – 01/11/2024 * New live preview system with real-time updates for all styling changes * New tab-based settings organization for better UX * SVG sanitization and security improvements * Fixed icon sizing inconsistencies * New WordPress Walker class for preview functionality #### 1.2.10 – 29/10/2024 * [HOTFIX] Dashicon and menu styling was a little off on some sites * Now allows scrolling in the addon menu #### 1.2.9 – 29/10/2024 * [NOTE] Please check your site once updated, the new dashicons functionallity may override current uploaded icons, which means you may need to re-select them. * Added default dashicons to select for menu icons incase you don’t have svg icons to upload. * Fixed icon colours in the add-on menu, it was changing paths colours only and now it looks for ‘circle’, ‘rect’, etc. as well. * Add-on menu items weren’t lining up nicely when link text wrapping varied, this has been fixed so that they line up. * When trying to set the visibility of a menu item to logged in users you had to save the menu and then open the menu item again to be able to select roles, this has now been updated to show immediately. #### 1.2.7 – 23/10/2024 * Added loading of default colours if no settings are set on plugin activation * Added delete data on uninstall option. If checked, all plugin data and settings will be removed when deleting the plugin from the plugins page. This will not affect data if you remove files via FTP or deactivate the plugin. * Better handling of plugin activation and deactivation * FIXED: On some sites when a featured icon was not set it could cause a fatal error. #### 1.2.6 – 21/10/2024 * FIXED: There was an issue where excluded pages weren’t being saved, this has been resolved. * Updated UI branding to match the wordpress.org plugin page branding #### 1.2.5 – 19/10/2024 * FIXED: Media library wouldn’t open when trying to upload a featured icon #### 1.2.4 – 19/10/2024 * Improved the overall security and robustness of the plugin. * Updated the contributors of the plugin. #### 1.2.3 – 18/10/2024 * Improved the overall security and robustness of the plugin by ensuring proper sanitisation of user input and escaping of output. The functionality of the plugin remains the same, but it’s now more resilient against potential security issues. #### 1.2.2 – 07/08/2024 This version fixes a security related bug. #### 1.2.1 – 04/08/2024 * WP version check * Fixed an issue where if you disabled transparency on scroll it was still trying to detect scroll and was showing errors in console every time you scrolled #### 1.2.0 – 08/07/2024 * Added the ability to select who can see certain menu items (Everyone, Logged out users, or Logged in users) and if Logged in users is selected you are able to chose which roles can see the menu item. ## Meta * Version **1.2.22** * Last updated **6 months ago** * Active installations **400+** * WordPress version ** 6.0 or higher ** * Tested up to **6.8.5** * PHP version ** 7.0 or higher ** * Language * [English (US)](https://wordpress.org/plugins/the-menu/) * Tags * [custom menu](https://pcd.wordpress.org/plugins/tags/custom-menu/)[menu icons](https://pcd.wordpress.org/plugins/tags/menu-icons/) [mobile menu](https://pcd.wordpress.org/plugins/tags/mobile-menu/)[mobile navigation](https://pcd.wordpress.org/plugins/tags/mobile-navigation/) [Navigation Menu](https://pcd.wordpress.org/plugins/tags/navigation-menu/) * [Advanced View](https://pcd.wordpress.org/plugins/the-menu/advanced/) ## Ratings 5 out of 5 stars. * [ 1 5-star review ](https://wordpress.org/support/plugin/the-menu/reviews/?filter=5) * [ 0 4-star reviews ](https://wordpress.org/support/plugin/the-menu/reviews/?filter=4) * [ 0 3-star reviews ](https://wordpress.org/support/plugin/the-menu/reviews/?filter=3) * [ 0 2-star reviews ](https://wordpress.org/support/plugin/the-menu/reviews/?filter=2) * [ 0 1-star reviews ](https://wordpress.org/support/plugin/the-menu/reviews/?filter=1) [Add my review](https://wordpress.org/support/plugin/the-menu/reviews/#new-post) [See all reviews](https://wordpress.org/support/plugin/the-menu/reviews/) ## Contributors * [ Ryan Wiggill ](https://profiles.wordpress.org/ryanwiggilldistinct/) ## Support Got something to say? Need help? [View support forum](https://wordpress.org/support/plugin/the-menu/)