Display a custom navigation block instead of the default one

Question

I am working on a Magento 2.1.7 shop and I have created a child-theme of Magento Blank.

In the back-end, I have created a block with a custom, hard-coded, navigation like:

<nav>
 <ul>
 <li><a href="http://www.examplewebsite.com/">Home</a></li>
 <li><a href="http://www.examplewebsite.com/about">About</a></li>
 <li><a href="http://www.examplewebsite.com/blog">Blog</a></li>
 <li><a href="http://www.examplewebsite.com/contact">Contact Us</a></li>
 </ul>
</nav>

By default, Magento displays links to the product categories in the top menu:

<block class="Magento\Theme\Block\Html\Topmenu" name="catalog.topnav" template="html/topmenu.phtml" ttl="3600" before="-"/>

How do I, instead, display my custom links block?

• Manoj Deswal: let me know if any problem

Answer 1

To show your Custom Block Navigation , you simply need to create a widget

• Go to admin > content > widgets > add widget

• Select type as CMS static Block and choose your theme whichever you are using

• Fill all the details ( Title / Assign to Store Views / Sort Order to "0"

• Add layout update> Display on all pages / Container: After page header

• Widget options> Select your block

Keep your cache disabled or clean/flush your cache

You can remove your default navigation by below code in your custom Magento_Theme module, if required.

<referenceBlock name="catalog.topnav" remove="true" />

Magento_Theme\layout\default.xml

I hope this will help you out and others as well

• Razvan Zamfir: I did all the above and the default navigation is displayed as well. Can I alternatively make changes in defaul.xml considering that <block class="Magento\Framework\View\Element\Template" name="store.menu" group="navigation-sections" template="Magento_Theme::html/container.phtml"> <block class="Magento\Theme\Block\Html\Topmenu" name="catalog.topnav" template="html/topmenu.phtml" ttl="3600" before="-" remove="true"/> </block>?
• Manoj Deswal: No need to do any coding in XML just simple create widget , see working example here smartparcelbox.com .. navigation and each block on homepage displayed via widget and blocks
• Manoj Deswal: first , display your static block on front end using widget ... then we will remove default menu.... flush your cache or check in different browser , if you created widget in above mentioned way then it should display
• Manoj Deswal: magento.stackexchange.com/a/187029/54588 , displayed ?
• Razvan Zamfir: I can not use <referenceBlock name="catalog.topnav" remove="true" /> because I need to display the categories on the page still, but in the sidebar. What alternative do I have?