There are a few steps you need to take to add menus, the wordpress way.
- Register the menu in functions.php using register_nav_menus()
Codex Link: https://codex.wordpress.org/Function_Reference/register_nav_menus
Example:
register_nav_menus( array(
'my_custom_menu' => 'My Custom menu',
'my_other_menu' => 'My Other Menu',
) );
Now you can create new menus on the back-end
Login and go to Appearance -> Menus
Add a new menu name, menu items, and then check the box that displays the corresponding menu name you registered.
Now, that the menu has been registered and created in the back-end, you can use the function wp_nav_menu() to display it in the front-end.
Codex Link: https://codex.wordpress.org/Function_Reference/wp_nav_menu
Example: You would put this in header.php or a file where you want the menu to be displayed.
$defaults = array(
'theme_location' => '',
'menu' => 'my_custom_menu',
'container' => 'div',
'container_class' => '',
'container_id' => '',
'menu_class' => 'menu',
'menu_id' => '',
'echo' => true,
'fallback_cb' => 'wp_page_menu',
'before' => '',
'after' => '',
'link_before' => '',
'link_after' => '',
'items_wrap' => '<ul id="%1$s" class="%2$s">%3$s</ul>',
'depth' => 0,
'walker' => ''
);
wp_nav_menu( $defaults );
These are examples only. Please consult the links to see all available options. You can also create menus using other functions such as wp_list_pages or wp_list_categories, depending on what you need.