wp_page_menu() │ WP 2.7.0

Displays or retrieves a list of pages with an optional home link.

The arguments are listed below and part of the arguments are for wp_list_pages() function. Check that function for more info on those arguments.

Uses: wp_list_pages()
Hooks from the function

Return

null|String. Void if 'echo' argument is true, HTML menu if 'echo' is false.

Usage

wp_page_menu( $args );
$args(array|string)

Array or string of arguments to generate a page menu. See wp_list_pages() for additional arguments.

Default: array()

  • sort_column(string)
    How to sort the list of pages. Accepts post column names.
    Default: 'menu_order, post_title'

  • menu_id(string)
    ID for the div containing the page list.
    Default: empty string

  • menu_class(string)
    Class to use for the element containing the page list.
    Default: 'menu'

  • container(string)
    Element to use for the element containing the page list.
    Default: 'div'

  • echo(true|false)
    Whether to echo the list or return it. Accepts true (echo) or false (return).
    Default: true

  • show_home(int|true|false|string)
    Whether to display the link to the home page. Can just enter the text you'd like shown for the home link. 1|true defaults to 'Home'.

  • link_before(string)
    The HTML or text to prepend to $show_home text.
    Default: ''

  • link_after(string)
    The HTML or text to append to $show_home text.
    Default: ''

  • before(string)
    The HTML or text to prepend to the menu.
    Default: '<ul>'

  • after(string)
    The HTML or text to append to the menu.
    Default: '</ul>'

  • item_spacing(string)
    Whether to preserve whitespace within the menu's HTML. Accepts 'preserve' or 'discard'.
    Default: 'discard'

  • walker(Walker)
    Walker instance to use for listing pages.
    Default: empty which results in a Walker_Page instance being used

Examples

0

#1 Home link

Let's add a link to the homepage (show_home=1). Also, exclude pages (exclude=5,9,23), add your own class to the wrapping div (menu_class=page-navi) and sort links by column (sort_column=menu_order):

<h2>Page Menu</h2>
<?php wp_page_menu('show_home=1&exclude=5,9,23&menu_class=page-navi&sort_column=menu_order'); ?>
0

#2 Specify the name of the link to the home page (anchor): 

<?php wp_page_menu('show_home=Home page' ); ?>

or like this

<?php wp_page_menu( array('show_home' => 'Home' ) ); ?>
0

#3 Display only the link to the home page: 

wp_page_menu( 'show_home=1&include=9999' );

Changelog

Since 2.7.0 Introduced.
Since 4.4.0 Added menu_id, container, before, after, and walker arguments.
Since 4.7.0 Added the item_spacing argument.

wp_page_menu() code WP 6.5.2

wp-includes/post-template.php 
function wp_page_menu( $args = array() ) {
	$defaults = array(
		'sort_column'  => 'menu_order, post_title',
		'menu_id'      => '',
		'menu_class'   => 'menu',
		'container'    => 'div',
		'echo'         => true,
		'link_before'  => '',
		'link_after'   => '',
		'before'       => '<ul>',
		'after'        => '</ul>',
		'item_spacing' => 'discard',
		'walker'       => '',
	);
	$args     = wp_parse_args( $args, $defaults );

	if ( ! in_array( $args['item_spacing'], array( 'preserve', 'discard' ), true ) ) {
		// Invalid value, fall back to default.
		$args['item_spacing'] = $defaults['item_spacing'];
	}

	if ( 'preserve' === $args['item_spacing'] ) {
		$t = "\t";
		$n = "\n";
	} else {
		$t = '';
		$n = '';
	}

	/**
	 * Filters the arguments used to generate a page-based menu.
	 *
	 * @since 2.7.0
	 *
	 * @see wp_page_menu()
	 *
	 * @param array $args An array of page menu arguments. See wp_page_menu()
	 *                    for information on accepted arguments.
	 */
	$args = apply_filters( 'wp_page_menu_args', $args );

	$menu = '';

	$list_args = $args;

	// Show Home in the menu.
	if ( ! empty( $args['show_home'] ) ) {
		if ( true === $args['show_home'] || '1' === $args['show_home'] || 1 === $args['show_home'] ) {
			$text = __( 'Home' );
		} else {
			$text = $args['show_home'];
		}
		$class = '';
		if ( is_front_page() && ! is_paged() ) {
			$class = 'class="current_page_item"';
		}
		$menu .= '<li ' . $class . '><a href="' . esc_url( home_url( '/' ) ) . '">' . $args['link_before'] . $text . $args['link_after'] . '</a></li>';
		// If the front page is a page, add it to the exclude list.
		if ( 'page' === get_option( 'show_on_front' ) ) {
			if ( ! empty( $list_args['exclude'] ) ) {
				$list_args['exclude'] .= ',';
			} else {
				$list_args['exclude'] = '';
			}
			$list_args['exclude'] .= get_option( 'page_on_front' );
		}
	}

	$list_args['echo']     = false;
	$list_args['title_li'] = '';
	$menu                 .= wp_list_pages( $list_args );

	$container = sanitize_text_field( $args['container'] );

	// Fallback in case `wp_nav_menu()` was called without a container.
	if ( empty( $container ) ) {
		$container = 'div';
	}

	if ( $menu ) {

		// wp_nav_menu() doesn't set before and after.
		if ( isset( $args['fallback_cb'] ) &&
			'wp_page_menu' === $args['fallback_cb'] &&
			'ul' !== $container ) {
			$args['before'] = "<ul>{$n}";
			$args['after']  = '</ul>';
		}

		$menu = $args['before'] . $menu . $args['after'];
	}

	$attrs = '';
	if ( ! empty( $args['menu_id'] ) ) {
		$attrs .= ' id="' . esc_attr( $args['menu_id'] ) . '"';
	}

	if ( ! empty( $args['menu_class'] ) ) {
		$attrs .= ' class="' . esc_attr( $args['menu_class'] ) . '"';
	}

	$menu = "<{$container}{$attrs}>" . $menu . "</{$container}>{$n}";

	/**
	 * Filters the HTML output of a page-based menu.
	 *
	 * @since 2.7.0
	 *
	 * @see wp_page_menu()
	 *
	 * @param string $menu The HTML output.
	 * @param array  $args An array of arguments. See wp_page_menu()
	 *                     for information on accepted arguments.
	 */
	$menu = apply_filters( 'wp_page_menu', $menu, $args );

	if ( $args['echo'] ) {
		echo $menu;
	} else {
		return $menu;
	}
}

List (wp_list)

Pages