How to Show Different Menus to Logged in Users in WordPress

WordPress displays the same navigation menu for everyone. However, you might want to customize the menu based on whether a user is logged in or not.

Showing different menus to logged-in users in WordPress is a great way to create a more personalized experience. It allows you to display relevant content only to those who are logged in, such as account details or exclusive resources.

In this guide, we will explain how to set up different menus for logged-in users using 2 methods.

Why Show Different Menus to Logged in Users in WordPress?

Changing different areas of your WordPress website based on your visitors and their activity makes your site feel personalized for each user.

This personalized content helps you improve the user experience on your WordPress website.

Now, if you run a website where users don’t need to register or log in, then you can probably use the same navigation menus across your website. However, other websites may greatly benefit from showing custom menus to logged-in users.

For instance, websites like an online store, an online learning platform, or a WordPress membership site community, can all benefit from personalized navigation menus.

A personalized navigation menu for logged-in users helps them more easily find things they signed up for.

For instance, a user on an online store can manage their account, or a member of a paid community can easily renew their subscription or view the exclusive online courses they purchased.

By default, WordPress lets you create as many navigation menus as you want. However, you can only choose to show one menu at a particular location in your WordPress theme.

Before setting up menus for logged-in users, you’ll first need to create two separate navigation menus. One menu will be for logged-in users, and the other for logged-out users. Let’s get started.

Creating Menus for Logged in and Non Logged in Users in WordPress

To create separate menus for the two types of users, you’ll want to head over to the Appearance » Menus page in the WordPress dashboard.

If you already have a navigation menu that you use on your website for all users, then this can be your default menu.

After that, you can click on the ‘create a new menu’ link to create a new custom menu for your logged-in users.

Here, go ahead and add menu items that you want to show to registered or logged-in users. For example, you might want to add a logout link to your menu.

On the left-hand side of the screen, you can see a list of your website pages. Simply check the box next to any page you want to add to your menu and click the ‘Add to Menu’ button.

You can also drag and drop the menu items on the right side of the screen to rearrange them.

Further down the page, you can choose a location to display your menu. But you don’t need to assign a location to this menu now. We’ll do that later in the article.

Don’t forget to click on the ‘Save Menu’ button to store your changes.

For more details on creating menus, take a look at our beginner’s guide to WordPress navigation menus.

Now, you’re ready to show different menus to logged-in users. Here’s a quick overview of all the methods we’ll cover in this guide:

Let’s dive into the first method.

Method 1. Show Different Menus to Logged-in Users in WordPress Using a Plugin

The easiest way to show different menus to logged-in users is to use the Conditional Menus plugin. So, let’s install and activate it first.

For more details, you can see our step-by-step guide on how to install a WordPress plugin.

Upon activation, you’ll need to navigate to Appearance » Menus from your WordPress dashboard. Then, switch to the ‘Manage Locations’ tab.

From here, you’ll see the list of available menu locations defined in your WordPress theme and the menus that are currently displaying.

For example, our ‘Primary Menu’ location currently shows a ‘Main Menu’.

Now, we need to tell the plugin to show a different menu when a certain condition is matched.

To do that, let’s click on the ‘+ Conditional Menu’ link. Then, you can select the navigation menu you want to show to the logged-in users from the drop-down menu.

Next, you’ll want to click the ‘+ Conditions’ link.

This will bring up a popup where you’ll see a bunch of conditions to choose from.

Simply check the box next to the ‘User logged in’ option, and then click on the ‘Save’ button.

You can now visit your website to see the logged-in user menu in action. You can also log out of your WordPress admin to view the navigation menu that’ll be shown to all other users.

Method 2. Manually Select the Logged-in Menu in WordPress Using Code

This method requires you to add code to your WordPress website. If you haven’t done this before, then take a look at our guide on how to copy and paste code snippets in WordPress.

In general, you need to add a code snippet to your theme’s functions.php file or a site-specific plugin. However, we don’t recommend this method because it can potentially cause issues with your website.

Instead, you can use the WPCode plugin.

WPCode lets you add custom code snippets to your site without editing the theme’s files directly. It also helps manage these snippets and ensures they are executed safely, minimizing the risk of breaking your site.

To get started, let’s install the WPCode plugin. You can use the WPCode free version, as it has all the things you need to do show different menus to logged-in users.

Once installed, you’ll want to navigate to Code Snippets » + Add Snippets.

This will open the WPCode’s code snippet gallery.

From here, you can click the ‘+ Add Custom Snippet’ button.

You’ll then arrive at the WPCode’s text editor.

The next step is to add a title to your code snippet and choose ‘HTML snippet’ from the ‘Code Type’ dropdown menu.

Once done, simply copy and paste the following code to the ‘Code Preview’ field:

function my_wp_nav_menu_args( $args = '' ) {
if( is_user_logged_in() ) {
// Logged in menu to display
$args['menu'] = 43;

} else {
// Non-logged-in menu to display
$args['menu'] = 35;
}
return $args;
}
add_filter( 'wp_nav_menu_args', 'my_wp_nav_menu_args' );

Here’s what it might look like in your WPCode editor:

Make sure that you replace 43 and 35 with the IDs for the navigation menus you created earlier.

You can find the ID of a navigation menu by selecting it on the ‘Menus’ page. You will see the menu ID number in your browser’s address bar.

Once you make sure all details are correct, go ahead and click the blue ‘Save Snippet’ button.

And that’s it! We hope this article has helped you learn how to easily show different navigation menus to logged-in users in WordPress. Next, you may also want to see our guide on how to allow users to invite their friends to register in WordPress and how to style WordPress navigation menus.

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