# Restructuring the Hamburger menu

**URL:** https://meta.discourse.org/t/restructuring-the-hamburger-menu/32860
**Category:** UX
**Created:** [3 september 2015 om 11:02 UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/restructuring-the-hamburger-menu/32860 "2015-09-03T11:02:58Z")
**Posts on this page:** 8
**Page:** 1

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### Author: ![codinghorror](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/meta/user_avatar/meta.discourse.org/codinghorror/32/110067_2.png) [@codinghorror](https://meta.discourse.org/u/codinghorror)
#### Post date: [3 september 2015 om 11:02 UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/restructuring-the-hamburger-menu/32860/1 "2015-09-03T11:02:58Z")

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As part of the menu redesign, we need to restructure the hamburger menu.

 ![](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/meta/original/3X/3/f/3f4971542d3c85417eaa277232bf7791f06a2c11.jpg) 

Some initial ideas:

- ⭐ group admin / mod menu items together (akismet, flags, site settings)

- ⭐ move to two columns with glyphs

- ⭐ replicate complete topnav (latest, new, unread, etc) including counts

- ⭐ move very rare, low value items like Keyboard Shortcuts below categories

- perhaps have essentials like FAQ show up at the top until read at least once

- perhaps have headings for different hamburger menu sections (or even expansions?)

For now @eviltrout will work on the starred items as a starting point. We are open to other ideas, please post a visual mockup of your idea.

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### Author: ![downey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/meta/user_avatar/meta.discourse.org/downey/32/166878_2.png) [@downey](https://meta.discourse.org/u/downey)
#### Post date: [3 september 2015 om 11:55 UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/restructuring-the-hamburger-menu/32860/2 "2015-09-03T11:55:20Z")

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Here’s my proposal, as [mentioned](https://meta.discourse.org/t/remove-hamburger-menu/32431/7) previously elsewhere:

 ![](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/meta/original/3X/1/d/1da4ee5d18dd73870e5f949f9203ac504c14841d.png)

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### Author: ![alefattorini](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/meta/user_avatar/meta.discourse.org/alefattorini/32/119928_2.png) [@alefattorini](https://meta.discourse.org/u/alefattorini)
#### Post date: [3 september 2015 om 12:37 UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/restructuring-the-hamburger-menu/32860/3 "2015-09-03T12:37:02Z")

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> [@codinghorror](#):
>
> Some initial ideas:
> 
> group admin / mod menu items together (akismet, flags, site settings)  
> move to two columns with glyphs  
> replicate complete topnav (latest, new, unread, etc) including counts  
> move very rare, low value items like Keyboard Shortcuts below categories

Super cool ideas as debated somewhere else, move everything in one point is super handy.

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### Author: ![ky\_metro](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/meta/user_avatar/meta.discourse.org/ky_metro/32/42807_2.png) [@ky\_metro](https://meta.discourse.org/u/ky_metro)
#### Post date: [3 september 2015 om 14:35 UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/restructuring-the-hamburger-menu/32860/4 "2015-09-03T14:35:13Z")

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Took a crack at this.

 ![](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/meta/original/3X/a/5/a539841a0dd54e09031a9ed2c7fb5f62c1884aaf.png)

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### Author: ![JBert](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/edb3f5/32.png) [@JBert](https://meta.discourse.org/u/JBert)
#### Post date: [3 september 2015 om 15:07 UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/restructuring-the-hamburger-menu/32860/5 "2015-09-03T15:07:57Z")

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While your mockup is interesting, I’m not convinced that menus in menus are a good thing. In fact, I have rarely seen one ever since Ribbon UIs or Touch screens were a thing. I’m also wondering how well it would work on mobile…

Could you also explain what those glyphs at the bottom are supposed to mean? The keyboard is somewhat logical for keyboard shortcuts and the question mark could stand for FAQ or Help, but the Phone glyph is puzzling.

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### Author: ![ky\_metro](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/meta/user_avatar/meta.discourse.org/ky_metro/32/42807_2.png) [@ky\_metro](https://meta.discourse.org/u/ky_metro)
#### Post date: [3 september 2015 om 17:19 UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/restructuring-the-hamburger-menu/32860/6 "2015-09-03T17:19:45Z")

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> [@JBert](#):
>
> the Phone glyph is puzzling.

That represents the Mobile View / Desktop View switcher. If it’s unclear, then it should probably be a text link instead.

> [@JBert](#):
>
> I’m not convinced that menus in menus are a good thing.

My reasoning was, since the list of categories is very long and not frequently accessed, it’d be nice to make it expand as needed. This gets rid of the bulk of the menu when it’s not needed.

This was also mentioned in codinghorror’s suggestion:

> [@codinghorror](#):
>
> perhaps have headings for different hamburger menu sections (or even expansions?)

There’s probably a better way to expand the categories instead of a dropdown, but this exact one is already being used and works fine on mobile.

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### Author: ![jspautsch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/meta/user_avatar/meta.discourse.org/jspautsch/32/62603_2.png) [@jspautsch](https://meta.discourse.org/u/jspautsch)
#### Post date: [6 september 2015 om 17:21 UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/restructuring-the-hamburger-menu/32860/7 "2015-09-06T17:21:51Z")

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Is “users” really so important that it should be in the top section? Do we know how often it gets used?

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### Author: ![codinghorror](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/meta/user_avatar/meta.discourse.org/codinghorror/32/110067_2.png) [@codinghorror](https://meta.discourse.org/u/codinghorror)
#### Post date: [6 september 2015 om 20:31 UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/restructuring-the-hamburger-menu/32860/8 "2015-09-06T20:31:37Z")

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It is an important top level page, yes.
