TechTips - How to Get the Navigation Link Back in SharePoint 2007 Site Settings

I ran into an interesting problem in SharePoint 2007 Site Settings, there is typically a Navigation Link (under look and feel section) that allows me to edit the Navigation Links for my SharePoint 2007 websites, well it was nowhere to be found. I realized on one of my sites I hadn't activated the setting to display the Navigation Page Link. I could still get to the page via typing the link to the page in the URL bar but I didn't have the actual link displayed for an easy way to get to the page by simple point and click. Well most users aren't going to know how the URL to get to the Navigation Link page so I had to get the link back. In this article I will explain how to activate the proper features to allow the Navigation Link to be displayed.

First let's talk about why the link wasn't being displayed in the Site Settings page. The Navigation Link is a part of the Enterprise Site Features and has to be enabled before the link will appear. You would think that when you setup your Enterprise SharePoint 2007 server this would be enabled by default; well I can tell you it isn't. You have to go to each and every site that you want this feature on and enable it. The good news is that it's a very easy to enable feature, you just have to know the steps and the order to get it enabled without errors.

So in order to enable the Navigation Link in the Site Settings menu follow these steps:

Open the SharePoint 2007 Website you want the link enabled on

Click Login (if you aren't logged in already)

Click Site Actions Button

Click Site Settings

Click Site Collection Features (Site Collection Admin Section)

Click Activate Button Next to Office SharePoint Server Enterprise Site Collection Features

Click Site Actions Button

Click Site Settings

Click Site Features (Site Admin Section)

Click Activate Button Next to Office SharePoint Server Enterprise Features

Click Site Actions Button

Click Site Settings

You should now have the Navigation Link (Look and Feel Section)

Once you have activated these two features you should now see the Navigation Link listed under the Look and Feel Section in the Site Settings. That is all there is to get the Navigation Link listed on your Site Settings page. Now you can go in and edit the Navigation pages for your websites.

I hope this guide helps you to get your Navigation Link back.