How do I add my own section to the jContent left navigation?

Question

How do I add my own section to the jContent left navigation?

Answer

The left navigation entries are accordionItem registry entries. jContent registers its own - Pages, Content folders, Media, Apps, Search, Categories - the same way a module does.

A section backed by a content tree

Most custom sections want the standard tree, so compose from jContent's base descriptor rather than writing the rendering yourself:

import {registry} from '@jahia/ui-extender';
import {Grain} from '@jahia/moonstone';

const base = registry.get('accordionItem', 'renderDefaultContentTrees');

registry.add('accordionItem', 'myThings', base, {
    targets: ['jcontent:75'],
    icon: <Grain/>,
    label: 'myModule:label.myThings',
    rootPath: '/sites/{site}/contents/my-things',
    requiredSitePermission: 'myThingsAccess',
    isEnabled: siteKey => siteKey !== 'systemsite',
    treeConfig: {
        hideRoot: false,
        selectableTypes: ['jnt:contentFolder', 'myt:thing'],
        openableTypes: ['jnt:contentFolder']
    }
});

The third argument - the base descriptor - is what supplies the tree rendering and the route component. Omit it and you get a registry entry that renders nothing, which is the usual reason a new section does not appear.

The pieces that matter

Register it from a jahiaApp-init callback at a priority above 1, since jContent registers its own at jahiaApp-init:1.

A section that is not a content tree

If your section is an arbitrary React route rather than a JCR subtree, supply routeComponent and your own render instead of composing from the tree base. jContent does this for its Search and Deletion-info items.

A caveat worth knowing

No module outside jContent itself registers an accordionItem anywhere in Jahia's public GitHub organisation. The mechanism is the one jContent uses for its own navigation, and it is a registry like any other, but you will not find a third-party example to copy - the shipped items are the reference.

Because of that, treat the key set above as what jContent currently consumes rather than as a frozen public contract, and re-check it against the jContent version you ship.

This article was drafted with AI assistance, then reviewed and curated by Jahia Customer Support engineers before publication.