---
title: "Manual Creation & Explicit Control"
description: "Take full control of navigation by manually specifying every entry and its order"
---

Manual configuration gives you complete control over navigation structure, ordering, and presentation.

## What is Manual Creation?

Manually list every entry you want in navigation:

```typescript
{
    id: "getting-started",
    label: "Getting Started",
    entries: [
        { slug: "getting-started/introduction" },
        { slug: "getting-started/installation" },
        { slug: "getting-started/quick-start" },
    ],
}
```

**Key differences from auto-generation:**

- No folder scanning
- You control exact order
- You control which files appear
- No `autoGenerated: true`

## Basic Manual Configuration

```typescript
{
    id: "guides",
    label: "Guides",
    entries: [
        { slug: "guides/overview" },
        { slug: "guides/setup" },
        { slug: "guides/advanced" },
    ],
}
```

## Entry Customization

### Basic Entry

```typescript
{
    slug: "guides/installation";
}
```

### Override Label

```typescript
{
    slug: "guides/very-long-file-name",
    label: "Short Name",  // Shows in sidebar
}
```

### Add Icon

```typescript
{
    slug: "guides/installation",
    icon: "⚡",
}
```

### Full Customization

```typescript
{
    slug: "guides/installation",
    label: "Get Started",
    icon: "🚀",
}
```

## Real-World Example: Tutorial

Tutorials need specific order. Auto-generation would fail (alphabetical order wouldn't match teaching progression).

### Setup

```typescript
{
    id: "tutorials",
    label: "Tutorials",
    entries: [
        { slug: "tutorials/01-introduction", label: "Introduction" },
        { slug: "tutorials/02-installation", label: "Installation" },
        { slug: "tutorials/03-hello-world", label: "Hello World" },
        { slug: "tutorials/04-variables", label: "Variables" },
        { slug: "tutorials/05-functions", label: "Functions" },
        { slug: "tutorials/06-modules", label: "Modules" },
        { slug: "tutorials/07-conclusion", label: "Wrap-Up" },
    ],
}
```

### Result

```
🎓 Tutorials
├── Introduction
├── Installation
├── Hello World
├── Variables
├── Functions
├── Modules
└── Wrap-Up
```

**Why manual?** Alphabetical would be wrong (01-intro, 02-install, etc.)

## Example: Curated Feature Selection

Show only popular features, hide others:

### Files

```
content/features/
├── authentication.md ✓
├── breadcrumbs.md ✓
├── dark-mode.md ✓
├── experimental-beta.md ✗
├── icons.md ✓
├── internal-test.md ✗
└── theme.md ✓
```

### Setup

```typescript
{
    id: "features",
    label: "Features",
    entries: [
        { slug: "features/authentication" },
        { slug: "features/breadcrumbs" },
        { slug: "features/dark-mode" },
        { slug: "features/icons" },
        { slug: "features/theme" },
    ],
}
```

### Result

```
✨ Features
├── Authentication
├── Breadcrumbs
├── Dark Mode
├── Icons
└── Theme
(Experimental and internal tests hidden)
```

## Example: Custom Navigation Hierarchy

Reorganize files into different structure than file system:

### Files

```
content/docs/
├── installation.md
├── setup.md
├── authentication.md
└── performance.md
```

### Configuration (Different Order + Custom Labels)

```typescript
{
    id: "getting-started",
    label: "Getting Started",
    entries: [
        { slug: "getting-started/installation", label: "Install" },
        { slug: "getting-started/setup", label: "Initial Setup" },
    ],
},
{
    id: "advanced",
    label: "Advanced",
    entries: [
        { slug: "getting-started/authentication", label: "Authentication & Security" },
        { slug: "getting-started/performance", label: "Performance Tuning" },
    ],
}
```

### Result

```
🚀 Getting Started
├── Install
└── Initial Setup

🎓 Advanced
├── Authentication & Security
└── Performance Tuning
```

## Example: Multi-Version API Docs

Support multiple API versions manually:

```typescript
{
    id: "api-v1",
    label: "v1 (Deprecated)",
    entries: [
        { slug: "api/v1/endpoints" },
        { slug: "api/v1/authentication" },
        { slug: "api/v1/errors" },
    ],
},
{
    id: "api-v2",
    label: "v2 (Current)",
    entries: [
        { slug: "api/v2/getting-started" },
        { slug: "api/v2/endpoints" },
        { slug: "api/v2/authentication" },
        { slug: "api/v2/webhooks" },
        { slug: "api/v2/errors" },
    ],
},
{
    id: "api-v3",
    label: "v3 (Beta)",
    entries: [
        { slug: "api/v3/overview" },
        { slug: "api/v3/breaking-changes" },
    ],
}
```

### Result

```
v1 (Deprecated)
├── Endpoints
├── Authentication
└── Errors

v2 (Current)
├── Getting Started
├── Endpoints
├── Authentication
├── Webhooks
└── Errors

v3 (Beta)
├── Overview
└── Breaking Changes
```

## When Manual is Better

✅ **Use manual when:**

- Specific order is critical (tutorials, progressive learning)
- Careful curation needed (hide some files)
- Custom labels throughout
- Multi-version documentation
- Small documentation (easy to maintain)
- Static content (doesn't grow frequently)

❌ **Not ideal when:**

- Documentation grows rapidly
- Many pages (becomes tedious)
- Multiple contributors (merge conflicts)
- Alphabetical order acceptable

## Advantages

✅ **Complete control** - Every aspect configurable
✅ **Clear intent** - Config shows exactly what appears
✅ **Version management** - Easy to hide old versions
✅ **Curation** - Show only what's ready
✅ **Custom ordering** - Any order you want
✅ **Small documentation** - Trivial to maintain

## Disadvantages

❌ **Maintenance burden** - Update config when adding files
❌ **Scaling issues** - Becomes tedious with 100+ pages
❌ **Easy to miss** - Forget to add new files
❌ **Merge conflicts** - Multiple people editing same file
❌ **No discovery** - New files invisible until listed

## Hybrid: Get Both

Want manual ordering + auto-discovery?

```typescript
{
    id: "guides",
    label: "Guides",
    entries: [
        { slug: "guides/overview", label: "📋 Overview" },
        { slug: "guides/getting-started", label: "🚀 Getting Started" },
    ],
    autoGenerated: true,  // Rest auto-discovered
}
```

See [Hybrid Approach](/docs/generation-strategies/hybrid-approach/best-of-both) for details.

## Next Steps

Learn about:

- [Hybrid Approach](/docs/generation-strategies/hybrid-approach/best-of-both)
- [Configuration Examples](/docs/configuration/basics/sidebar-structure)
- [Auto-Generation](/docs/generation-strategies/auto-generation/how-it-works)