SharePoint Publishing Site Dilemma: How to use dropdown top link bar without publishing enabled

Question

I am using SharePoint Online Sites. Within that site i have a top level department site with Modern Communication site Template. Underneath that site i have 3 different subsites:

1. IT
2. Marketing
3. Finance

Now i am trying to inherit navigation from top level department site as

• Home
• Department
  • IT
  • Finance
  • Marketing

But to achieve that i need to turn on publishing feature in top level department site.

But i have department site( IT, Finance, marketing) all share same template. I plan on using custom site template to create new sites using that template.

But publishing feature might kill that feature.

My question is how can i use dropdown navigation in toplink bar not using publishing feature..

Answer 1

You're right in that you need Publishing turned on in order to use that navigation, and you're right that Publishing disallows saving as a template.

(There are workarounds to hack this but those are undocumented and unsupported - I don't recommend doing that)

So you're blocked on this, and there's no supportable way to enable what you're trying to do.

I'd suggest looking into provisioning your sites through code, whether it's PowerShell or something more robust. You might have a learning curve at first but it will pay dividends down the road. Thus way you can use Publishing but not be tied to a site template.