diff --git a/_config.yml b/_config.yml
index ceab6f8a692d..9e7432119eb6 100644
--- a/_config.yml
+++ b/_config.yml
@@ -84,7 +84,8 @@ panelbear_analytics:  # panelbear analytics site ID (format: XXXXXXXXX)
 # Blog
 # -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
 
-blog_name: al-folio  # your blog must have a name for it to show up in the nav bar
+blog_name: al-folio # blog_name will be displayed in your blog page
+blog_nav_title: blog # your blog must have a title for it to be displayed in the nav bar
 blog_description: a simple whitespace theme for academics
 permalink: /blog/:year/:title/
 
diff --git a/_includes/header.html b/_includes/header.html
index 6e067663c79a..e33b64fd54a9 100644
--- a/_includes/header.html
+++ b/_includes/header.html
@@ -4,7 +4,7 @@
       <!-- Nav Bar -->
       <nav id="navbar" class="navbar navbar-light navbar-expand-sm {% if site.navbar_fixed %}fixed-top{% else %}sticky-top{% endif %}">
         <div class="container">
-          {% if page.title != "about" -%}
+          {% if page.permalink != '/' -%}
           <a class="navbar-brand title font-weight-lighter" href="{{ site.baseurl | prepend: site.url }}/">
               {%- if site.title == "blank" -%}<span class="font-weight-bold">{{ site.first_name }}</span> {{ site.middle_name }}  {{ site.last_name }}{%- else -%}{{ site.title }}{%- endif -%}
           </a>
@@ -25,19 +25,25 @@
           <div class="collapse navbar-collapse text-right" id="navbarNav">
             <ul class="navbar-nav ml-auto flex-nowrap">
 
+              {%- for page in site.pages -%}
+                {% if page.permalink == '/' %}
+                  {% assign about_title = page.title %}
+                {% endif %}
+              {% endfor %}
+
               <!-- About -->
-              <li class="nav-item {% if page.title == 'about' %}active{% endif %}">
-                <a class="nav-link" href="{{ '/' | relative_url }}">about
-                  {%- if page.title == "about" -%}
+              <li class="nav-item {% if page.permalink == '/' %}active{% endif %}">
+                <a class="nav-link" href="{{ '/' | relative_url }}">{{ about_title }}
+                  {%- if page.permalink == '/' -%}
                   <span class="sr-only">(current)</span>
                   {%- endif -%}
                 </a>
               </li>
-              {% if site.blog_name %}
+              {% if site.blog_nav_title %}
               <!-- Blog -->
               <li class="nav-item {% if page.url contains 'blog' %}active{% endif %}">
-                <a class="nav-link" href="{{ '/blog/' | relative_url }}">blog
-                  {%- if page.title == "blog" -%}
+                <a class="nav-link" href="{{ '/blog/' | relative_url }}">{{ site.blog_nav_title }}
+                  {%- if page.url contains 'blog' -%}
                   <span class="sr-only">(current)</span>
                   {%- endif -%}
                 </a>
@@ -45,7 +51,7 @@
               {%- endif %}
 
               <!-- Other pages -->
-              {%- assign sorted_pages = site.pages | sort: "title" -%}
+              {%- assign sorted_pages = site.pages | sort: "nav_order" -%}
               {%- for p in sorted_pages -%}
               {%- if p.nav and p.autogen == nil -%}
               {%- if p.dropdown %}
diff --git a/_includes/metadata.html b/_includes/metadata.html
index 941b75d3bbde..ce58cc3e47f0 100644
--- a/_includes/metadata.html
+++ b/_includes/metadata.html
@@ -18,8 +18,10 @@
     {%- else -%}
         {%- capture title -%}{{ site.title }}{%- endcapture -%}
     {%- endif -%}
-    {%- if page.title != "blank" and page.url != "/" -%}
-        {{ title }} | {{ page.title }}
+    {% if page.url == '/blog/index.html' %}
+        {{ site.blog_nav_title }} | {{ title }}
+    {%- elsif page.title != "blank" and page.url != "/" -%}
+        {{ page.title }} | {{ title }}
     {%- else -%}
         {{ title }}
     {%- endif -%}
diff --git a/_pages/dropdown.md b/_pages/dropdown.md
index 578b3723cf7e..caef522350c4 100644
--- a/_pages/dropdown.md
+++ b/_pages/dropdown.md
@@ -2,6 +2,7 @@
 layout: page
 title: submenus
 nav: true
+nav_order: 3
 dropdown: true
 children: 
     - title: publications
diff --git a/_pages/projects.md b/_pages/projects.md
index 33d68b118194..7e89b005e2b9 100644
--- a/_pages/projects.md
+++ b/_pages/projects.md
@@ -4,6 +4,7 @@ title: projects
 permalink: /projects/
 description: A growing collection of your cool projects.
 nav: true
+nav_order: 1
 display_categories: [work, fun]
 horizontal: false
 ---
diff --git a/_pages/publications.md b/_pages/publications.md
index 9254ad1cd041..fac13f1c373f 100644
--- a/_pages/publications.md
+++ b/_pages/publications.md
@@ -5,6 +5,7 @@ title: publications
 description: publications by categories in reversed chronological order. generated by jekyll-scholar.
 years: [1956, 1950, 1935, 1905]
 nav: true
+nav_order: 2
 ---
 <!-- _pages/publications.md -->
 <div class="publications">
diff --git a/_pages/teaching.md b/_pages/teaching.md
index ddcc59b2796c..6d5eda3410b9 100644
--- a/_pages/teaching.md
+++ b/_pages/teaching.md
@@ -4,6 +4,7 @@ permalink: /teaching/
 title: teaching
 description: Materials for courses you taught. Replace this text with your description.
 nav: true
+nav_order: 2
 ---
 
 For now, this page is assumed to be a static description of your courses. You can convert it to a collection similar to `_projects/` so that you can have a dedicated page for each course.