diff --git a/xdoc/xdocs/goals.xml b/xdoc/xdocs/goals.xml
index 342d620e..2aa80f4a 100644
--- a/xdoc/xdocs/goals.xml
+++ b/xdoc/xdocs/goals.xml
@@ -59,7 +59,8 @@
       <goal>
         <name>xdoc:navigation-validate</name>
         <description>
-           Validates the navigation file ${maven.xdoc.navigation.file}.
+           Validates the navigation file ${maven.xdoc.navigation.file}. See
+           <a href="reference/navfile.html#Validation">Validation</a>.
         </description>
       </goal>
       <goal>
diff --git a/xdoc/xdocs/reference/maven-navigation.xsd b/xdoc/xdocs/reference/maven-navigation.xsd
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..9a9d88af
--- /dev/null
+++ b/xdoc/xdocs/reference/maven-navigation.xsd
@@ -0,0 +1,102 @@
+<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
+<!-- 
+/*
+ * Copyright 2001-2005 The Apache Software Foundation.
+ * 
+ * Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+ * you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+ * You may obtain a copy of the License at
+ * 
+ *      http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+ * 
+ * Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+ * distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+ * WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+ * See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+ * limitations under the License.
+ */
+ -->
+<xs:schema xmlns:xs="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema">
+  <xs:element name="project">
+    <xs:complexType>
+      <xs:sequence>
+        <xs:element ref="title"/>
+        <xs:element ref="body"/>
+      </xs:sequence>
+      <xs:attribute name="name" type="xs:string"/>
+    </xs:complexType>
+  </xs:element>
+  <xs:element name="title">
+    <xs:complexType>
+      <xs:simpleContent>
+        <xs:extension base="xs:string">
+          <xs:attribute name="key" type="xs:string" use="optional"/>
+        </xs:extension>
+      </xs:simpleContent>
+    </xs:complexType>
+  </xs:element>
+  <xs:element name="body">
+    <xs:complexType>
+      <xs:sequence>
+        <xs:element ref="breadcrumbs" minOccurs="0"/>
+        <xs:element ref="links" minOccurs="0"/>
+        <xs:element ref="sitemap" minOccurs="0"/>
+        <xs:element ref="menu" minOccurs="0" maxOccurs="unbounded"/>
+        <xs:element ref="search" minOccurs="0"/>
+        <xs:element ref="powered-by" minOccurs="0"/>
+        <xs:element ref="footer" minOccurs="0"/>
+      </xs:sequence>
+    </xs:complexType>
+  </xs:element>
+  <xs:element name="sitemap"/>
+  <xs:element name="search"/>
+  <xs:element name="footer"/>
+  <xs:element name="links">
+    <xs:complexType>
+      <xs:sequence>
+        <xs:element ref="item" minOccurs="0" maxOccurs="unbounded"/>
+      </xs:sequence>
+    </xs:complexType>
+  </xs:element>
+  <xs:element name="breadcrumbs">
+    <xs:complexType>
+      <xs:sequence>
+        <xs:element ref="item" minOccurs="0" maxOccurs="unbounded"/>
+      </xs:sequence>
+    </xs:complexType>
+  </xs:element>
+  <xs:element name="menu">
+    <xs:complexType>
+      <xs:sequence>
+        <xs:element ref="item" minOccurs="0" maxOccurs="unbounded"/>
+      </xs:sequence>
+      <xs:attribute name="name" type="xs:string"/>
+      <xs:attribute name="type" type="xs:string"/>
+      <xs:attribute name="key" type="xs:string"/>
+      <!-- type is an optional entry that defines where the menu is destined for.
+      	   Values - left-header (default), left-footer -->
+    </xs:complexType>
+  </xs:element>
+  <xs:element name="powered-by">
+    <xs:complexType>
+      <xs:sequence>
+        <xs:element ref="item" minOccurs="0" maxOccurs="unbounded"/>
+      </xs:sequence>
+    </xs:complexType>
+  </xs:element>
+  <xs:element name="item">
+    <xs:complexType>
+      <xs:sequence>
+        <!-- items can have other items -->
+        <xs:element ref="item" minOccurs="0" maxOccurs="unbounded"/>
+      </xs:sequence>
+      <xs:attribute name="name" type="xs:string"/>
+      <xs:attribute name="key" type="xs:string"/>
+      <xs:attribute name="href" type="xs:string"/>
+      <xs:attribute name="collapse" type="xs:boolean"/>
+      <xs:attribute name="target" type="xs:string"/>
+      <xs:attribute name="img" type="xs:string"/>
+      <!-- img is an href that will be used as the image for link -->
+    </xs:complexType>
+  </xs:element>
+</xs:schema>
diff --git a/xdoc/xdocs/reference/navfile.xml b/xdoc/xdocs/reference/navfile.xml
index f6af9ed2..abc7c2ac 100644
--- a/xdoc/xdocs/reference/navfile.xml
+++ b/xdoc/xdocs/reference/navfile.xml
@@ -158,7 +158,16 @@
    </footer>]]></source>
       </subsection>
 
+    </section>
 
+    <section name="Validation">
+      <p>
+        The <code>xdoc:navigation-validate</code> goal can be used to check
+        whether your <code>${maven.xdoc.navigation.file}</code> is a valid
+        navigation.file. Validation is performed against this
+        <a href="maven-navigation.xsd">xsd</a>. Note that the order of
+        elements is important and should be the same as in the example above.
+      </p>
     </section>
   </body>
 </document>