i dunno what icons your on about but generally
an icon will be displayed like (including a link)
Code:
<a href='index.php'><img src='home.gif' /></a>
as you can see thats a button for index link .. remove the img and put in text so it becomes
Code:
<a href='index.php'>INDEX</a>
simple really. im sure you can manage to remove an image and put text there instead .. if thats not what u meant please explain in more detail (possibly provide a screenshot with annotations)