[WEB4LIB] web navigation

[Andrew Mutch]

Prentiss,

Yes - the code appears very bloated.  I've seen this effect done on other
sites and I don't recall that it required this much code.

But ... let me approach this from another angle.  Something seems wrong with
this from a navigational angle.  The designers of this approach appear to
present 2 levels of navigation on one page.  At the top level, the site is
divided up into "global" categories like "Student Life, Alumni, etc.".  For
some of these categories, you can select from the menu on the left to go to
the "directory page" for that category.  When you get to that "directory
page", the listings usually don't correspond to the listings that appear in
the right-side menus on the home page -- it doesn't appear that there is any
consistency to these menus and any organization of the sub-sites.

The right-side menus appear to present a directory of information available
in the "global" category but they actually provide links that lead to
specific pages within a larger category , or in some cases, lead to entirely
different sites that may or may not be part of the larger site that you
started from.  In most cases, the "direct" links from these menus usually
don't provide an easily-located link back to the "global" category that you
first selected or to the home page where you started.

It seems to me that if one is going to present a navigational scheme on the
home page, this navigational scheme needs to be carried through the entire
site, including the sub-sites.  If I click on "Academics and Research" on
the left-hand side, I should go to a "home page" for this global category
which will then allow me to select from the individual pages/sub-sites that
fall into this category [like "Faculty, Catalog, etc."]  If I select one of
the individual links that appear when I mouse-over on "Academics and
Research", that page/sub-site should provide a link back to the "home page"
for "Academics and Research" or back to the home page for the entire site
[or both!]  I would discourage the use of the right-side menus as actual
navigational devices to link directly to pages - instead use them for
information purposes to describe the "global" categories presented on the
left side.

Ideally, the links on the "home page" for "Academics and Research" will be
annotated so that I can make a reasonable guess as to where it will lead me
- most of the links on the home page are fairly self-descriptive but how do
I know for sure that it will take me where I want to go or that there may be
a more appropriate link to get the information that I want? [Which is an
argument for creating a navigational structure in the first place - it
allows information to be presented to a visitor in useable chunks instead of
trying to do it all on one screen - the power of hyperlinking!  It would be
very difficult to provide useful annotations for all of the links presented
on the home page.  But - break those links up into "global" categories, give
each category a "home page" and you'll provide a location where you can
provide annotated links in a user-friendly quantity.]

A very effective example of this structure is done by the University of
Michigan at:

http://www.umich.edu/

It may look "boring" but the structure is very easy to navigate and if a
visitor gets "lost" - it is very easy to find one's way "home".

So....there is a "code" problem but I think time might be better spend
getting the navigational structure in place before more time is spent in
redesigning "the look".

Good luck!

Andrew Mutch
Library Systems Technician
Waterford Township Public Library
Waterford, MI



Prentiss Riddle wrote:

> Rice's Public Affairs division is in the midst of a redesign of our web
> site.  (Yes, it's hard to see my baby grow up and move away, but I'm
> reconciling myself to the inevitable.  After years of our begging
> Public Affairs to pay some attention to the web, we can hardly complain
> now that they're doing so. :-) )
>
> Aside from graphic improvements, one feature they're hot to add for
> some reason is javascript-based mouseovers.  The tool they've chosen to
> use is Adobe GoLive.  The result is extremely bloated HTML: where our
> current top page is 11K, their proposed page is 63K (graphics aside).
> This contributes to unacceptably long download times for dialup users.
>
> I know just a little javascript (I've tended to avoid it on the KISS
> principle) and nothing about Adobe GoLive.  I'm wondering whether the
> bloat is the inevitable consequence of the features they want
> (mouseovers that trigger popup menus of sub-links) or could be avoided
> by tighter javascript code and/or giving up GoLive.  Anybody have any
> idea?
>
> By the way, if you want to see where the new design is headed, it's up
> for public comment at the location:
>
>         http://www.rice.edu/newhome/
>
> -- Prentiss Riddle ("aprendiz de todo, maestro de nada") riddle at rice.edu
> -- Webmaster, Rice University / http://is.rice.edu/~riddle