Although this is the fifth article in the series called "Web Design Tactics" it deals the most important part of web design.
The menu is the most crucial part of the entire website.
A good menu is easy to follow and organized in such a way that it points to the main goal of the company.
Every page of the site must contain the menu, or a significant part of it so that there is no reason to get lost.
The menu of a sizable website will consist of the Primary Navigation and secondary navigation.
The primary navigation links to the top-level sections of the site.
It might be helpful to think in terms of a research paper with an outline having Roman numerals.
The outline will contain the main headings which divide the paper into the main points of discussion.
The main headings, enumerated as I, II, III, IV and so forth lead to a logical progression as we tell our story.
The Primary navigation of the website will be similar to the main headings of the term paper.
It could be said that the top-level of the music store consist of the different instruments that we have for sale: guitars, trumpets, flutes and drums.
The lower levels can deal with the various brands within each top-level section.
Each link or button of the primary navigation will take us to a top-level section of the website which deals with a concise area of our business or product line.
When we get there, the Primary navigation is still at the top of the page to lead us back home or to any other section of the website.
The secondary navigation leads us to lower-level sections which contain information that is more specific and detailed than before.
The secondary navigation may run down the side bar of the page or in the footer.
If you sell guitars you will want more pages which deal with the various brands that you sell such as Gibson, Fender and others.
The secondary navigation will help the customers find the pages that display the specific guitars, which might interest them.
Structure your secondary navigation in such a way that it is easy to fund exactly what one is looking for.
Rather than a long list of links, it might be possible to do this using other devices such as drop down selection boxes, image maps or various types of JavaScript or Flash menus.
Next/back navigation links are usually not very helpful as the only way to move through the lower level pages of a site.
At any rate, secondary navigation is there to help a customer find pertinent information within the lower levels or subsections or each main heading.
One given is the placing of the primary navigation in plain view on each lower level page.
Good web design calls for an easy pathway to any place in a site from each page.
It is a big no-no to ever make an orphan page which has no navigation.
The most common forms of menu design used on the Internet today are:
For questions on the strengths and weaknesses or each it is best to ask a qualified Web Designer.
The menu is the most crucial part of the entire website.
A good menu is easy to follow and organized in such a way that it points to the main goal of the company.
Every page of the site must contain the menu, or a significant part of it so that there is no reason to get lost.
The menu of a sizable website will consist of the Primary Navigation and secondary navigation.
The primary navigation links to the top-level sections of the site.
It might be helpful to think in terms of a research paper with an outline having Roman numerals.
The outline will contain the main headings which divide the paper into the main points of discussion.
The main headings, enumerated as I, II, III, IV and so forth lead to a logical progression as we tell our story.
The Primary navigation of the website will be similar to the main headings of the term paper.
It could be said that the top-level of the music store consist of the different instruments that we have for sale: guitars, trumpets, flutes and drums.
The lower levels can deal with the various brands within each top-level section.
Each link or button of the primary navigation will take us to a top-level section of the website which deals with a concise area of our business or product line.
When we get there, the Primary navigation is still at the top of the page to lead us back home or to any other section of the website.
The secondary navigation leads us to lower-level sections which contain information that is more specific and detailed than before.
The secondary navigation may run down the side bar of the page or in the footer.
If you sell guitars you will want more pages which deal with the various brands that you sell such as Gibson, Fender and others.
The secondary navigation will help the customers find the pages that display the specific guitars, which might interest them.
Structure your secondary navigation in such a way that it is easy to fund exactly what one is looking for.
Rather than a long list of links, it might be possible to do this using other devices such as drop down selection boxes, image maps or various types of JavaScript or Flash menus.
Next/back navigation links are usually not very helpful as the only way to move through the lower level pages of a site.
At any rate, secondary navigation is there to help a customer find pertinent information within the lower levels or subsections or each main heading.
One given is the placing of the primary navigation in plain view on each lower level page.
Good web design calls for an easy pathway to any place in a site from each page.
It is a big no-no to ever make an orphan page which has no navigation.
The most common forms of menu design used on the Internet today are:
- JavaScript menus
- flash menus
- menus which use CSS or Cascading Style Sheets as their basis
For questions on the strengths and weaknesses or each it is best to ask a qualified Web Designer.
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