TobyInkster.co.uk
Navigation
Toby's top ten tips on Navigation...
- 10: A web page should not offer a link to itself (except perhaps a link to a location further down the page).
- 9: Don't hide the link to the site map away. Some sites seem to place it in the tiny print (along with copyright) at the bottom of the page. Put it near the top: by the search box for example.
- 8: Another good idea is to make extensive use of the
<link>element. For people using browsers that support it (Mozilla, Opera, Lynx, etc) it is a big help to navigation. For people using browsers that don't support it (IE, NN4, etc), it doesn't cause any harm.Read more about<link>elements in Sander Tekelenburg's article Navigating the WWW. - 7: Graphical icons by navigation links can be a useful visual indicator of what's at the other end of a link, but don't rely on them so much that you leave out the text. Even if you think it's "obvious" that clicking on the picture of a cat takes you to the category list, it won't be obvious to everyone!
- 6: If you have a logo on every page (most sites do), make the logo a link to the home page.
- 5: Consistancy is good — and not just within your own site! Remember that people spend at least 99% of their time on other people's sites so are more familiar with the rest of the Internet than your site. So try to use navigation ideas from other popular sites so that people will quickly learn how yours works.
- 4: Remember that navigation isn't just about letting people know where they can go, it's also about letting the user know where they are now and where they've been before. Bread-crumb trails give a good idea of how "deep" you are in the site as well as what topics lie "above" where they are now. Make sure that visited links are a different colour from regular links — this will let people know where they've been before.
- 3: Read Jacob Nielsen's article Is Navigation Useful?. Summary: don't go overboard on navigation — every page on your site doesn't need to link to every other page. Include a link to the front page, a search box and a link to the site map. Include a few links to related pages on the site — for example, on an order form include a link to your security and privacy policies.
- 2: Don't rely on Javascript, Flash or other trickery for navigation. Navigation is a basic site function so you need to use reliable technologies.
- Rule #1 of Navigation: if you ever feel the need to explain how to use a particular navigational device, scrap it.