[
WebsitePatterns]
Problem
How do you help the reader know where they are in a Web site?
Context
A Web site with many cross-links.
Solution
Include a small "map" or navigation bar on each page that links to pages near the current page. This might include pages that lead to the current page, pages related to the current page, and pages that give more detail about topics on the current page. Clearly separate the
VisibleContext from the actual content of the page.
Resultant Context
The
VisibleContext gives a feeling of the overall structure of the site without detracting from the detailed information on each page.
If your site has a
TreeStructure, the
VisibleContext might include the path from the root to the current page and the siblings of the current page.
Known Uses
Many sites include navigation bars at the top and/or bottom of Web pages.
--
NatPryce
Another known use of this pattern is reflected in the way that
NetObjectsFusion works. When you design a site in its site layout tool, and then choose "create toolbar" in any page it will create a toolbar that links to the parent and siblings of that page. Most pages built with this tool reflect this idiom (for instance, the Web page I built a while back at
http://members.aol.com/thecallfan). --
KyleBrown
Bruce Tognazzini has published an article about designing
VisibleContext at
http://www.asktog.com/columns/014WebsiteNavBars.html and discusses the lack of navigation support in browsers and Web site development tools at
http://www.asktog.com/columns/015WebDesignRant.html .
Adobe show how you can use color to make
VisibleContext by ensuring a
ConsistentLook between related pages and navigation icons. See
http://www.adobe.com/studio/tipstechniques/wpdphse7/main.html
Do you think this wiki needs something like that? --
DaveHarris
...maybe as links to the, say, five pages the current page is most frequently accessed from? --
FalkBruegmann
VisibleContext is fine for tree-like sites. But on a web-like wiki the inline links (you could visualise them as a kind of
TagCloud) are the 'where', and (if thoughtfully edited) lead to reciprocally-linked related pages. Recently I've seen a spate of wikis set up like hierarchical websites, a sign of
InformationArchitecture incomprehension that misses the wiki point and goes against
WikiDesignPrinciples --
DaveEveritt
Many pages on Wiki include hand-written
VisibleContext. E.g: Most of the
JavaIdioms and
ComponentDesignPatterns have links back to the appropriate pattern index. These pages have a
WebsitePatterns button at the top.
Automatically generating
VisibleContext for Wiki pages might result in a severe performance hit. --
NatPryce
JspWiki (another wiki in JSP) already have something like this and they call it Reference by, which provides all other pages that reference this page. Much more intutive way of doing this is using
TheBrain applet, please look at
http://www.thebrain.com. --
SeshKumar
But we have this if you click the title: BackLinks
I suspect generating useful
VisibleContext for a wiki would be somewhere between "pretty tricky" and "hard". -- MatthewAstley
Yes. Just have a look at the
VisualTour of each page. That should give you an idea.
See
BreadCrumbs