Page 24 - CS6_DW_Look_Inside

Stage 2 Organizing the Site Navigation

Hyperlinks (the official term for links) can be created to link pages on a site to other pages within the
same site, or to pages on other sites. A well-designed site includes links that make it easy to get to any
part of a site from any other part of a site. You should carefully plan the flow of links and connections
between pages — always keeping the reader’s usability in mind.
Organizing links is a simple application of a science called information architecture, which is
the organization of a Web site to support both usability and “findability.” As you organize site links,
remember that your goal is to enable visitors to see a pattern in your links, which will assist them in
navigating through your site. Keep the following points in mind when you plan a site’s link structure:

• You can’t know how visitors will enter your site. The primary site pages (home, about us, etc.)
should be accessible from every page on the site.
• When linking secondary pages such as different menus for different mealtimes, don’t make
users constantly click the browser’s Back button. Links should allow users to navigate all
sibling pages (at the same level) as easily as navigating the primary structure. For example,
users should be able to access the dinner menu or lunch menu in the restaurant’s site without
first going back to a main “Menu” page.

Using the terms “parent,” “child,” and “sibling” is simply a way of describing relationships between
pages. A large Web site cannot provide links to all of the pages from its home page. By grouping
pages, grouping groups of pages, and so on, you create relationships of equality between pages that are
grouped together, as well as between groups that are
grouped together. Kinetic Bistro Site Navigation
When you plan a new site, you should create
this type of flowchart to make sure you create all
the necessary links that make the site as user- Home About Menus Events Contact
friendly as possible. A flowchart of the required
Kinetic Site link structure is shown here.
In this stage of the project, you will learn
various techniques to create the necessary links on Dinner Lunch
the Kinetic Site pages.

Understanding a Site Map

When you create the initial flowchart to map out site links,
DREAMWEAVER FOUNDATIONS A site map can be created using code, which is
you are also essentially defining the basis of a site map.

transparent to the end user, to facilitate search engine
optimization. Visual site maps, created and displayed
using HTML, are also commonly used to present the
overall site hierarchy in a simple visual manner —
allowing both search engines and end users to quickly
distinguish categories of available content as well as
relationships between pages in the site.

The image here shows the site map of the Apple.com
Web site. Even at a glance, you can very easily distinguish
the categories of information, as

34 Project 1: Bistro Site Organization