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Cascades. In general there is never enough space on
a page to show all the navigation that uses want. It is certainly
possible to have too much navigation, but as users return to a site
they value the ability to reach right in to the page they
want, without having to go through many intermediate levels. Classic
examples by now are MSNBC viewed
through an activeX applet on IE 4 and above browsers. Here
there are cascading slideouts which at times take one as deep
as 4 or even 5 levels into the site. Here is a cross
browser example. The code is here as well.
Directory style. Another standard method of displaying
multiple levels of structure is by duplicating the look and feel
of the standard directory. This can be done using javascript,
dhtml, java or by downloading activeX applets. Here is a freeware
directory that uses frames.
Information visualization techniques. A new breed
of interactive navoigators relies on more dynamic displays to help
the user know where they are in a conceptual space rather than a
strictly hierarchical space. Although this may be a fruitful
line to pursue these methods, so far, do not seem to scale up without
disorienting the user. Here is a nice example from Plumb design
using Think
Map. Don't forget to click to launch the applet.
Linked dropdowns. A simple and effective way
of dealing with multiple levels is to us drop downs that are linked
so that the choice of a topic in the first drop down determines
the options in the second, and so on. Here
is an example of linked dropdowns that go 2 deep. More
than 3 deep becomes unweildy. What are the strengths and weaknesses
of this approach?
Project
Seven Extensions for Dreamweaver
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