during lab

Navigation System

Navigation is key to any web site. When people come to your site they want to enjoy what you created. Becoming lost and confused usually is not what brings most people joy! Creating a simple navigation scheme can do a lot to ensure your web site is easy to use.

Navigation systems, also called navigation bars, are typically found in the same spot for each page of a web site. This means you will need plan ahead and leave room for your navigation bar if you decide you want to insert it at the end of the design process. If you want to start with a navigation system you will have to plan ahead carefully to figure out how many main pages you will include for your site. Navigation bars are typically found at the top of a web page or on the left side of a web page. Navigation bars are sometimes found on the right hand side of a web page. It is typically considered bad design to place your navigation at the bottom of a web page because it forces visitors to scroll to the bottom of each page in order to navigate your website.

lookout Your instructor will show you how to create your navigation bar as a library item when you come to lab 5. A library is a special Dreamweaver file that contains a collection of individual assets or copies of assets you have created for placement in your web pages. These assets in a library are called library items. You can update all the pages that use a library item whenever you change the item's contents. You can store all sorts of page elements, such as images, tables, sounds, and Flash files in a library.

Of course, you could have your navigation bar repeated at the bottom of your site if your pages are extremely lengthy. It is up to you - but remember to be consistent with the placement.

Need some examples of a navigation system?

* www.amazon.com - regardless of the page you are viewing, you will always have the main navigation system at the top of the site to allow the user to return to the index page and the main shopping categories of amazon.com.

* www.temple.edu - go into this site. no matter what link you click on to begin, you will always have the main categories showing on the left side of the web page so you can quickly navigate around the Temple site.

Again, planning is important. Think about the main categories of your site (don't forget to include a link back to your index page) and include them in your navigation system. Your visitors will thank you for it!