Understanding Persistent Navigation
Not everyone lands on your site by way of the NU Home Page. Some arrive through a Google search; others from a cross-site link; others may not be quite sure how they got to your department’s site. Orienting visitors to your site is mostly the Web designer’s job, but it is helpful for you, as Web writer, to understand the concept of Persistent (sometimes called “Global”) Navigation.
NU’s new Web content management system will take care of the navigation, but you may be in charge of titling pages, naming navigation bars, etc.
What is persistent navigation?
It is the set of navigational components that appear consistently on virtually every page of a Web site. Persistent Navigation tells users they are on the same site they started with.
Persistent Navigation Components:- Site Identity or Logo: A logo graphic or site name should that appears on the top of every page.
- Page Title: Prominent text that appears above the page content and often below or next to the site identity or logo. The title of the page should match the link to the title.
- Main Navigation: Text or graphic links that often appear down the left side of each Web page.
- Secondary Navigation: Text or graphic links that appear at the top of every page.
- Home Link: This is perhaps the most important link for letting the user get back to the start without getting frustrated.
- Utilities: Components not related to the main search functions that usually appear at the top or bottom of the page.
- FAQs
- Search
- About Us
- Discussion Forum
- Log-In/Log-Out
Common utilities include:
Persistent Navigation Resource: http://www.great-web-design-tips.com/