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NavigationSomething that gets overlooked quite a lot when people think about making sites is navigation. Although it's one of the most important elements, people tend to settle for the same thing - a basic menu of links. But why?Firstly, simple menus are easy to use and easy to spot. Site owners don't want every visitor asking how to get to the content or how to use the menu. They are also easy to update. However, some sites have every single subpage listed in the menu. This has some advantages; for example, a visitor can see how much content there is instantly and listing every page makes it look like there is more content than there actually is. But, finding pages can be difficult and menus can take longer to load. It also limits the types of layout you can have if you have a lot of content. Another solution is to have a menu similar to mine - where The Domain, You etc. menu links are listed and when clicked on, take the visitor to a list of subpages in that category. This helps stop the menu from being overcrowded and takes up less space, but unless sections are clearly divided, visitors can have problems decidnig which menu a certain page would be under. A solution to that is to add a search engine to your page. Another, less popular form of menu is to use a javascript based one; for example, a floating menu. This can work better with some layouts, and is more original. However, they don't work in all browsers, and can be annoying, especially if they move. So be careful :P Image maps can be a great way of integrating content and your layout. Basically, they make parts of your layout clickable. However, make sure the navigation is easy to spot and use. If you're using skins, or have a site in which you may update the menu/sections a lot, this probably isn't a good idea. Check my Tutorials section to learn how to create your own Image Map. There are hundreds of other types of navigation you can use, like drop down menus, i-frames, etc. Just play around until you find one which you can customise to match your site and one which fits with your layout. It all depends on whether you're the more traditional, conservative type or you like to be original and wacky ;) Back | Forward Advertised |