User:FuzzicalLogic/Navigate this!
Project Scope
Introduction
Navigation on web sites is a tricky thing to hammer out. This can be especially true in a large community driven site, such as a wiki. In many readers' minds, navigation is just as important as the presentation or the ability to search.
The premise of this project is that not all navigation structures serve all purposes equally. This project seeks to explore different types of navigation to suit the many flavors, topics, and areas of interest on wowpedia in order to:
- Find the best type of navigation suited for a group of articles.
- Enhance the appeal of the articles they accompany, as well as the site as a whole.
- Discover ways to automate (on some level) some navigation generation.
- Allow users to intuitively get to articles they might not otherwise readily see.
- Expedite the editing process by giving access to simple, yet multi-leveled templates.
- Provide standard conventions for different types of navigation.
Project Principles
There may be some advantage to utilize several structures, depending on the needs of the users for a given logical area. A full understanding of Navigation Structures will help to utilize this project to its fullest.
In theory, the site should benefit more on many levels with aggregated navigation. For simplification, aggregated navigation is navigation that is retrieved in parts by the logical objects that control them. This can occur through explicit calls or implicit calls. Many structures support aggregation on some level. Now this need not be purely automated, but can be handled by one's own objects. There are several distinct advantages to this:
- It provides more readable code (wiki or otherwise)
- It may provide a standard of organization for particular areas.
- Individual pieces of navigation may be used in multiple articles without having to make additional templates.
Project Membership
Currently, this is a personal project, but that doesn't mean you can get involved. If you're interested, contact FuzzicalLogic.
Notes
While the scope of this project may overlap with categorical structure and article templates, it is not to address those topics as a whole. Merely if it touches these it will do so in a limited capacity, and only in such a way as to enhance them in a navigational sense.