Each top-level item has a drop-down list with sub-items, for instance…
BUSINESS
Economy
Markets
Investing
Small Business
Jobs
Real Estate
The way things currently work is like this…
1.) The user clicks on “BUSINESS” in the top-menu
2.) A drop-down appears
3.) The user then selects “Small Business”
4.) The user is taken to “Small Business” landing page with a listing of all news articles dealing with “Small Business”.
5.) The user clicks on an “Article Summary” and is taken to the actual article.
Maybe a dumb question, but should there be a “BUSINESS Landing Page” as well? :-/
(I guess - mechanically speaking - that would be hard, because when a user clicks on “BUSINESS” you want the drop-down list to appear, and not be taken immediately to a section named “BUSINESS”, but who knows?!)
To me it is a waste of time and real-estate to have a “Home Page”, a “BUSINESS Page”, a “Small Business Page” and then separate “Article Pages”.
If a user has to click business to make it appear, that means it’s most likely Javascript-powered. This means if Javascript is disabled… you’re site doesn’t work.
Adding a landing page can fix this. What you would then do is override the link to the business landing page with Javascript (so when they click with Javascript, they get the dropdown. When they click without, they get the landing page). This is done simply by basically adding “return false” to the click function.
With your business landing page (and all other top-level ones), you have two options:
list each sub-category for them to select
list an aggregate of content from all of those sub-categories
(or a combination of both)
It might not be a bad idea to reconsider how your drop-down works in general at the moment. If you did an aggregate of content from all sub-categories (which would be my pick), it would be useful to the user to be able to see that.
There are a lot of times I go to websites and they have a general category where I’m interested in everything in that category, but I’m forced to pick a subcategory, so I’m jumping back and forth between them.
You could consider doing something like making the drop-down appear on mouse over (instead of click), and reserve clicking for bringing you to the landing page. You could also do a down-arrow click to bring it up, or something else entirely.
As for being a waste, you aren’t really adding anything to each page, you’re just adding a new page which gives users a new way to access your content.
Also adding a landing page boosts accessibility and usability. like Samanime said: This means if Javascript is disabled… you’re site doesn’t work. Some assistive technology cannot emulate a mouseclick/hover, so you are forced to click on the main link, even though JavaScript is on. One example is navigating using the keyboard, most javascript powered drop downs don’t have the functionality to make the menu drop down without the mouse.
Landing pages can be varied, I recommend something like:
<h1>Business</h1>
<p>[here is the latest business news]</p>
<h2><a>Econ</a></h2>
[latest # of stories]
.........
I don’t use JavaScript. My Top-Menu and Sub-Menus are done with CSS entirely.
With your business landing page (and all other top-level ones), you have two options:
list each sub-category for them to select
list an aggregate of content from all of those sub-categories
(or a combination of both)
But what value does that add?
If a user can see there is a “Small Business” section in the drop-down menu, then why repeat that on a “Business” landing page?
There is also the UI issue I pointed out before…
You can’t click on “Business” and have it both provide a drop-down menu and navigate to a “Business Landing Page”. (It is an XOR condition.)
It might not be a bad idea to reconsider how your drop-down works in general at the moment. If you did an aggregate of content from all sub-categories (which would be my pick), it would be useful to the user to be able to see that.
True. But if I have a “landing page” for each Top-Level Menu Item, then I don’t see how I could keep my drop-down menus.
I can see the merits of a “Section Landing Page”, but here are the downsides…
Problems:
1.) Adds another layer users have to navigate through to get to where they want.
2.) It means they have to read through a lot more content to find the relevant Sub-Section they originally wanted.
It is easier to click “Business” and select “Small Business” than to click “Business” and have to read through and entire landing page to find the “Small Business” heading and then to have to click on that, right?
3.) For disparate information, lumping it all on a “Section Landing Page” might confuse users, or obfuscate what they are looking for originally.
There are a lot of times I go to websites and they have a general category where I’m interested in everything in that category, but I’m forced to pick a subcategory, so I’m jumping back and forth between them.
It’s a trade-off, I suppose.
You could consider doing something like making the drop-down appear on mouse over (instead of click), and reserve clicking for bringing you to the landing page. You could also do a down-arrow click to bring it up, or something else entirely.
Yeah, that is what I was thinking of too.
Of course that means adding all kinds of JavaScript that I don’t have or know, and it means that my site is less accessible if the user has JavaScript turned off, although technically they could still get to where they want.
As for being a waste, you aren’t really adding anything to each page, you’re just adding a new page which gives users a new way to access your content.
True, but I think my concern is how it affects the navigation paradigm I settled on, as mentioned above.
It seems like most major online newspapers are split on the approach they use. Although I think the CSS-driven drop-down sub-menus look and work the best with helping people get to where they want to go as quickly as possible.
I suggest you should keep both. Because drop down list help users to quickly navigate to page they want and business landing page will help you in search engine.
Well, how do you do a “click” CSS? With :active or something.
If you made “mouse over” show the drop-down and “click” take you to the page, it actually is quite simple. Use :hover to make the drop-down visible and then just leave it a normal link so “click” takes you to the landing page.
Also, it doesn’t really add an extra layer of trouble to get around for users, it just gives a user two paths to the same point. When this happens, they’ll take the one they are most used to, making your site more usable.
Sorry, I was having a “blonde” moment! (I am in a client-application mindset where you have to click on a menu item in order to see the drop-down —> think MS Word or MS Excel.)
But still, if I change the behavior of my CSS to have click go to the “Small Business Landing Page” and a hover provide a drop-down menu, don’t you think most people are used to clicking and then they’d never see my drop-down menus?! :-/
(Since he helped me out with my menu, I’d be especially curious what Rayzur’s opinion is on this topic.)
Also, it doesn’t really add an extra layer of trouble to get around for users, it just gives a user two paths to the same point. When this happens, they’ll take the one they are most used to, making your site more usable.
I suppose that is true, although it makes more work for me since now I have yet another page to figure out how to create!!
If you are doing it with :active, apply :focus instead. Since :active is supposed to be fired while the mouse button is in a down state: :active (CSS selector)
But still, if I change the behavior of my CSS to have click go to the “Small Business Landing Page” and a hover provide a drop-down menu, don’t you think most people are used to clicking and then they’d never see my drop-down menus?!
Hovering and clicking are two different things, you cannot click a link to make it do nothing solely with CSS…
I’ve been using basically the same setup on one of my sites for quite a while and it seems to be pretty successful and easy to use.
And which path do you find that people usually take?
Which path would you prefer that people take?
(I would rather people go to exactly where they want by selecting the Sub-Menu Item that most closely resembles their interest. I want my site to be easy to use and easy to get the info people seek.)
They’ll choose different paths, depending on what they are most comfortable with.
If they mouse over Business and see a sub-section closer to their interests, they’ll likely click the sub-section.
If they mouse over Business and don’t see a sub-section close to their interests, or see multiple sub-sections that interest them, they’ll likely just click business (or pick a sub-section that is closest).
(I am in a client-application mindset where you have to click on a menu item in order to see the drop-down —> think MS Word or MS Excel.)