Some questions about having a “Home” navigation tab…
1.) Is a “Home” tab necessary in the first place, or is it a waste of real estate?
2.) If it exists, do you need a “Home” tab on the Home Page itself?!
3.) Are most users smart enough to try and click on your Logo to get back to the Home Page (thus eliminating the need for a “Home” tab in the first place)?
Thanks,
Debbie
It depends on how you code your pages.
Personally, I use php includes on some of my work (not the current version of my site). I’ll make up a navigation file and include it on every page. (saves time and coding doing it that way)
Not all sites have a logo and not all have a logo that is a link to the home page.
As for smart enough, I know plenty of people that are ‘older’ that are just now getting their first computer and going on-line for the first time that wouldn’t have a clue.
I don’t think it’s a thing of being ‘smart’ as much as experience.
I hope that answered your questions…
Why impede navigation to a major page?
2.) If it exists, do you need a “Home” tab on the Home Page itself?!
Consistency of interface is good.
3.) Are most users smart enough to try and click on your Logo to get back to the Home Page (thus eliminating the need for a “Home” tab in the first place)?
Some sites attract more web-savvy users than others. Unless you wish to filter access to the Home page by user ability, keep it plain, simple and obvious.
If your site only has one page, you can probably get by without it. Otherwise, it’s good to have it there. And it’s not a big waste of screen space, it’s only a tiny word!
2.) If it exists, do you need a “Home” tab on the Home Page itself?!
Normal good design practice is that the menu should include the current page (whether it’s home or elsewhere) but not make it clickable, so that visitors don’t click it and wonder why nothing is happening. If making it unclickable is not practical (eg, you’re using server-side includes to pull the menu in), you should at least take off all the visual cues so that it looks like it isn’t clickable.
3.) Are most users smart enough to try and click on your Logo to get back to the Home Page (thus eliminating the need for a “Home” tab in the first place)?
To be honest, I don’t like to assume anything about the intelligence or competence of my visitors. Sometimes I wonder if it’s worthwhile flashing up a banner every 15 seconds saying “Don’t forget to breathe!”. Unless you are aiming your site at a particularly tech-savvy audience, don’t assume they know what they’re doing, experience will soon tell you that many of them don’t.
Nice response Stevie!
Okay, so I’ll add a “Home” tab on the left and then to be consistent, include it on every page including the Home Page itself.
That was easy!
(Now ya wanna help me out with some tough stuff?!) 
Debbie
P.S. Which of the following Menu Bar’s do you like better…
No borders.