Dakota State University Web Style Guide

Navigation Requirements

Navigation throughout any DSU department or affiliated site should be consistent. This page uses a left menu as its primary navigation. Sub-menus could be implemented in one of two ways.

Sub-menus can be placed on the right side of the page directly adjacent to the body area.
Sub-menus can be placed at the top of the body area, under the top banner.

Acceptable Navigation Styles

PAGE HEADER

BREAD CRUMB TRAIL

MAIN MENU CONTENT

Menu Item

Sub-Item

Menu Item

Sub-Item

Menu Item

Sub-Item

Menu Item

Sub-Item

Sub-Item

PAGE FOOTER

PAGE HEADER

BREAD CRUMB TRAIL

Menu Item Menu Item Menu Item Menu Item Menu Item

Sub-Item

Sub-Item

Sub-Item

Sub-Item

Sub-Item

CONTENT

PAGE FOOTER

These menu styles can be graphical or textual in nature, but both provide an intuitive "drill down" method of navigation. Other navigation techniques may be used, but these methods are strongly encouraged.

Steer clear of navigation through in-line text-based links. Use main menus, sub-menus, and logical navigation elements.

Bread Crumbs

As a navigational aid, DSU will be using bread crumbs to allow a site visitor to backtrack along his or her navigational path. Bread crumbs are text links directly beneath the top banner and appear in the form of:

DSU Home > Department > Sub-Department

Bread crumb trails will reach a maximum of four text links. All departmental sites must utilize bread crumbs to provide a consistent navigational aid to site users.

Logo Link

The DSU logo displayed at the top of every page should provide a direct link back to the DSU home page that appears in the same browser window. The only links that should appear in a new browser window are external site links.

Included Content

A good form of content management for items that remain consistent throughout a deparmental/organizational website is the usage of a Microsoft FrontPage 2003 Include Page web component. Using this valuable tool, a page is created that contains the graphic elements in the page banner. When creating and formatting the table that contains the page header and bread crumb trail, simply place the cursor in the cell that will contain the included information and click Insert > Web Component... In the dialog box that appears, select Included Content from the Component left-hand menu and then select Page from the Choose a type of content: area and then click Finish. Provide a path to the page whose content will be placed in the cell. Creating a page header in this way and then copying the same table to each respective page in a department/organization web has a distinct advantage when modifications are necessary. Simply update the source page file to update each individual page header instead of updating every single page with new information.

For numerous reasons, the Front Page 2003 Included Content Web Component is strongly encouraged for headers, footers and navigation menus. The Included Content component allows for the creation of simple web pages that will be used as content for numerous pages throughout your site. For more information on how to use the Included Component tool, click to visit the Microsoft Help Section on their website.

Navigation Optional Components

Alternative navigation styles are permitted, but should be limited to standard acceptable techniques. If you would like to view alternative acceptable menu styles visit the pages listed below.

These pages represent good hierarchical navigation schemes. There are various ways to incorporate navigation into web documents. Consistency and conventionality are good foundations to use for navigation elements.

Steer clear of navigation through in-line text-based links. Use main menus, sub-menus, and logical navigation elements.

Many tools are available on the Internet for developing pop-up javascript menus. Please be aware that these pop-up menus may obstruct crucial page items or other navigation elements. Menu systems must provide text or graphic links that are easily understood and legible.