Navigation Maps

    A navigation map outlines the structure of the entire web project, showing all of the html pages and the connections from one page to others. It is useful for organizing and clearly seeing how material should be connected. The Navigation Map is similar to a storyboard, except that it doesn't provide detail as to the contents of the individual pages. Below are some examples of navigation maps.

Linear Structure: The web user navigates sequentially, moving from one page to the next.

Hierarchical Structure: Analogous to the branches of a tree. To move from top to bottom, one must move down one branch at a time with more branches being available the lower you go. The structure is shaped by some natural logic.

Nonlinear Structure: Web users can navigate freely through the content of the web project, unbound by predetermined routes.

Composite Structure: For the most part users can navigate freely (as in the nonlinear structure), but are occasionally constrained to a linear or hierarchical structure for some of the material.

For more information about this web site, contact Dr. Steve Anderson at anderssd@jmu.edu