It’s never the first thing that I get asked on an engagement. It’s never the burning question in the minds of my customer as they seek out a consultant to help them with SharePoint. However, sooner or later it eventually comes to the topic of navigation. Although the fundamental concepts behind a sensible navigation framework are simple, they are not well understood by developers or designers. This article is designed for both audiences as they seek to make SharePoint usable.
Emerson (who said “Foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds”) is a personal favorite author of mine;
however, he didn’t have to train hoards of users how to use a new interface. There’s definitely something to be
said for creating the kind of navigation that users are accustomed to. In the world of the Web that means
navigation belongs on the top and on the left.
Nearly every non-marketing Web site will follow a pattern with navigation on the top and on the left-hand side.
While what is on the top and left side differs, the fact that these spaces are reserved for navigation normally does
not. So if you’ve got a wild side, or feel like training scores of users, you can move the navigation — otherwise
we’re more or less stuck with the accepted norm.
Please enjoy a free copy of this article, also located on our Gifts page