Request: Thoughts on site-wide navigation

[Jason]

Hey all,

After discussing a couple of ideas with a few of you in another thread, I wanted to open up for discussion what kind of navigation system you'd like to see on WTF 5.0?

As you may have heard, WTF.com is going through a re-design. While we have the graphics pretty much done, we're encountering some mixed feelings on dealing with navigation.

Do you like tabs? Ajax/scrolling menus? Something we have now, or something you've seen on the web? A hybrid of two ideas? We want to hear from you. Please be aware that the new WTF design(s) will stretch with your browser size, a fact that is important in helping to make the site-wide navigation attractive.

Currently, we have a main navigation under our header, and a forum/community related navbar menu (that, while customized is provided by vBulletin). We'd like to see all of this simplified.

We've done some research, and it would seem most people like horizontal menus better than long pulldown menus. While you can run out of space with horizontal menus, you can use some ajax to create a scroll effect that would allow for additional links right under what you clicked on, in a horizontal fashion.

Anyways, we'd like to know how you feel about site navigation, and we'd appreciate specific web examples of anything you propose when possible, or as many details as you can give us.

Thanks.

[53V3N]

http://www.southparkstudios.com/

Are "Crap" and "Fans" on that site's Nav bar examples of what you are thinking about doing here?

I like the way that is done.

I generally prefer a roll-over activation to a sub-menu vs. a clickable activation.

[Jason]

"Crap" and "Fans" = Similar. The one we've toyed with requires a click however, then "slides" down some additional space below it (and slides down the rest of the design as well) to create a new row with additional links under that heading.

I haven't played with a non-click one as of yet, I can't recall. BRiT?

[BRiT]

If we did toy around with the mouse-overs, they probably didn't combine well with the slide or made the layout seem odd with the extra space always being there but being empty.

[BrIONwoshMunky]

What about mouse-over side scrolling tabs?

[thekid65]

I've always liked mouseover drop downs. But like was mentioned, it works best if theres only a few choices on the drop down menu. Your quick links tab, and Shop tab have too many options for the mouseover. If it were my site, I'd just have the shop tab link to a different page with all those options on it. And some of the quick links are redundant, as you already have a CP tab, and pm, profile links right above the quick links tab.

[HavokChylde]

I like what we're working with now. No, not because I fear change. :P

1-2 clicks and you can get anywhere you need to be.

Originally Posted by Jason

We've done some research, and it would seem most people like horizontal menus better than long pulldown menus. While you can run out of space with horizontal menus, you can use some ajax to create a scroll effect that would allow for additional links right under what you clicked on, in a horizontal fashion.

So instead of menus dropping down, they'd drop across?

[Avidity]

I like clickable drop-down menus, but I HATE mouse-over.

1) It's not that much work, if you could call it work at all even in the loosest sense, to click.
2) Drop-down menus often drop down over other links. There's no way to deal with this other than mousing away and waiting for the drop menu to disappear. Clicking ensures while moving your mouse around that you don't have to worry about a menu blocking you from convenient site navigation.

I personally think the system we have is very efficient. Up to four clicks and you're where you want to be. Any area with an esoteric or unusual page name is usually identifiable by an underneath explanation, common sense, or context clues of the links it provides.

Maybe a drop-down menu for the Forums button that could directly link to all the different forums would make it more convenient, but again, it's not entirely necessary.

[Jason]

Originally Posted by Avidity

2) Drop-down menus often drop down over other links. There's no way to deal with this other than mousing away and waiting for the drop menu to disappear. Clicking ensures while moving your mouse around that you don't have to worry about a menu blocking you from convenient site navigation.

What we'd be more interested in doing, is creating a single navigation element and eliminating the 'forum nav links' and just have a clean breadcrumb bar instead... So the links under the header, while they might scroll down would not cover up any additional nav links.

If we did the "click, and scrolldown" dropdown navrow idea, nothing would *ever* be covered up. The entire page would just slightly "slide" via ajax down to make room for the row with additional horizontal links?

Hmm.

[BrIONwoshMunky]

<< Menu | Stuff | Home >>

Mousing over either '>>', or '<<' Would rotate the menu to << Home| More |Options >>

[Avidity]

Originally Posted by Jason

What we'd be more interested in doing, is creating a single navigation element and eliminating the 'forum nav links' and just have a clean breadcrumb bar instead... So the links under the header, while they might scroll down would not cover up any additional nav links.

If we did the "click, and scrolldown" dropdown navrow idea, nothing would *ever* be covered up. The entire page would just slightly "slide" via ajax down to make room for the row with additional horizontal links?

Hmm.

So long as you don't kill yourself, you're the boss, though I do like the idea of it just "pushing" the rest of the page down...

[HavokChylde]

Originally Posted by BrIONwoshMunky

<< Menu | Stuff | Home >>

Mousing over either '>>', or '<<' Would rotate the menu to << Home| More |Options >>

That's pretty cool.