Site maps and indexes

Discussion articles

  • An atlas of cyberspace: web site maps
    Web site maps are created by webmasters and content providers to help users navigate and search complex web sites. A variety of styles of map are used, many based on organisational charts. Presented here are some of the best examples from around the web.

  • A site map on every page
    Peter Van Dijck wrote me about how he uses a sitemap on all of his web pages. He threw me some statistics, that you will see below, that really made me think about navigation on small web sites. A sitemap on every page is an interesting idea. I've only seen this done in a few cases, and usually it is not done well.

  • Improving usability with a website index
    Indexes are important information-finding tools that can enhance website usability. They offer easy scanning for finding known items, they provide entry points to content using the users’ own vocabulary and they provide access to concepts discussed, but not named, in the text. Perhaps most importantly, site indexes provide direct access to granular chunks of information without the need for traversing multiple links in a hierarchy.

  • Practical design of outlines and site maps
    There is no reason why hypertext must be associated with "lost in hyperspace"! All it takes it proper understanding and respect for traditional hardcopy devices for information lookup and organization. With navigation maps such as a traditional hierarchical outline--a good table of content with clear, dry headings--you can always know where you are. No more lost in hyperspace, wading through page after slow page, wondering what's contained in a site.

  • Site map design: alphabetical or categorical?
    Sitemaps may help users conceptualise the framework of a website and enable them to become more efficient in finding  information.  For this reason, it is becoming more common to see sitemaps within websites.  However, it seems as though each website follows a different sitemap design.  In an attempt to sort out which sitemap design is most appropriate, we compared search performance with three of the major types of sitemap designs. 

  • Site maps and site indexes: what are they are why should you have them?
    Sitemaps and site indexes are forms of supplemental navigation. They give users a way to navigate a site without having to use the global navigation. By providing a way to visualise and understand the layout and structure of the site, a sitemap can help a lost or confused user find her way. Sitemaps are more widely implemented than site indexes, but both have their place and fulfill a unique information need.

  • Site maps, storyboards and specifications: a sketch of website design practice
    Through a study of web site design practice, we observed that designers employ multiple representations of web sites as they progress through the design process, and that these representations allow them to focus on different aspects of the design. Designers also employ multiple tools during the course of a project, including graphic design, web development, presentation, and word processing software, as well as pen and paper. Sketching on paper is especially important during the design exploration phase of a project, when designers wish to explore many design possibilities quickly without focusing on low-level details. Website design tools intended to support the early phases of the design process should employ informal interaction techniques, should support multiple site representations, and should integrate well with other applications that designers use regularly.

  • Site map usability
    Most site maps fail to convey multiple levels of the site's information architecture. In usability tests, users often overlook site maps or can't find them. Complexity is also a problem: a map should be a map, not a navigational challenge of its own.

  • The lazy IA's guide to making site maps
    "Storing sitemap data in a structured data format such as Microsoft Excel makes the data easy to edit, easy to share with the team, and easy to elaborate on (e.g., adding example notes and URLs that may not be appropriate for the map itself). Unfortunately, this approach requires maintaining a spreadsheet in addition to maintaining the visual sitemap. Or does it? This article includes step-by-step instructions on how to make sitemaps with: 1. Excel and Visio 2000 or Visio 2003 (Windows only) 2. Word and Inspiration (Mac OS and Windows) Use these lazy techniques and spend your time on better and more interesting problems than lining up little boxes!"
    (Stephen Turbek - Boxes and Arrows)

  • The problems with site maps
    What a map does better than just a listing of what's available (like CNN's so called sitemap, which is basically just a huge list that makes it really hard to find something without reading it all), is to show relationships and information about the information.

  • Web site maps from dynamic diagrams
    The web site map is one of the key tools that site designers can provide to help surfers answer these questions and successfully navigate through their site. However, the art and science of creating intuitive and useful web site maps is still in its infancy.

  • Website planning diagrams (PDF)
    Chapter 4 of Mapping Web Sites showing ways to diagrammatically show the plan for a website structure.