What type/look of navigation [Archive]

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Potato Bag

02-26-2005, 02:03 PM

Hello there

The thing I wanted to hear your advice about is a purely aesthetical question, I'm not worried about the technical issues. A while ago, I have started with some bits for my new homepage. You can have a look at that at http://www.anamon.ch and http://www.anamon.ch/?seite=start

Now the main problem is that I'm currently doing service for the Swiss Army, which means I don't have very much time to spend at home for designing. Still, I would like to see the site at least functional in the next few weeks. The next task would be to create a navigational menu system, but I just can't seem to get it right.

I thought that maybe some people here would have some ideas about what type of navigation I should implement while keeping the current parts of the design (the top bar, that is), how it should feel and look like. I have tried over and over again but just nothing feels right, and I don't have the time to really get into it. I am tending towards a table-based menu with sub-menus on the left side of the main body, maybe with JS-activated submenus.

Do you have any suggestions? I would be very grateful...

Regards
Daniel Saner

angelpure

02-26-2005, 04:40 PM

Here is a great source for DHTML menus and navigation systmes.

http://www.dynamicdrive.com/

Loads of good info.

Potato Bag

02-26-2005, 06:58 PM

Thanks for the link!

I'm really aiming for maximum compatibility (especially Firefox & IE) and therefore wrote the code in 100% XHTML 1.0 - doesn't DHTML bring along compatibility issues with some browsers or configurations?

Potato Bag

02-26-2005, 06:59 PM

angelpure

02-26-2005, 07:55 PM

Most of the scripts at Dynamic Drive have been optimized for IE and Netscape. All of the menus and navigation scripts I have looked at have no issues at all with the newer browsers. It's the really old ones that have a problem with DHTML.

Having said that, I can't speak for Foxfire, I have too little experience with it right now.

I just looked at the stats for one of my sites, I have visitors still using Windows 95 and IE 4.01 for God sakes!

IE still rules with about 96% share, followed by Netscape and just a few from Opera and Foxfire. As Foxfire grows in popularity it will no doubt cause some issues. Right now the biggest issue I have seen with Foxfire is not DHTML, but CSS. For instance if you use CSS for colored scroll bars, Foxfire and Netscape are set to default gray, which is not really an issue, it just means they don't show up.

In my opinion, Foxfire right now is just a favorite of the "Techy" set and "Joe" user could care less about it.

I deal with end users every day and believe me when I tell you that they don't even want to upgrade IE for fear of something new! It's people like us that notice all the little differences and are constantly looking for the newest and the best. Most end users are very content with what they have and HATE to change anything!

The only time they are willing to go with something new is when their computer crashes and they have to go buy a new one! It's a tramatic experience for many casual users and surfers.