Home » Technology » Linux/Unix » High tech site maps

High tech site maps

© Robin Friedman

The most fundamental purpose of web sites: getting information to the user, is being ignored in almost all websites, according to Infoworld Magazine Volume 19 Issue 50. "Most of our 70 test users could not find specific information they were instructed to on major websites such as Disney, Fidelity Investments, and Travelocity." - Lynda Radosevich, Infoworld Magazine

So how do you get information to the visitor? Site maps. A well designed site map can result in longer stays by visitors and more business as an end result. But what should you make your site map in? HTML? Client-side image map? Javascript? Java? Lets look at the options, shall we?

HTML site maps are simple, quick loading, and easy to program. Here is a good example of one in a table format. But these site maps are very low tech, and may lower your visitor's opinion of your site. This is a good choice if you want to keep your site compatible with all browsers or easy to create.

Javascript site maps are one step up. Still compatible with almost all browsers, they add a touch of ease and familiarity for the visitor. They require some creative genius, for example this site. This is highly recommended, although you have to supply the inspiration for this one, there's no set way to make a javascript site map.

VRML site maps are awesome if you can pull them off. Using this coding under standard VRML 2.0 specification:

Anchor { url "http://www.website.com/" (the object) }

You can link an object to a website. Some ideas for a VRML site map are a village in which each hut is a different page, a refridgerator in which each item of food is a different page, and a solar system in which each planet is a different page. Although you lose a bit of your audience since you need a VRML plug-in to view the site map, any visitor will be awed by a quick-loading, easily navigatable VRML site map. I would suggest also including an HTML or javascript site map as well as well as your VRML one so that you don't lose traffic from the VRML impaired.

Java site maps are clumsy and difficult to create. The best you could hope for is a site map much like the VRML site map described above, but much harder to create. They are slow to load and have some incompatability problems. My advice: Don't touch them.

The copyright of the article High tech site maps in Linux/Unix is owned by . Permission to republish High tech site maps in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.