RE: Basic question on Links and Architecture

I don't want just a useful tree.  If we have a navigation table/database,
couldn't we automate the next page link.  Then instead of constantly having
to update links, we have a link that accesses the navigation table, looks at
the next item in that number series, and pulls the text to generate the
link.  If there is no next number in the series, then there would be a link
to the next topic, preferably styled differently, so we know we are moving
on.  I also see this as a useful tool for reordering things.  If we change a
number in our database, it should likewise change the layout of the site.  I
think I am going to have to draw a diagram, at least to set this straight in
my own mind.

David R. Herz
wpd@theherzes.com


-----Original Message-----
From: Chris Mills [mailto:cmills@opera.com] 
Sent: Monday, April 15, 2013 1:15 PM
To: wpd@theherzes.com
Cc: public-webplatform@w3.org
Subject: Re: Basic question on Links and Architecture

I agree that something better needs to be done about this. Is there any kind
of plugin that would generate a useful tree for different article series, if
we provided them with certain metadata?

I'm definitely aiming to do this with the beginner's course, but the links
would be manual for now.

At least we have the global nav now, thanks to Lea, at the bottom of each
page, which is a good step in the right direction. I reckon that need to
have auto generated drop down menus containing links to the subpages inside
each section.

And next and previous links inside each article to give the reader an idea
of where to go on to next would also be great.

Chris Mills
Opera Software, dev.opera.com
W3C Fellow, web education and webplatform.org Author of "Practical CSS3:
Develop and Design" (http://goo.gl/AKf9M)

On 15 Apr 2013, at 07:04, "David R. Herz" <WPD@theherzes.com> wrote:

> So here is my question.  I reiterate that I am at the very beginning 
> in web design (slowly working my way through the beginner's pages, and 
> providing my insight as I go), so I apologize in advance if I am 
> asking what appears obvious or is already done, but as I wend my way 
> through the pages, I notice that there are no links to the next or 
> previous page in a series.  It's always back to the overlying topic and
down the tree to the next.
> 
> So I am wondering if there is not some kind of dynamic linking system 
> that can be used to automatically generate links and keep them 
> updated.  I am thinking here of a decimal type classification system, 
> contained in a site architecture table to keep everything in order,
something like this.
> 
> Page title, Code, link text
> Index	 	 0    <I would make only the zero obligatory for the index>
> About 	 1
> History 	1.1
> Today 	1.2
> Future 	1.3
> Our People 	 2
> The Owners	2.1
> Developers	2.2
> Links		 5
> Classes 	 4
> Beginners	4.1
>    Young  4.1.1
>    Older  4.1.2
> 
> etc.
> 
> Then, when a page calls for the next page, it would reference the 
> table, see which number is next, and populate the next page link 
> accordingly.  To add a page, say Yesterday in About, I can call it 
> 1.15, or the wiki can ask me where I want to put it and assign a 
> number.  New subsections would just add a decimal point, for instance 
> Early History 1.1.1 , Later History 1.1.2, and so on.
> 
> And then of course there would be some kind of cross-link structure to 
> allow linking to different branches and at different levels, and 
> verification system so that if a linked page is deleted, a warning 
> would be set up so that the link could be updated or removed as
appropriate.
> 
> I would guess there are systems out there than can achieve this 
> purpose.  Is there any reason we don't apply one?  Or is this just 
> code not appropriate for an HTML document?
> 
> Happy Week,
> 
> David R. Herz
> wpd@theherzes.com
> 
> 
> 
>

Received on Monday, 15 April 2013 14:46:07 UTC