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Re: Site maps

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From: Christian Heilmann
Date: Mar 24, 2005 1:17PM

glenda wrote:

>I am probably igniting another heated debate by posting this question. Oh
>well. Does anyone have guidelines are designing a site map?
>
>I am auditing a site, which, personally, is lacking structure and
>organization. I am recommending that, when a redesign is being considered,
>the site map [http://www.s4dac.org/site.html] be redone first to provide the
>necessary structure. From there pages can be moved or deleted.
>
>I envision a site map as an outline, composed of nested lists, showing the
>hierarchy of pages. I understand there's also the alphabetizedl and
>categorized approaches. I am interested in hearing others' comments, so
>that I can prepare myself in case I'm the one doing the redesign.
>
>
This has to be the most confusing site map I have ever seen...

You are right, the hierarchical approach is IMHO the best as well. If
there are a lot of pages, it might not make sense to list them all but
just go down to a certain level and offer a categorised map, A-Z index
and a good site search as other means of finding your way. After all
visitors are likely to look for content than being interested in your
site hierarchy.