Prev / Next links and general site "flow"...

[Czero 101]

(PLEASE NOTE: this post is not meant as a criticism of Jay's website. I personally think it is an invaluable resource. I have designed and run a few large websites in the past and know first-hand how difficult it can be to keep track of what page goes where and which page links to and from which other page. My hopes are that these suggestions will help make experiencing the site more seamless, logical and enjoyable.)



As I understand it, and as explained on the "About the Site" page:

you may choose to read the site like a book, using the NEXT and PREV buttons at the bottom of each page to get to each page in a certain (hopefully logical) sequence.

I have gone through the site many times, but usually there's a specific page I go to from the page links on the main home page. Tonight I decided to go through it using only the Prev / Next links. This is what I've found.

I have divided this in sections as is done on the site.

Conspiracy:
"Occam's Razor" page Next button goes to "Problems of Scale", and probably should go to "Round in Circles"
"Round in Circles" page Next button goes to "About the Author", and probably should go to "Problems of Scale"
"Problems of Scale" page Next button goes to "About the Author", and probably should go to "Just a Big Hollywood Movie"
"Just a Big Hollywood Movie" page Next button goes to "About the Author, and probably should go to "The Holmesian Maxim", Prev button goes to "Occam's Razor" and probably should go to "Problems of scale"
"The Holmesian Maxim" page Prev button goes to "Occam's Razor" and probably should go to "Just a Big Hollywood Movie"
"About the Author" page Prev button goes to "Problems of Scale" and should probably go to "The Holmesian Maxim"

Photo Analysis:
Since the "About the author" page links directly to the Photography "Chapter Overview" page, it should be listed first, before "individual photos". Perhaps, "Individual Photos" should be listed as its own category since it is technically outside of the overall "flowchart" of the site OR it could be moved in the listing to underneath "Crosshairs" as that is where it appears in the "flow" of the site
"Field of View" on the site index could be changed to "Conceptual Lens Model" since that's the title of that page (or the page could be re-titled "Field of View")
"Shadows at 15 degrees" Prev button links to the Photo Analysis overview page
Perhaps the "Shadows at 15 degrees", "Shadows at 30 degrees" and "Shadows at 45 degrees" could be listed individually on the main site index
"Shadows at 45 degrees" Next button links back to the Photo Analysis index page and should probably link to the Terrain and Shadows page
"Terrain and Shadows Prev button goes to the Al Bean Sample Cannister page, Next button goes to the MESA Camera Page and should go to the Glowing Flags page
"Glowing Flags" page Prev goes to the John Young Jump Salute page, Next button goes to the Aldrin's Antenna page and should go to the Environment Index page

Individual Pictures:
"Lunar Module Thrust" page has a link that goes to "Space Vehicles: the blast crater" which is not listed on the main site index, and the Next link goes to a blank template page
"Indirect Light" has a link that goes to "Photography: stars in the sky" which is not listed on the main site index (and given the amount of airtime this topic gets, it should be) and both the Prev and Next links on that page go to a page which does not exist on the site www.clavius.org/photointro.html
"converging Shadows" has a link that goes to "Photography: perspective and shadows" which is not listed on the main site index (and again, probably should be) and both the Prev and Next links on that page go to a page which does not exist on the site www.clavius.org/photointro.html
"Converging Shadows'" Next button goes to the "Environment Index" page, skipping the "Coke Bottle" page. On the Coke Bottle page, the NExt button goes to the MESA camera page, and should probably go to the "Shadows at 15 degrees" page, which is not linked to in the Prev / Next "flow"


Environment:
"Chapter overview" is not listed on the Site Index, Prev button goes to a page which does not exist on the site www.clavius.org/photointro.html
"Heat Transfer Primer" page is not listed on the Site Index
"Soil" page Next button links to the "Radiation Primer" page, and should be linked to the "Rocks" page which is not linked to in the Prev / Next "flowchart"
"Rocks" page Prev and Next buttons go to a page which does not exist on the site www.clavius.org/photointro.html
"Radiation Primer" is not listed on the Site Index, Prev button links to "Soil" and probably should be linked to "Rocks"
"Radiation and Photographic Film" Next button links to the "Fluttering Flags" page and probably should be linked to "Leaps and Bounds"
"Leaps and Bounds" Prev button links to the "Vehicles Overview" page and probably should be linked to the "Radiation and Photographic Film" page
"Dust" page Next button links to the "Bibliography Overview" and should probably be linked to the "Fluttering Flags" page
"Fluttering Flags" page Prev button links back to the "Solar Particle Events" page and should probably be linked back to the "Dust" page

Technology:
"chapter Overview" page is not listed on the Site Index, Prev button goes back to the "Index of Analyzed Photos" page and should probably link back to the "Fluttering Flag" page
"Doing it Over" page Next button links to a blank "template" page ( www.clavius.org/template.html ) and probably should link to the "Beating the Soviets page"
"Beating the Soviets" page is not listed on the Technology Overview page, Prev button goes to "Occam's razor", Next button goes to "About the Author", should link to the "Doing it over" and "Computers" page respectively
"Computer" page Next button links to the "Space Vehicles: Mission to Mars page, and should link to the "Television Quality" page
"Television Quality" page Prev button links to the "Photography: Exposure" page, Next buttom links to "Photography: Lens Flare" and should probably link to "Computers" and "Space Suits" respectively
"Space Suits" page has a link to "Space Vehicles: Lunar Module Doors" which is not listed on the site index (Prev & Next buttons link to the blank template page).
"Space Suits" Prev button links to "Space Vehicles: Rocket Engines" and should probably link back to the "Television Quality" page. The Next button links properly to the "Communications".
"Communications" page Next button links to "Spacecraft: Defects" page and should probably link to the "Space Vehicles Overview" page

Space Vehicles:
"Space Vehicles Overview" page is not listed on the Site Index. Prev button links to "Defects" page, Next button links to "Environment: Leaping" page, should probably be linked to "Technology: Communications" and "Mission to Mars" pages respectively
"Mission to Mars" page Prev button links back to "Technology: Computers" page, and should link back to the Vehicles Overview page. Next button links properly to "Rocket Engines"
"Rocket Engines" page has a link at the top that goes to "Space Vehicles" The Blast Crater" which is not listed on the Site Index. Prev & Next buttons link to the blank template page (might fit nicely between "Lunar Module Stability" and "Lunar Lander Training Vehicle").
"Rocket Engines" page Next button links to "Technology: Space Suits" page and should link to "Rocket Guidance"
"Rocket Guidance" page Prev and Next buttons link to the blank template page and should link to "Rocket Engines" and "lunar Module Stability" respectively
"Lunar Module Stability" page Prev and Next buttons link to the blank template page and should probably link to "Rocket Guidance" and probably "The Blast Crater"
"Lunar Module Training Vehicle" page Prev and Next buttons link to the blank template page and should probably link to "The Blast Crater" and "Other NASA Rocket Landers" respectively.
"Other NASA Rocket Landers" page Prev and Next buttons link to the blank template page and should probably link to "Lunar Module Training Vehicle" and "Defects" respectively
"Defects" page Prev and Next buttons link to "Technology: Communications" and "Vehicles Overview" pages respectively and should probably link to "Other NASA Rocket Landers" and "Pogo and the Saturn V" respectively
"Pogo and the Saturn V" Prev and Next buttons link to "Mission to Mars" and "Technology: Space Suits" respectively and probably should link to "Defects" and "Bibliography Overview" respectively.

Bibliography:
"Bibliography Overview" page is not listed on the main site Index
There are only 4 of the many bibliography pages listed on the Site index. The site index should have all the pages, or the individual pages could be grouped into "Categories" and then those categories could be listed themselves.

Also, all the individual section overview pages should be checked to makes sure that all pages in that section are listed and / or that is matches the section listings on the main site index page.


I've been typing a whole lot here and my fingers hurt so I'll just leave it at that for now.


Cz

[JayUtah]

I'm sorry you went to all that trouble. I haven't maintained any of the Next or Prev links since about 2001. They were an idea that seemed good at first but then required too much maintenance and produced too little value. So when I convert the site to CSS (which is happening Real Soon Now) they're going to go away altogether.

The site doesn't really "flow" anyway. I originally thought it would be great to be able to read it like a book, but it's better as a repository of thought.

[Czero 101]

Well, I understand your point, and I guess my point is that the site can have flow and be read like a book as you had initially intended, whether or not you're using CSS or just plain old straight html.

Heck, I'd even volunteer my upcoming weekend to do it for you, 'cuz really, its just a matter of changing a bunch of links... easy-peasy


Cz

[JayUtah]

The site can have flow, but flow would have to be maintained as the site grows and changes. That maintenance burden outweighed its value in my opinion.

[Glom]

As you know, my website shamelessly lifts the structure of Clavius, but I have never had much of a problem maintaining the sequence.

I think you're biggest problem is that the sequencing is so out of wack at the moment, that it seems burdeonous. But if you cleaned it up just once and comitted to maintain it, I don't think it would be a problem.

I guess though that Clavius is bigger and has a slightly less uniform structure than FFF so that creates the problem in remembering which links need to be changed.

Anyway, it's good to hear Clavius is getting converted to CSS. Will it essentially look the same as before? Will the links react to hovering cursors?

How are you doing the buttons? All mine are created using containers and setting the image as the background. It allows me to have the image change without needing to use scripting. Even that might not be necessary if you want to use alpha channel filters in. You could make the sidebar buttons have some transparency under normal conditions, then make them more opaque when hovering. In fact, using the style 2, you can make them look like they're illuminated with a point source, which is a really cool effect.

I'm currently using both changing backgrounds and changing alpha filters because I know alpha filter isn't supported everywhere (especially as I haven't added the code for mozilla or opera yet) so for those browser, it will look much as before.

The disadvantage is that the sporadic level of support requires you to use code that ruins your css validation.

[Glom]

Oh yeah, and with your argument headings, if you're keeping the little triangles, you can essentially make them bullets points to the heading elements rather than including them as images in the html. That what's I do with my li'l neutrons.

Of course, I'm sure you knew that.