I am trying to understand the proper way to write handbook pages where you might want to guide someone through a set of pages. For example:

Home > Modules (sidebar) > Popular Modules

In the Handbook style page under the "Linking and Navigation section it seems to say some contradictory things:

It suggests:

Do not use bread crumbs ("greater than" symbols) for navigation. Clearly named and positioned navigation elements and well-structured architecture should make them unnecessary.

* The symbol > may be used in search results to orient and lead users to the information they need. A space should be used on either side of the symbol. Be sure you use the exact same word in each part of the trail that you use on the title of the page it represents.
* If the path in search leads through a sidebar note, include the sidebar heading or link in parentheses after the page's heading.

Those two sections in bold seem to contradict each other. Am I right? Is it correct to use greater than symbols to guide people through pages? If so, should I update the part of the doc. that says not to use them?

Thanks for your insight.

Comments

Barry Madore’s picture

Barry Madore commented

I have found this to be confusing as well. In my trek through documentation, I've found the greater-than symbol used quite a bit to denote the navigation path to a particular setting page or content form. I think it is helpful. The rules to use the actual full words in the path along with a space before and after are helpful in normalizing the use.

The crux of clarifying this issue is distinguishing "clearly named and positioned navigation elements and well-structured architecture" from "search results" if there is a correct use and an incorrect use. I don't have a good understanding about what is meant by "clearly named and positioned navigation elements."

-barry madore

arianek’s picture

arianek commented

Not sure if this is what you're looking for, but the handbook style guide has a section on paths: http://drupal.org/node/338208#paths pasting here:

  • When describing how to get to a specific user option in the interface (e.g., the "add vocabulary" option in the categories section of the administer screen) demarcate the path needed to access the option using this format:
    destination (<em>path > to > item > destination</em>)

    Which will yield text that looks like this:

    destination (path > to > item > destination)

  • Do not abbreviate words in the navigation path (e.g., use administer instead of admin).
  • Menu items can move. Include the path for any user interface option.
bryan kennedy’s picture

bryan kennedy commented

Ah OK, I missed that. I agree with you both that using the greater than symbols is a smart and easy to read way to communicate this sort of navigation.

Since the "Paths" section seems more well reasoned I might remove the section in the "Linking and Navigation" that seems to directly contradict this. I'm mostly asking b/c I wanted to clean this up in a few documentation pages. I wanted to see the ideal way to communicate navigation in the handbook. If I don't hear any objections in the next few days I will make the edit in the Handbook style page.

jhodgdon’s picture

jhodgdon
she/her
Primary language English
commented
Status: Active » Fixed

I made some changes to the page. Thoughts?

I changed "Paths" to "Paths and Navigation", and "Linking and Navigation" to "Linking", and put the two sections next to each other. I moved all the navigation-related stuff in the Linking section into Paths. I think it's more consistent now.

Feel free to comment and/or re-open if you disagree. :)

bryan kennedy’s picture

bryan kennedy commented

Hey jhodgdon,

Thanks for the fix. I think the changes you made make it lots easier to read, and also eliminate the contradicting statements.

Thanks,
bk

Status: Fixed » Closed (fixed)
Issue tags: -style

Automatically closed -- issue fixed for 2 weeks with no activity.

Issue tags: +style

Restoring issue tags, see #2125755: System messages removed all issue tags during D7 upgrade.