Beginning ASP.NET 3.5: In C# and VB

7.4. Practical Tips on Navigation

The following list presents some practical tips on navigation:

• When you start building a web site that you think will grow in the future, create a logical structure right away. Don't place all files in the root of your web site, but group logically related files in the same folder. Such logical grouping makes it easier for you to manage the site and for your users to find the pages they want. Although it's easy to move a page in a Menu or TreeView using the Web.sitemap file, it's more difficult if you are also using programmatic redirects or transfers, as you also need to update the server-side code to reflect the new site structure. To create a solid page structure, you can draw it out on paper before you start with the site, or use site map diagramming tools like Microsoft Visio.

• Try to limit the number of main and subitems that you display in your Menu or TreeView controls. Users tend to get lost or confused when they are presented with long lists of options to choose from.

• When creating folders to store your pages in, give them short and logical names. It's much more intuitive to navigate to a page using http://www.PlanetWrox.com/Reviews than it is to navigate to a folder with a long name including abbreviations and numbers.

• The CSS Control Adapters really offer a better alternative than the default controls such as the TreeView and the Menu in terms of the HTML they emit to the browser. Downloading, installing, and configuring the adapters is ...