Dynamic Navigation
Digest
Navigation menus on websites are typically a graphical view of a site's hierarchy. When pages are added, deleted, moved, or renamed, all corresponding links need to be updated on the navigation menus throughout the site. Dynamic navigation allows a navigation menu to update automatically, based on the state of a website's content. There are six main types of dynamic navigation in Cascade: Menu(s), Breadcrumbs, Previous/Next, Recent Pages, Site Map, and Site Index.
Concept
More Insight into Dynamic Navigation
In Cascade Server, dynamic navigation menus are created through the use of Index Blocks, or blocks that index the content of a specified folder or portion of the site. An index block is then placed into a page region (at the template, page configuration, or page level), and styled with an XSLT stylesheet. Because index blocks dynamically update content, the navigation menu stays updated.
Common types of navigation menus include main menus, sub-folder menus, breadcrumbs, Previous/Next page, Recent Pages, Site Maps, and Site Indices. Cascade Server provides many out-of-the-box Stylesheets that are helpful in creating dynamic navigation menus.
ADDITIONAL NOTE- For more information on Dynamic Navigation and more insight on each type, please see our Menu, Breadcrumbs, Previous/Next, Recent Page(s), Site Map, and Site Index pages. Additionally, sometimes a site will require that links pointing to external pages be added to a navigation menu; for more on this, please see our External Link(s) page.
FAQs
- What type of site navigation can be created with Cascade Server?
Cascade Server provides for numerous out of box navigation examples, including A-Z index of services, site maps, context navigation menus, bread crumbs, top navigations, previous and next links, and many more.
Deep hierarchical navigation can be achieved in Cascade Server by using multiple index blocks. Index blocks are easily customized to populate links vertically, horizontally, upwards, downwards, or both.
Different templates can be created to include the relevant index blocks for each area of the site.
Because pages in Cascade Server are organized in a simple and straightforward folder structure, one site can contain multiple unique navigational areas.
Technical
Creating Dynamic Navigation
Dynamic Navigation is achieved by creating index blocks that query specified folders and generate indices, which can then be styled by XSL stylesheets and plugged into page regions at the template, configuration set, or page level. Please see each individual Dynamic Navigation type page for more information:
- Menu
A menu is typically the main navigational feature of a website. - Breadcrumbs
By showing a backwards pathway from the current page back to the home page, breadcrumbs are valuable in keeping visitors oriented on your site. - Previous/Next
Previous/next navigation buttons are an easy way to allow visitors to browse through sibling pages without having to keep clicking back to a directory. - Recent Pages
There is often a need for a listing and summary of recent pages. Time sensitive content such as press releases, newsletters, or announcements in particular lend themselves to this type of dynamic indexing. - Site Map
A site map is basically a comprehensive outline of all pages on the site. - Site Index
A site index is an alphabetical listing of all pages on a site.