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Last Updated: March 15, 2002 ~~~~~~~~~~~~ Site Menu:
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Guidelines on Using Template
- One correction is that we hope everyone will add a SHOWCASE
button
to their page -- under the ABOUT STATE/PARTNER category. The SHOWCASE is
just like the SHOWCASE in the various LINCS Special Collections and offers
you a chance to highlight new materials or initiatives, superior locally
produced materials by learners and practitioners, etc., so please be
thinking about potential content.
- We are encouraging LINCS partners to adopt as many components of the
template as work for them. The highest priority is the LEFTSIDE
navigation
bar and the directional buttons. The 4 red buttons along the top point to
services/products of the National LINCS site and Regional LINCS partners:
the Collections (the Special Collections), Discussions (the various forums
or electronic discussion lists, etc.,), My LINCS (a new profile feature
for
LINCS), and Hot Sites (the old Top 10).
- If the categories of the LEFTSIDE navigation bar don't meet your needs,
please contact Wil Hawk; we want to minimize the deviations from the
template . . . but we will work with you to create any additional buttons
you might need.
- We recommend that states/partners incorporate their logos in the top
banner
-- to the right of the LINCSearch graphic, etc., and to the left of the
Text, Site Map, Help, & Home links. Although we are making it more clear
that LINCS is a national system consisting of multiple partners at the
state
and local levels, we don't want individual organizations to lose their
sense
of identity. Color schemes, general arrangement, etc., are clearly yours
to
decide . . . as are fonts, etc.
- IF you are lacking information to "fill" a category, link to NIFL & LINCS
(regional or national) resources, especially the LINCS Calendar, the LINCS
Grants page, and the NIFL Fact Sheets. This will provide users with
substantial information and buy you time to collect or create local level
resources.
- The LINCSearch and Quick Links features (top left) are part of the left
navigation bar and elements we imagine partners will want to include in
their sites. The LINCS databases are being refined to facilitate
searching
at the state, regional, and national level. Each partner will want to
tailor
the Quick Links for their page/users. We will help with this adaptation
later in the redesign process.
- States and other partners are also encouraged to include a LINCS logo and
the following statement "This site is part of the National LINCS Network."
on their page. This could appear anywhere it works with your
organizational
scheme. One possibility is near the bottom of the home page resting above
the directional buttons leading users to Contact (a link to the page
maintainers/authors), National LINCS, About LINCS, NIFL, Eastern LINCS, Midwest LINCS, Southern LINCS,
and Western/Pacific LINCS. **Remember, LINCS should appear in bold and
italics . . . like a trademark.
- The LEFTSIDE navigation bar stays amazingly similar throughout the site.
This consistency within the site should help users find their way. The
consistency across sites in the LINCS Consortium should also ease use
across
the related LINCS sites. This navigation bar appears on the home page of
a
LINCS partner organization.
The text of the home page is a brief introduction to your organization and the work done by the organization. When users follow a link, say the ORGANIZATION link (to a page with history, longer text narrative about the organization) link from the top of the state/partner page, they are taken to the second tier of the site. The ORGANIZATION link is then bolded (on the second tier page) to show the user where s/he is.
This is accomplished by replacing the button with the link in it with a different button (with the bolded text), which our design team will make available to you.
The other links within the same category (e.g., ABOUT XX, News & Events, About Literacy, Literacy Resources) also show up, but are not in bold. The remainder of the categories and the links within those categories do not appear on the second tier. This shows that the user has narrowed the field of the information they are browsing/exploring.
- Links from the second tier to the third may take users outside the LINCS system to any number of resources or to a document that is within the system. This DOCUMENT LEVEL does not necessarily continue the LINCS Consortium banner or navigation scheme. (Wil Hawk, NIFL)
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