WikiDesign
From Datafedwiki
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[edit] Wiki layout/navigation Guidance
This is a general guide on the use of this flexible Mediawiki Software to design consistent interfaces for the DataFed wiki. Participants are encouraged to use and if needed augment these guidelines while expanding the wiki. Domains are major sections of a wiki. For instance the DataFed wiki has multiple domains including Data, Tools, Projects, etc.
[edit] Domain Structure
Left Sidebar
- Should access the entire wiki
- The groups should represent major topics of the wiki
Major Topic Pages
- Groups should have a Main Topic page
- Main Topic pages should have links subtopics on the sidebar
- Main Topic shound transclude contents from list pages
List Pages
- Contain "records" or lists of the same type of information
- Are templates, suitable for partial transclusion in other pages
- Can be filtered, sorted or joined with other tables (wish!)
Article Pages
- Standard pages of arbitrary structure
Wiki Workspace Pages
Up/Down Navigation
- 'What links here' is used as the "backlink" button because each page can have many "parents"
[edit] Function: Navigation
The function of navigation is to allow a user to go from where she is to the location where she wants to go.
There are at least two major approaches to aid navigation. need connectors, hubs (i.e. google) to reduces distance between nodes
1. Hard-coded forward links that can be followed along a specific rigid hyperlinked network nodes. Frequently, such connections are organized to yield a hierarchical tree structure which can be navigated up and down the branches of the tree. The directory structure of computer file systems is a typical example of hierarchical navigation.
Hard-coded link structures, such as trees, offer attractive modes of navigation where the content is static and user knows the path to pursue. Its limitation is that it cannot grow "organically" with changing structures. Also the confinement of hierarchical linkages prevent convenient "lateral" navigation.
2. Soft-linked navigation facilitates reaching a target location through searching of tags that are attached to web objects. This is equivalent to library card catalog and google. Soft-linked structures are tied together through shared properties or tags.
Large, dynamic, fast-changing structures, such as the internet (google, flickr, del.icio.us, Yahoo!), or a library catalog, requires soft-linking and searching of tags. This way new additions or deletions are always incorporated. In this mode of navigation the user has broader choices, both in defining the search criteria as well as choosing from the lists that arises from specific searches.
