21 Pro Page Self-linking

Personally, when I go to a website and the page links to itself I don’t really mind nor does anyone I have ever talked to. I think it is better to keep the same navigation throughout the site. Like the author suggested in this article where you take away a link that would confuse the user even more.

I think the best way to tell the user where they are is just include the title the same as the link they just clicked.

posted at 05:53 pm on August 8, 2006 by Neil Kelty

22 People Expect Self Linking Now?

A while back, I created a website with a menu that disabled any self links. I got my non-techie wife to test it out and she actually complained that there were no self linking links on the menu. I think she’s been trained by the majority of websites that use self linking. To her it’s more user friendly with self linking.

posted at 06:07 pm on August 8, 2006 by j b

23 Consistency of action

It seems that many, if not most, people here share my sentiments on ‘self linking’.
To me it is most important to maintain a consistency of function in navigation schemes. By removing functionality, i.e. stopping a link doing something you break the consistency of your scheme.

I read the ‘don’t link a page to itself’ rule at alertbox and found myself greatly at odds with it. Agreed, there should be a clear indication of where you are in a site. Use breadcrumbs and styling. But breaking consistency of function seems counter-intuitive.

The main, emotive topic of this particular discussion is one that started out as perhaps with a grain of truth but it has since snowballed into a ‘fact’. I’d argue that it’s a real fact at all.

There will always be some users confused by some aspect of web usage. Even rats can learn cause and effect (press button x and this happens, button y and something else happens). Most users (granted, not all users) will catch on pretty sharpish.

posted at 06:19 pm on August 8, 2006 by Pete Eveleigh

25 and another thing....

Consider your television set.

When you are watching Channel 5, does the ‘5’ button become disabled? Can you reselect the channel?

Have you ever heard of this being a cognitive challenge?
No doubt it is for some TV viewers, but do they need to be catered for by overcomplicating things for everyone else?

Perhaps that sounds a little harsh, but I hope the point comes across.

posted at 06:23 pm on August 8, 2006 by Pete Eveleigh

26 On Phloe.net

One of the posters posted the following link: http://industries.phloe.net/

While it does show what he was saying it misses one key thing. In order to go from say Info to Links… I have to go back to Home first. 2 clicks where it should be 1. It really breaks up your navigation and is different from what users experience hence there is some confusion.

posted at 06:24 pm on August 8, 2006 by Scott Heckel

27 Home Link

Thanks for the article. I also miss the “Where have I been” part, since this is covered in the introduction, but not in the examples given. A clear concept on this would be a good idea.

I also don’t agree on the “don’t link to the page you are on” thing. I’m so used to click on the logo for the home page that I would be confused if it does not link to the home page – even if I am on the home page.

But I realized that on one of my pages I have a color inconsistency with the menu, so the article was helpful for me. Thanks again.

posted at 06:40 pm on August 8, 2006 by Andreas Berg

28 Linking to the same page

I think it is ok to link with the same page as long as you let the users know that they are on that page already, like the use of the visited, or change of colors, etc. Because there really are times when they just want to refresh the page. Plus, like one other guy said, it is just overkill to focus on something as little as linking to the same page when you got a bunch of rules to code.

posted at 06:44 pm on August 8, 2006 by gab pascua

29 Give users more to go on

On my site, I have implemented something of a compromise.

I have my navigation set up so that if you are on a section’s index page, it sets the title of the navigation to “You are Here.” This allows people who are expecting a link to have some reason why it is not available; that there is no reason to click there currently.

Similarly, if someone is deep into a category—let’s say Services—the title becomes “Services Home,” rather than “Services.” This lets the user know that while they are in the services category, they not at the services index page.

posted at 06:47 pm on August 8, 2006 by Zack Katz

30 Linking to Home Page on the Home Page

To answer the question “Where am I?”, there should be a link to the home page on the home page—as long as it’s shown in an active state. This also provides a consistent location for the “Home” button as the user navigates the site.

posted at 07:18 pm on August 8, 2006 by Dan Defenbaugh