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Perception of the website as a whole
One reason why this seems useful goes back to a matter of perception. With a book printed on paper, one has an instant perception of content dimensions: the number of pages between two covers, the subdivision into chapters (the size of which can also be gauged by leafing through the pages), the type of illustrations, etc. With a website, on the other hand, there is no perception of the whole. Our Table of Contents is meant to approximate such a perception. It is, one might say, an annotated Site Map, or an outline.
Back to top: Common layout
Site map and Table of contents
The site map given below presents the structure of the websoite as it is organized and articulated in its various component parts.
A table of contents as in A16, on the other hand, gives the specific entries in any given book, with he indication of the authors and the dates.
Back to top: Common layout
The common layout calls for three sidebars to provide the framework within any given page, as in the following two examples.
The main narrative (center page) is flanked by three sidebars, on the left and the right.
The overall index (on the left) links to an overall introduction and to contents of a general nature and interest. The sidebar can be seen either in an expand mode, where all the subchapters are listed, or in a collapse mode, where only the major headings are shown.
The data index (on the right) links to specific contents, generally giving access to the data on which the syntesis on the left sidebar is bsed. Here, too, an expand and a collapse mode are available.
A page index (next to the left sidebar) provides links to the sections within the narrative in the central portion of the page.
Some variations include the following.
There may be only the overall index (on the left), with or without the Page index.
There may instead one more sidebar, a Section index (on the right),
Back to top: Common layout