Chapter 7. Laying Out Site Navigation

Where does Ajax come into play with web site navigation? You can use it to get the list of data for a submenu, build a hierarchical list for use as breadcrumbs on the page, or create a navigation tree. In short, you can apply Ajax in many creative ways for web site navigation. I am sure that by the time this book hits the shelves, developers will be implementing a few more navigation techniques that use Ajax. That is part of the beauty of building Web 2.0 applications—they can always change.

An important part of an Ajax web application is the way the user gets from one place to another within its pages. This is site navigation in its simple terms, and it can take many forms, from plain navigation bars with text links to complicated file menus. Site navigation can also take the form of tabs separating content within the application, or links on the bottom of a page that take the user back to the top of the page. Whatever form it takes, site navigation must serve one purpose: to take the user somewhere else in the application.