Standard Button bars

This is inspired by bjelli's work at COSY in Austria.

Button bars are a simple navigation tool. They contain pointers to useful places, usually pointers back to root nodes of the hierarchy. Button bars tend to be useful because they are consistent navigation tools within the document. They should remain consistent over a broad range of documents, thus helping the user build a mental map.

The two sample icon bars are set up for Stanford CS departement, but the gist should be clear enough for you to make your own button bar files.

Server-side includes

The button bars outlined here depend on server side includes. The details on how this are at HooHoo at NCSA. [You must have the NCSA server or similar which allows server side includes]

The Comment to Include a File

To include the file we put a comment in the file that is replaced by the contents of the file itself.

     <!--#include virtual="icons.pcd.inc" -->

Of course, the file name would probably be different, and note that the included file must be on the same server as the document. It's not a good idea to try and include button bars stored on other servers. For one thing, it takes too long to load.

Since the <!--#include ... > is a mouthful for users to remember to type, it is a good idea to include this as part of the standard template file given to users.

The Included File

This is the file that is included. Changing the button bar involves changing this file only - the source files remain as they are. The site administrator is responsible for maintaining this file.

The PCD include file and the CS dept. include file can be downloaded.

 <!-- Include file -->
 <!-- Icon bar for CS dept, PCD group -->
 <A HREF="http://www.stanford.edu/">
      <IMG SRC="stanford.seal56.gif" ALT="Stanford"></A>

 <A HREF="http://www-cs.stanford.edu/">
      <IMG SRC="logo.csd.gif" ALT="CS dept"></A>

 <A HREF="http://www-pcd.stanford.edu/">
      <IMG SRC="logo.pcd.gif" ALT="PCD grp"></A>

Christian Mogensen / mogensen@cs.stanford.edu