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[map]A Page Structure Pattern from
Patterns for Personal Web Sites

Standard Header And Footer

There is more information on a Web page than just the words and images that make up its content. There's also the plumbing: navigation links, and information about the page. This boilerplate has to go somewhere, so why not put it in a standard place on every page?

Therefore, put information about the page & navigation in a standard header and footer.

Clearly separating this information from the page's content makes it easy to find. Also, putting it in a standard header and footer gives your site a Consistent Format. A well-designed standard header and footer helps to create Entrances Everywhere.

Common header or footer elements:

Navigation
  • A link to the site's home page (One Jump Home)
  • A link to a Site Map
  • Breadcrumbs (which give the page a Visible Location)
  • A search box
  • Links to Related Pages
  • A link to an index page (Index Pages)
Page maintenance
  • Link To Maintainer
  • Date of page creation
  • Date of most recent page change (Freshness Dates)
  • Page status (open to revision, no longer updated, etc.)
Page information
  • Page URL (to ensure Offline Readability)
  • Copyright/left notice
Comments
  • Link to comment form
  • Comments from previous visitors

Other page structure patterns:

  • Consistent Format
  • Link To Maintainer
  • Appropriate Length
  • Necessary Images

Last updated 8 July 2003
http://www.rdrop.com/~half/Creations/Writings/Web.patterns/standard.header.and.footer.html
All contents ©2002-2003 Mark L. Irons

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