Polyhierachical navigation
- A polyhierachical navigation system means that information can be found in more than one part of the navigation tree.
- This takes into account the fact people think differently on where they expect to find a certain bit of information or service on the website.
For example, Mr Smith may expect to find libraries under 'Leisure', Mr Fred may expect it under 'Education and Learning' and Ms Brown may think it would be under 'Community and Living'. Our polyhierachical navigation structure ensures that all 3 citizens will find the libraries link under any of those top level options.
Flexible navigation trail
Whilst this navigation system means that you can get to your desired page or information via different routes, it also means that sometimes clicking on a link will take you to a completely different menu or section of the website where the information you want is actually located.
- Every information page has a single primary location and several secondary link locations.
In our example. 'Libraries' page has its primary location under 'Leisure and Culture'. However it also has secondary link locations under 'Community and Living' and 'Education and Learning'. Since Ms Brown and Mr Fred are going to be approaching this page from secondary link locations (under 'Community and Living' and 'Education and Learning' respectively), their chosen navigation trail means they will end up in a different part of the website (i.e Leisure and Culture) to where they started their navigation.
In this scenario, use the back button on your browser as the quickest way to return to a previous page or section of the site. Otherwise, click on the title link in the left hand navigation (if you are still in the same section).
Screenshot image examples
Primary location
The primary location for libraries page is under 'Leisure and Culture'
Secondary link locations
However, you will also find secondary links to 'Libraries' under 'Community and Living' and 'Education and Learning.
However, clicking on the 'Libraries' link on any of the 2 pages above will still bring you to its primary location under Leisure and Culture here:
