Yeah, it seems confusing. But those arrows are there for a reason. For instance, both the General Curriculum area AND the Intro to the Generational Curriculum can lead you to the Daily Round Archives, thus two arrows point to it. Same with all the others. If you can link to there, (which is often in more than one place) you'll see an arrow.
As you may already know, you can't just throw all your links into a pile and expect a viewer to find what they may be looking for. You need organization and planning.
Luckilly for you, there are these fine alternatives which may help people from backing out of your page. Each of these styles may or may not improve this Generational Curriculum, so let's see which would be best suited for the "front end" of Leon James' site...
There are sites that have search engines within their sites like this one. Now, supposing Leon James used a search engine, I think it would be a bad, bad idea. This site is so complex that nobody would know what to put in the box! It would be a good idea if it were available with the help of a nice CGI Map or something, but by itself as front end, it would suck.
This is my personal favorite, because all you need is a nice attractive graphic, and the CGI or Common Gateway Interface will do the rest. By simply pointing to the area on the graphic itself, you can link to other places. Remember, less words and more pictures make me stay at a site.
The only thing you have to make sure of is that people KNOW you have a CGI Map. Therefore, it is common to see "buttons" or markers to let you know you can click on them. Leon James' General Curriculum Table looks kind of like a CGI Map, since it has nice colors and stuff, and I guess it is necessary and appropriate since it is a professional site.
I HATE TOUR GUIDES!!! Yeah, it's cute and stuff, but as a frequent web surfer, I would almost NEVER EVER use a tour guide. I don't know. I think it would make me feel dumb or remedial or something. I recently asked my friends who frequent the web and they too think it is a BAD idea. The only thing I would use a tour guide for is a graphic intensive site like an art gallery, a geographic tour, or a females of the world tour.
If we are talking about a front end, there is nothing WORSE than an index. Well, when I think about it, if it is a professional site then it may be appropriate, but if you plan on attracting new viewers that may not know much about your subject, you WILL NOT get any new viewers if you show an index. If the first thing I saw on a page was an index, I would submit it to my Chapter 3 Report under "The Bad". In the case of using one for Leon James' page, however, I would not use it.
Tables are great, and I see Leon James uses tables. That's why I think tables are good... JUST KIDDING! All kidding aside, I think tables are both attractive like a graphic, AND it looks organized. Yet, it maintains a professional look. They are easy to maintain and update as your page expands. (Can't do that as easily on a CGI Map!)
As a front end on Leon James' Homepage, a table would suffice the most of all the others. This is on an individual scale, though...
The first thing I notice about this place that is different is that this place is like the trunk of a tree. Like a tree trunk, it has rings as it gets older. In this class, a ring is added to the core each semster, which starts at Leon's Homepage. Each ring leaves behind a generation that dealt with the issues in that particular time period. When that period is over, the new generation takes over and the old generation's work becomes embedded in a ring in Leon's big tree that will not change. There our work will stay forever for all to view.
As an individual, I benefit by increasing my awareness of what is on the Net. All those countless hours surfing around have given me new and different ideas about the unlimited use of the World Wide Web. I learned something new everytime I touched the computer, and with all the helpful hints we gave each other in class, I now practice all those shortcuts and thingamabobs.
As a contributor to this generation, I think it will be terrific to see how generations improve, not only in technology, but in the ideas of thinking. Imagine by the time we see HTML 5.0, who knows what the pages will look like? It would probably make this report look like a stone tablet with words chipped on it.
Lastly, here are some other little things I learned through being in the class:
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