Multi-Page and Fourth-Level Modules
Best Practices
Overview
The multi-page module and fourth-level navigation module function as on-page menus for web pages. They are used to provide a table of contents for related web pages, such as a report or other collection of content. The list of related links displays automatically at the top of each page in the collection. (For the fourth-level navigation module, the list also displays on the third-level parent page.)
These two on-page menus are built and maintained differently in the WCMS, but they look and behave the same, with a couple of exceptions:
- Fourth-level links display in the page section navigation menu. Multi-page links do not.
- Pages in a multi-page module have “previous” and “next” links at the bottom.
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- tools iconBuilding in the WCMSSee key tips and guidelines for working with fourth-level and multi-page modules in the WCMS.
- photo iconTP4 UX Best Practices ppt icon[PPT - 14 MB]For general guidance on colors, layouts, and overall presentation, see this overview of TP4 best practices.
View examples of multi-page module and fourth-level module.
The module format can be block, bulleted, or numbered. When a multi-page or fourth-level module has more than five page links, it automatically displays in two columns. The illustration above shows a two-column block module. “Project Updates” is the title of the open page (“2017: A Year in Review” is the optional page subtitle). The module header (“Contents” in this example) can be customized.
Note: There is an alternative way of handling fourth-level navigation, particularly if you have various fourth-level pages with different parent pages. This approach does not create a module of links on each page. It simply insert the fourth-level page dynamically in the left-navigation menu when a visitor lands on it. (This approach is used for the “Building in the WCMS” pages in this Gallery.)
Guidelines
- Keep link text as brief as possible so that visitors can easily scan the page list. (By default, the multi-page module uses page titles for the links, but you can override the titles. Link text for the fourth-level navigation module comes from the left navigation SSI.)
- For titled collections of content, enter the title as the subtitle for all pages in the multi-page or fourth-level module. In the example above, the document title “2017: A Year in Review” is the page subtitle.
- Try to keep the list of items as short as possible (typically no more than 12 to 16). This may involve merging some content to reduce the number of pages.
- Do not combine on-page menus on the same page (multi-page, fourth-level, “on this page” module).
- Avoid fourth-level navigation if possible.