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• Page status (open to revision, no longer updated, etc.)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

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