LINEAR

 Another way to organize your documents is to use a linear or sequential organization, similar to how printed documents are organized,. In a linear structure, as illustrated in figure 2.7, the home page is the title or introduction, and each page follows sequentially from that structure,.  In a strict linear structure, links move from one page to another, typically forward and back,.  You also might want to include a link to home that takes the user quickly back to the first page.

FIGURE 2.7 LINEAR ORGANIZATION.

Context generally is easy to figure out in a linear structure simply because there are so few places to go.

A linear organization is very rigid and limits your visitor’s freedom to explore and your freedom to present information. Liner structures are good for putting material online.

When the information also has a very linear structure offline (such as short stories, step-by-step instructions, or computer-based training), or when you explicitly want to prevent your visitors from skipping around.

For example, consider teaching someone how to make cheese by using the web. Cheese making is a complex process involving several steps that must be followed in a specific order.

Describing this process using web pages lends itself to a linear structure rather well. When navigating a set of web pages on this subject, you’d start with the homepage, which might have a summary or an overview of the steps to follow. Then, by using the link for going forward, move on to the first step, choosing the right milk; to the next step setting and curdling the milk: all the way through to the last step, curing and ripening the cheese. If you need to review at any time, you could use the link for moving backward. Because the process it so linear, you would have little need for links that branch off from the main stem or links that join together different steps in the process.

LINEAR WITH ALTERNATIVES

You can soften the rigidity of a linear structure by enabling the visitors to deviate from the main path. You could, for example, have a linear structure with alternatives that branch out from a single point (see figure 2.8). the offshoots can then rejoin the main branch at some point farther down, or they an continue down their separate tracks until they each come to an end.