Unlike hardcover books that begin with a table of contents and follow with sequentially numbered chapters, online information is non-linear — users can start anywhere and randomly go to other topics, depending on what they need to know and how they navigate to get there. As a result, it's important to provide users with signposts that guide them to what they need to find.
Follow these guidelines when creating navigation in your topics:
Take users to related information. It's a fact in online Help systems, despite your best efforts, that users will frequently open a topic only to find that the information is not what they want to read. To make it easy for users to continue searching in the right direction, you can provide them with related topics. Take the users' point of view and understand why they might be selecting the topic, then provide links to similar topics.
Group similar topics. Rather than repeating information in numerous topics, create topics that provide the relevant information. Provide links to these topics where appropriate. This way, you only have to maintain the information in one place and link to it.
Control topic size and chunk information. Users do not like to read lengthy topics online. Chunk the information into smaller topics and link to them. You can also create expanding hotspots and drop-down hotspots that enable users to view additional information when they click hotspot text.
Cross-reference other information. Cross-references take users to other topics for more information about an aspect of the current topic. Users can decide if they want to read the information or merely know it's there for future reference.
Link to popup windows. If it's important for users to keep their focus on the current topic, format links so they display the destinations in a popup window. This keeps users from branching off and losing focus. Popup windows are similar to secondary windows — the additional information is displayed in a separate window while the main topic is still open in the default window. Users close the popup window when they are done viewing the information.
Direct users on how to navigate and make it predictable. Group navigation and links into specific types (for example, related topics, ALinks, etc.) and use them in the same kinds of topics and in the same locations. Consistency clearly suggests what kind of information is available and expresses a distinct relationship between its source and destination.
Include navigation topics. Create "overview" topics that describe the basic concept of performing a task or using a feature. From here, add links to the specific tasks related to the topic so users can choose what they want to do next. Navigation topics make it easy for users to decide what they need to do, all from a single place.
Limit the number of links in topics. If the topic contains too many links, users will get distracted. Avoid defining too many words in the topic content as expanding glossary terms or text-only popups. One or two are effective, an abundance make the topic content difficult to read. Most experts suggest using no more than five or six links per topic. This is a good guideline to follow.
Don't link for the sake of linking. If the links are arbitrary, don't use them. Select the ones that are most suitable for the content and use them with link controls so users do not have to look at row upon row of text links.