11–20 of 67 posts
This UI would be similar to Windows 7 Windows Explorer's location bar, which shows "breadcrumbs" of libraries or folder directories by default, but changes to actual filepath upon click.
I'd use it.
I would just eliminate the URL bar and the back button entirely. These concepts are relics from the Internet 1.0 age and no longer have the correct meaning. Some sort of bookmark/search/wiki replacement navigation system needs to be developed.
(this comment is aimed at you, but it's sort of pertinent to the article also) You simply can't rip out a UI convention like that. Think about how many browsers there are. Virtually all of them use the back button and an URL bar. Say you made a browser without those, with an innovative new navigation system. Think it'll catch on? Extremely unlikely. When you take out one of the oldest conventions in the book, people…
It's not a bad idea and possibly even worth pursuing. One of my little favorite things about frameworks like rails is how much effort was put into making human readable URIs: http://www.foobar.com/products/kitchen/blenders/1 , in most cases working your way up say to foobar.com/products/kitchen "does the right thing". I also like how easy this guy's idea would be to implement in a framework like rails. By that I mean…
(But incidentally, you can remove this part and the URL still works.)
I would just eliminate the URL bar and the back button entirely. These concepts are relics from the Internet 1.0 age and no longer have the correct meaning. Some sort of bookmark/search/wiki replacement navigation system needs to be developed.
(this comment is aimed at you, but it's sort of pertinent to the article also) You simply can't rip out a UI convention like that. Think about how many browsers there are. Virtually all of them use the back button and an URL bar. Say you made a browser without those, with an innovative new navigation system. Think it'll catch on? Extremely unlikely. When you take out one of the oldest conventions in the book, people…
It really needs to be split into 2 buttons: "Back" and "Parent" (or "Up"). People use the back button for both purposes. And when you involve Iframes and Ajax-heavy web applications, the context of "back" gets entirely lost and broken.
It's a big problem. There is an HTML5 api to give some level of control over the back button, and this may help to a certain degree. But I really believe it would be preferable to just move these concepts (navigate back and up) right into the web page, or the web application.
There is absolutely nothing preventing web applications from giving a superior navigation experience than a one-size-fits-all web browser buttons.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
(this comment is aimed at you, but it's sort of pertinent to the article also) You simply can't rip out a UI convention like that. Think about how many browsers there are. Virtually all of them use the back button and an URL bar. Say you made a browser without those, with an innovative new navigation system. Think it'll catch on? Extremely unlikely. When you take out one of the oldest conventions in the book, people…
Opera has had tabs above the address bar for as long as I've been a user. It makes it much more clear that the address bar and controls are actually associated with the tab, not the application. A key feature of this choice is that the search box and address bar will switch contents when you switch tabs, and if you switch back you will see what you had originally typed.
It's not a bad idea and possibly even worth pursuing. One of my little favorite things about frameworks like rails is how much effort was put into making human readable URIs: http://www.foobar.com/products/kitchen/blenders/1 , in most cases working your way up say to foobar.com/products/kitchen "does the right thing". I also like how easy this guy's idea would be to implement in a framework like rails. By that I mean…
But the 1 is unreadable and opaque. At least Amazon tells you the full product name in the URL. (But incidentally, you can remove this part and the URL still works.)
This idea fails even on its own, since it presumes that URLs have structure, even within a particular site. So if you want to add a new page, even a one-off for a special occasion, then you have to start thinking about where it fits in your ad hoc URL/navigation scheme, too. Also, if you want to redesign navigation, you have to change all your URLs. URLs are brilliant because they are separate from navigation; that's a feature, not a bug.
But it's also philosophically wrong. The URL -- a simple string that can be used to fetch any resource -- is the single greatest innovation of the web. A simple string can pass through literally any human communication system. Speech, print, text messaging, anything. A URL is not an inherently intuitive concept so it is not all that usable. But it's necessary. Training users to recognize URLs is vitally important, or we are back to relying on AOL^H^H^HFacebook to provide navigation tools.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
I have to admit that I and most programmer types that I know hate that feature but maybe its helpful for those less tech savvy.
Well, count me as a programmer type that enjoys the feature and is having a hard time figuring out what there is to hate about it.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
(this comment is aimed at you, but it's sort of pertinent to the article also) You simply can't rip out a UI convention like that. Think about how many browsers there are. Virtually all of them use the back button and an URL bar. Say you made a browser without those, with an innovative new navigation system. Think it'll catch on? Extremely unlikely. When you take out one of the oldest conventions in the book, people…
The problem with the back button is it should not be the sole way to navigate. It really needs to be split into 2 buttons: "Back" and "Parent" (or "Up"). People use the back button for both purposes. And when you involve Iframes and Ajax-heavy web applications, the context of "back" gets entirely lost and broken. It's a big problem. There is an HTML5 api to give some level of control over the back button, and this ma…
By web application, I presume you mean for example google docs, rather than a browser.
This would make it even less consistent, wouldn't it? Some pages/apps wouldn't have these controls, or they would look different or be in different locations across different pages/apps.
"Back" and "Up" are virtually indistinguishable for an average user. Hell, I'd be surprised if I could give a good description about the difference, and I know computers inside-out.
> There is absolutely nothing preventing web applications from giving a superior navigation experience than a one-size-fits-all web browser buttons.
Except for the users...
Earlier quoted context omitted.
I have to admit that I and most programmer types that I know hate that feature but maybe its helpful for those less tech savvy.
Well, count me as a programmer type that enjoys the feature and is having a hard time figuring out what there is to hate about it.