3 Site structures

Here are some ideas for how a Smallsite Design site can be structured.

If just venturing into having a website, its content can be built up over time. The structures described here represent a possible progression of a site as it organically grows as the content increases and possibly drifts into other areas.

If moving an existing body of knowledge into Smallsite Design, or having a fairly clear idea of the topic areas intended to be covered, then one of these structures can serve as its starting point. However, there has to be enough content to support the more complex structures. For example, while a suitable future structure may be for multiple subsites, while there is only a few articles that could be put in each, having a single category for each would suffice. A rich single main subsite is more appealing than a collection of sparse subsites.

Simple△

A simple site consists of a home page and a couple of other pages.

When first installed, Smallsite Design consists of a single home page sitting in the main subsite's default category. The home page will be edited to lay out what the site is about. Since it is a navigation page, it allows a limited amount of content. Initial articles can be included in the default category and linked to from a cards array or catalog in the home page.

A simple site with a couple of articles in the default category:

 Main subsiteDefault categoryHome
pagePoliciesArticle 1Article 2

Basic△

A basic site has a home page and some categories with several articles in each.

As a site gathers more articles, they can be grouped into categories, each of which can be linked to from the home page. If several categories are related, they can be linked to from a navigation page which in turn is linked from the home page, providing a simple navigation tree to discovery of all content.

A basic site, with a couple of categories:

 Main subsiteDefault categoryCategory 1Article 1Article 2Category 2Article 3Article 4Home
pagePolicies

Main + focus△

This site arrangement has the main subsite for the general content and one or more subsites for deeper or more specialised content.

As a site expands, some content might be deeper or more likely to appeal to only certain visitors. Such special interest content can be placed into its own subsite where it has its own home page and navigation, so that its readers can focus on its content alone, and most visitors will not be coming across content that may be too specialised or detailed for them. By default, links to all subsites' home pages are included on the subsite navigation bar, though judicious cross-links can introduce main subsite visitors to the special content.

A site with a principal main subsite and a subsite focus:

 Main subsiteDefault categoryCategory 1Article 1Article 2Category 2Article 3Article 4Home
page 1PoliciesSubsite 1DefaultHome
page 2Category 3Article 5Article 6Category 4Article 7Article 8

Some scenarios covered by this arrangement are:

a.Hobbyist or practitioner using the main subsite for discussing the practical details of their area of interest, while using a subsite for the history or philosophy behind it.
b.The main subsite covers the theory or general information about a subject while a subsite can be for those more interested in practical aspects of it.

The new subsite may start out like a basic site with a few pages in its default category, but then evolve to multiple categories as it is fleshed out, perhaps even spawning another subsite.

Multi-focus△

This site topology uses the main subsite as a feed to several subsites having their own focus.

While a site might start out with a single focus, its subject may lead to other areas of interest, with some becoming significant enough to be considered to be worthy of an equal focus as the original focus. The arrangement here is to use the main subsite as a launching pad for the various foci. Over time, sites with a lot of content will probably settle on this site structure.

To set this up, create a new subsite and set it up as if it is to be the new main subsite, then swap it with the current main. Their home page IDs will be updated to match their new subsite IDs. Any policies or other pages in the its default category would need to be moved to the new main subsite's default category in the Category row of the Details section of their Article head pages, which for policies or glossary pages, will change the suffix of their ID to their new subsite ID.

A site with the main subsite feeding into multiple subsites:

 Main subsiteDefault categoryHome
page 1PoliciesSubsite 1DefaultHome
page 2Category 1Article 1Article 2Category 2Article 3Article 4 Subsite 2DefaultHome
page 3Category 3Article 5Article 6Category 4Article 7Article 8