Navigating JBT.name
JBT.name is a hierarchical file system. That means, in basic terms, that navigating my site is very similar to browsing through files on a computer in a "folder" view.
The Structure of a Page
In designing JBT.name, I have used a very simple page layout so that it should be familiar to most computer users, easy to understand, and straightforward to navigate. Also, all my pages should be structured the same way. This way, my web site can "disappear" and you can get to know me more readily. Each page can be broken down into five main parts: the header, the content, the metadata, the footer, and the "Quick Links" box.
The header contains the address of the page you are viewing, "jbt.name/support/navigation.html" in this case. It also contains the title of my website and a picture of me. The address listed in the header is very important for a certain type of navigation, using links called "breadcrumbs", which I will cover later.
The content portion of a page contains, not surprisingly, the content of that page. It begins with a title and can be followed by subtitles, text, links, images, and so on. The text you are reading right now is in the content portion of this page.
The metadata portion of a page contains information or my comments about the content but which are not directly part of the content itself. For example, I might want to provide information about a song I listen to—that is metadata. This portion can incorporate a number of sections such as Mirror (which provides an alterative download link and, if applicable, the reasons I haven't made the file publicly available on JBT.name), Specifications (which lists technical properties of the file), Description (which describes the content or file itself as well as why I have it, how I use it, and my general thoughts on it), Interpretation (which contains my lengthier interpretations of the file or content's meaning), and Authorship (which contains information about the file or content's author, the changes I've made, and copyright/copyleft information, if applicable). On many pages, near the end of the metadata portion, there is a subsection called Footnotes. This contains any extra information I want to add to a page but don't want to incorporate directly into the text. At the end of this sentence, I have placed a footnote that you can follow to demonstrate how this feature works—just use your browser's back button (if it has one!) to return here when you're done![1]
The footer contains only one thing right now: the text "Ø JBT". This text lets you know that the page as a whole is mine and is released into the public domain. It is also a link which will take you to the "Public Domain Notice" for my website. Please note that even though a page as a whole may be "mine", portions—even significant portions—of it may be copyrighted by someone else!
Finally, the Quick Links box displays a number of links that are especially important in navigating and understanding JBT.name. If you are viewing my site with a higher-resolution screen and/or a large browser window, the Quick Links box should be located at the top right corner of the page. If you are viewing my site through a low-resolution screen—such as on an older handheld device—and/or through a small browser window, the Quick Links box should appear at the very bottom of the page.
The Structure of JBT.name
As stated, JBT.name is a hierarchical file system. Therefore, all files belong in a directory. At the "top" of the hierarchy is the "Root Index", or homepage. From there, you can access pages within the root directory or get to entirely different directories, called subdirectories. These subdirectories (for instance, "support", where you are now) are nested inside of another directory (in this case, the root directory, "jbt.name"). These subdirectories can contain pages (such as this page, "navigation.html", which is in the "support" directory) as well as more subdirectories, and so on. This is the same way most computer systems are organized.
One big difference between my website's file system and many computers' file systems is that mine is based in HTML.[2] That means everything that "exists" must be written in HTML, or be accessible by a browser in some other format and linked to via HTML. Because of this, I have a metadata page for every single image, song, video, etc. where I can store information about it and comment on it.[3] This metadata, like a file's name, size, and format, is therefore accessible in just the same way as any other web page. These pages are denoted with parenthetical information; for example, a page titled "Main (.css)" would take you to the HTML-based metadata page describing the CSS file, not the CSS file itself. It would, however, include a prominent link to the actual CSS file in the content portion of the page. Pages with no parenthetical information in their title should be regular HTML web pages and should not directly be associated with another file; on these pages, my descriptions and comments—the metadata—will come after the content, near the bottom of the page, if I feel I need to add such information.
The reason for doing all this is, once again, so I can commune with you: since HTML is so accessible across the world, across devices, and across time, this is one more way I can open myself up to you, no matter where you are located, what device you are using, or in what time period you live. It helps open up all my files, not just those viewable as a webpage, to you.
Link and Page Border Color
On JBT.name, links and page borders have different colors corresponding to where they go or who can view them. Links in green will take you somewhere on my website and are potentially accessible by anyone. Likewise, all my normal, public pages have analogous green backgrounds with no special borders. Links in red (and the corresponding pages with red borders) are private and cannot be accessed outside of New Kidron; the directories, pages, or files they link to are either not ready for publishing yet, or are private for some other important reason (e.g. copyright/copyleft issues). Because I am trying to commune with you, I have chosen to keep most of the private links visible, even if I do not allow you to see the content itself; this will give you a better picture of me. Blue links take you somewhere outside JBT.name, such as to another website; therefore, there are no pages with blue borders on JBT.name! I use blue links frequently in pages' "Footnotes" to link to the original sources of material I have used. Finally, if you see a page with a yellow border, this denotes an error or a warning; if you try to visit a page that is either inaccessible to you or which doesn't exist, you'll probably see a page with a lot of yellow!
So...How Do I Get Around?
Having brought you "up to speed" on how JBT.name is designed, let's talk about the four main ways you can get from page to page:
Directory Navigation
Directory navigation is the first main way to get around my website. Thankfully, getting from one directory to a page or subdirectory is simple: from the directory's "Index"[4], find the appropriate link and follow it! Most of the names are fairly descriptive, so you should get at least a general idea of where a link will take you.
The "Root Index" is a special directory, not only because it [by definition] contains all the other directories within it, but because it has direct links to subdirectories and their subdirectories. That is, it has links to both the second- and third-level directories. This is quite useful when trying to get to one particular directory quickly.
If bandwidth usage is a concern, I have a way to help you with that, too: on every index I've included between 1 and 5 degree marks (°) to the left of every link to a page to communicate its approximate size. The more degree marks, the larger the file. (Links to directories don't have this indicator; they're usually relatively small, bandwidth-wise.)
Breadcrumb Navigation
The second main way to get from place to place is through what are called "breadcrumbs". These are the links at the very top of the page, in the header. They can take you "up" one or more "levels" through the website. For example, this page's address is "jbt.name/support/navigation.html". If you wanted to get back to the Support Index (the index for the "support" directory), you could follow the breadcrumb named "support." If you wanted to get back to the Root Index, you could follow the first breadcrumb, "jbt.name". Trying to visit "navigation.html" from the breadcrumbs on this page won't do anything; "navigation.html" is not a link because it is the page you're already viewing! When you are on a non-index page, such as this one, the breadcrumbs are especially important.
There is also a "trick" I've worked into the breadcrumbs. In case you want to highlight and paste the address of a page into a document or program, the address is written without space characters. Yes, there is visible space between each of the breadcrumbs, but it is only visual. If you paste the address somewhere else, you will notice that the space handily disappears, giving you the proper, machine-readable web address for any given page. Most web browsers already display the address of the page you are viewing somewhere else inside the browser window, so this feature may be redundant for you; however, not all browsers do and so this is a major help in those cases. Additionally, if you viewed a page in something other than a web browser, such as a word processor, you may begin to recognize how useful this could be.
The Quick Links Box
The Quick Links box is the third main way to get around my website. It contains the links that I think will help the greatest number of visitors the most. The numbering of the links is adapted from the UK regime's 2002 recommended accesskeys standard.[5] It is navigable both regularly and with accesskeys, a feature especially useful for those with disabilities. Because it links to places like the "Root Index", the "Sitemap", and the "Support Index" and should be present on every page in my website, it can be a great help and time saver when you're trying to get to a certain page.
The Sitemap
The fourth, and most powerful, navigation method on JBT.name is the Sitemap. It may seem very overwhelming and confusing to visitors who are not familiar with sitemaps, but it is actually very intuitive. It contains all the pages and files on my website, listed hierarchically, in one giant list. If you visit my site frequently and spend some time using this feature, you may find that it is one of the fastest ways to get around: every page is directly accessible through just one link, one "click"! And, since I've used a few small, simple images to augment the textual information in the list, it is remarkably clear what type of file each link points to.
NOW Where Do I Go?
If you've already read through the Introduction and it's short list of recommended links, you should now understand the basics of what JBT.name is, why I have it on the internet, and how it works. At this point, you can pick a navigation method and start looking around! I would start from the Root Index; you should be able to find a directory that interests you.
Want some ideas of where you can go? Well, I've been working on my Profile for a while; you should consider checking it out. I've got lots of details—and obscure favorites!—that will hopefully help you understand me better! I also have some Personal photos posted, though its still a very small collection. Or, you can find out about tons of the things I own and use over in my Acquisitions directory.
If you still need some help or direction, you can try another page in the Support Index; it's full of great articles covering the very basic to the very technical. And if that doesn't solve things, please feel free to use my Contact JBT page. God bless!
