[Sigia-l] Breadcrumbs - case study

[Listera]

"Livia Labate" wrote:

> I understand what you are saying but I am noticing in this discussion two
> distinc understandings of what breadcrumbs are: trailled path or possible (&
> contextual) path.
> 
> Am I getting it wrong?

A given page can be defined in relation to multiple anchor points on a site,
such as the home page, a chapter, a product line, a task group, etc. Each
one of those can be represented as a linear hierarchy on the page. While
there may be *multiple* contextual hierarchies connecting an anchor to the
page (for example, a product in multiple categories), there's only *one*
actual linear path between where the user started and the path he took to
get to the current page (not always easily depicted). I can't say which
definition is more appropriate for the designation "breadcrumbs" since, like
everything else in life, it's a matter of context and purpose. (Although
finding one's way back to where one originated is better associated with
that term.) It's easy to confuse the two, as I have seen many examples of
misleading applications. I guess the point is to be consistent, informative
and useful.

Ziya
Nullius in Verba