Navigation zone
The Navigation Zone occupies the left portion of every page and includes the site's primary navigation. Primary links should link only to pages within the local site and not to links outside of the immediate site. The navigation system is designed to clearly show site organization in a hierarchical structure, letting Web site visitors see where the page currently displayed fits in the site and the path they have traveled.
Important links that do not link directly to pages within the local site should be positioned below the primary navigation links and separated from the local site navigation links by a dotted line.
A selected link displays a colored bar behind the link indicating the page currently displayed. When a second or third level link is selected, the section link text will be highlighted to indicate the user’s path.
Component |
Basic guidelines |
Primary navigation background |
The background color can be changed to any WSU color palette color or Web tint.
A background image or gradient can be added to the background. The image must not interfere with text legibility or be an overall repeating pattern.
The width of the navigation zone is set and must not be altered. |
Navigation links text |
Three levels of links can be used. Do not exceed three levels.
Never expand or display more than one set of second or third level links at any one time. Second and third level links must only appear to indicate the path to the page currently displayed.
The link text position, line spacing, font, style, and size are set and must not be altered.
Link text should not be all capitals or all lower-case; text must be upper and lower case. (This is often called headline-style capitalization; for details on correct capitalization, consult the Chicago Manual of Style.)
Never distort the text, add shadows, outlines, or other special effects.
The link color can be changed to any WSU color palette color or Web tint.
Links change color on mouse rollover and are not underlined. |
Vertical line (rule) |
A 1-pixel vertical line always appears on the right edge of the navigation zone for the full height of the zone.
The line color can be changed to any WSU Web palette color or Web tint. |
Current page bar |
The current page bar appears behind the link of the page currently displayed.
The bar color can be changed to any WSU Web palette color or Web tint.
The bar size and position is set and must not be altered. |
Link grouping bar |
The link grouping bar must appear when second or third level links appear in the navigation zone.
The bar color can be changed to any WSU color palette color or Web tint.
The bar size and positioning is set and must not be altered. |
Additional links
(Important links that do not link directly to pages within the local site.) |
Links to pages not within the local site are separated from the primary navigation links with a dotted line using the CSS class provided (navdivider).
These links must adhere to the navigation link guidelines. |
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Featured links (optional) |
One to three featured links may be included, but their use is optional.
The featured links are located between the WSU logo and the primary navigation links.
Featured link size and position is set and must not be altered. |
Featured links background |
The background color can be changed to any WSU color palette color or Web tint.
Background images must not be used behind the featured links. |
Featured links text |
The link text position, line spacing, font, style, and size are set and should not be altered.
Link text must be upper and lower case.
Never distort the text, add shadows, outlines, or other special effects.
Strive to keep link length to one line of text. Link length should not exceed two lines of text.
The link color can be changed to any WSU color palette color or Web tint.
Links change color on mouse rollover and are not underlined.
All featured link text must be a single color. The mouse rollover color must also be a single color. |
Featured links lines (rules) |
1-pixel horizontal lines separate the featured links.
The line color can be changed to any WSU Web palette color or Web tint, but all lines must be the same color. |
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