Site Organization

Owned by Melissa Chavira
Last updated: Jun 14, 2023
4 min read

Purpose

Website content should be organized to best enhance the user experience. Content and site architecture should follow the standard criteria for directory/folder naming conventions and site navigation.

In this section:

Requirements

File and Directory/Folder Naming Conventions

A naming standard is essential for effective collaboration in common web environments. A file that adheres to a good naming standard is easy to search for, identify and retrieve. The NMSU naming standard applies to all files and folders used on NMSU web servers. 

Standard Criteria

  • Use simple language, no jargon

  • File names or anchor names should never have any spaces.

  • Directory/folder names should not be unnecessarily long and should make use of relevant words.

  • Language should be easily understood and compelling to those seeking its content

  • Contain keywords relevant to users

  • Should be all lowercase

  • Should not include spaces or special characters—hyphens are preferred to underscores

  • Avoid using abbreviations they can have an impact on Search Engine Optimization. 

Site Structure

Standard Criteria

  • HTML files should have an .html extension, (.cfm, .php, .asp etc are appropriate for servers using those languages.) provided all files in the site are named consistently.

  • The main page or default page in a directory should always be named index.html, or appropriately named depending on the configuration of the server (e.g. default.htm, index.php, index.cfm, index.asp, etc.). A default page should be created in every directory to avoid 404 pages or directory indexes from appearing to the user.

  • As a rule, please keep your site organized and use a common images folder. (i.e “images/nmsu-image.jpg).

Document Filenames

In most cases, there should be only one published version of any document at a given time. Having only one published version of a document will improve data integrity, help prevent old documents from re-appearing, and prevent broken links. An archiving process may prove helpful when handling outdated documents.

Standard Criteria

  • Document file names should match the title of the document. For example: A PDF document titled “NMSU Web Standards” should have the filename “nmsu-web-standards.pdf.”

  • The use of dates and version numbers within the filename are discouraged. If a date is used, it should be placed at the end of the filename when possible. For example: A PDF document titled “2011 NMSU Web Standards” should be retitled to “NMSU Web Standards 2011 “ and have a matching filename of “nmsu-web-standards-2011.pdf.”

  • Dates should be used in the title and filename if the subject of the document is date specific. For example: A PDF document titled “NMSU Department May 2011 Calendar” and named “nmsu-department-may-2011-calendar.pdf” would be an acceptable use of the date in the title and filename.

Document Properties/Metadata

Document properties/metadata, should be accurate when publishing a document to the web. Document metadata can be accessed using the Document Panel in Microsoft Word or by viewing the file properties with Windows Explorer. For PDF documents, the file properties can be accessed from File Menu and selecting Properties in Adobe Reader.

Standard Criteria: Metadata Fields

  • Author: Should be the Department, Program, or Faculty Member who created the document.

  • Title: Should match the title of the document.

  • Subject: Should be relevant to the document content.

  • Keywords: Content specific words that could be used when searching for the document. The words included should appear in the document text.

  • *Category: Should be relevant to the document content.

  • *Comments: Any other relevant information.

*Category and comments only exist in Microsoft Office documents.

Website Navigation

NMSU will use consistent, meaningful, task-based navigation across its websites. Consistent navigation makes it easier for visitors to get to the information they need. Apply, Give, and Visit links are included as part of the global navigation menu.

Standard Criteria

  • Limit the number of navigation items to no more than seven. Visitors only keep up to seven items in short-term memory and will generally ignore items beyond that number.

  • The main navigation does not have to include a link to every single page on the site. In fact, for a large site (50+ pages), it certainly should not. You can have submenus on inside pages with links to deeper submenus on inside pages with links within the text or to pages that are more than one click away.

  • A “Contact Us” link must be included in either the footer navigation or the far-right link in the horizontal navigation.

  • A “Home” link is optional and typically discouraged.

  • The first item in the navigation should be the most popular page on your site, excluding the homepage.

  • Should contain links to the primary pages within that site only. Do not include links that go to other NMSU websites. Use sidebars or “related links” submenus in the footer to include links to external or other NMSU websites. 

Additional Criteria for College and Academic Department Websites

You must add the following links to your college website:

  • “Degrees” or “Degrees and Programs”

  • “Areas of Study” or “Departments”

  • “About”

  • “People” or “Faculty and Staff” - For faculty and staff pages, it is helpful to provide contact information and up-to-date office locations and other relevant information.

  • “Request Information” (e.g. links to a college or departmental RFI Slate form provided by the Admissions office). The request information link can be included in the main navigation, footer navigation or buttons available in the site masthead.

What to avoid 

  • Don’t create a navigation structure that mimics an organizational chart. Users should not need to understand how your office is organized to find the information they need.

  • Jargon, acronyms and internal university terms are not well understood by users. For instance, you can use “Paying Your Bill” instead of “Bursar’s Office.”

  • Don’t bloat your navigation by planning for pages with content that are owned by other offices. Instead, create links to the authoritative sources for certain types of information.

  • Don’t assume users will always start on your homepage. Visitors may land first on a page deep in your site, making a reliable menu even more important as they navigate to other pages.

  • The old myth that all pages should be no more than three clicks from your homepage is no more. University websites are too large for such a flat structure; besides, users don’t notice they are clicking through menus when the path they are following makes sense.