1. A home page is the introductory page of a website – it provides an overview.
2. Note the black titles in the 6 large boxes on the home page:
Dining
Directories
Campus Events
Announcements
News
Living@WV
These are the areas of information residents most frequently seek out.
3. The blue items listed within each of these 6 boxes are links to the most popular topics within each of these areas of information. Links are quick ways to jump between pages on the website and are usually blue. When you click on a link it takes you to another page. Handy!
4. Note the small lock icons next to some items in the 6 boxes – these indicate links that can only be used if you have logged into the website.
5. Look at the first item in the first box (This Week’s Menus, in the Dining box) – it is the single most popular item searched by residents – we love our food! And note that this item does NOT have the lock icon – any resident can search this information without logging in.
6. Note the 8 topics (black print) in the menu bar above the 6 large boxes:
Dining
Directories
Events
News
Activities
Council
Health+Wellness
Living@WV.
Some of these are the same topics as are in the 6 large boxes. How they are different is that items in the menu bar are pull-down menus. This means that if you click on (or hover your cursor/mouse over) the small black downward arrow next to each item, another list of items opens up. Try it.
7. Compare the number of items listed under DINING in the pull-down menu with the number of items inside the large DINING box on the home page – the pull-down menu has more items. This is the same with all the topics in the menu bar.
Why is it organized this way? The most sought-out information is in the big boxes with easy access for residents; the less sought out (but also important) information is in the menu bar’s pull-down lists. Clicking on any of these links will take you to the webpage with that topic’s information.
8. Now, try clicking on the black word DIRECTORIES in the menu bar – just that single word – NOT the small black downward arrow next to the word DIRECTORIES. It takes you to another page that explains the purpose of each item in that pull-down menu. And, to make it easy, each of the terms in the colored boxes are links. Click on any one of them and it will take you right to that directory.
9. As you explore the website you may want to get back Home. How can you do this easily? There are 4 ways:
#1 Look at the top right section of the homepage – the 4 blue links: Home, Log out, Help, My profile. This list is at the top of every page on the website. Note the first one – Home. Click on it and you are back at the home page.
#2 Look at the top left section of the home page – the icon of the Willamette View heron. It is also a link to the home page. Click on it and you are back Home. Interesting note: if a website includes an icon of the organization it is usually a link to their home page.
#3 Click on any link on the home page. At the new page, look for the blue link <<Back one page – usually at the top right, below the menu bar. Click on it and you are back at the home page. If you have gone deep into the website and followed several links you may have to hit <<Back one page several times to get back home.
#4 Use the breadcrumbs – think of Hansel and Gretel who left a trail of breadcrumbs to find their way home. On a website, breadcrumbs show the path between the home page and the page you are on. It doesn’t always follow the exact trail you used but it follows the most common trail between where you started and where you ended. Click on the word HOME in the breadcrumbs trail and you are back on the home page.
Try it out. On the home page, go to the big box titled Directories and click on the item Photo Directory. Once on the new page, look at the top left – you will see the heron icon. Below that is the menu bar (Dining, Directories, Events, etc). Below that is the Bread Crumbs trail with most items in blue. The bread crumbs show that this path started at Home, then Directories and then to Photos. Click on HOME in that bread crumbs trail and you are back on the home page.
10. There is another box on the home page (upper right) with the word SEARCH inside it. Please see the lesson SEARCHING THE WEBSITE to learn the best ways to search for information on our resident website.
You are now ready to start exploring the website. You know the basic terms, you know how to use links to start your exploration and you know how to get home. Have fun!