Two recent projects involved extensive use of Ajax for displaying content. One of the great features about using Ajax is the ability to pull in external pages that can be pre-formatted with any time of content into the containing div using a common menu. Here are examples of how we’ve deployed Ajax in different ways to assist with the navigation of client websites:

Example #1 – Using Ajax in the Main Menu

When we say ‘main menu’ we are referring to the main method of navigation for the website. This is usually a horizontal or vertical menu (in this case a vertical unordered list styled with CSS) that is present on every page of the site. This image below illustrates how the site was laid out to accommodate the display of the external content into the container div (click to enlarge):

Ajax menu by SimcoMedia

Example #2 – Using Ajax in a Sub-menu

In this example the site has a main menu horizontally to provide navigation to all the various sections of the site. Within those sections are sub-menus that allow the related content to be displayed via Ajax into a container div located to the right of the sub-menu. This is extremely helpful in keeping the visitor ‘on topic’ while reviewing your site content. The image below illustrates the layout (click to enlarge):

Ajax menu by SimcoMedia

Ajax can be used in a variety of ways to improve the speed and ease of navigation for your website. Overuse of Ajax can be a site killer. For more information on how Ajax could be integrated into your website please contact us.