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Breadcrumbs

How does everyone feel about breadcrumbs on web sites?

You know, the ol':
Home > About > Me > History > Grade School > Mrs. Peabody

I've seen it done fairly well, but personally I never use it unless a site's regular navigation is absolutely horrible - but this usually means their breadcrumbs suck, too.

Do you use it on sites you build, do you believe in it universally or for certain projects only? Or is it clumsy and old-fashioned, and shouldn't be used ever, even under penalty of torture?

Posted by smalltide on May 01, 2007 in Blab | 11 comments

rehumphries on May 01, 2007

I use breadcrumbs. For large site it's very nice to have.

tmarman on May 01, 2007

In certain situations, yes. (But usually not for top level navigation - just "subtabs").

greengurl on May 01, 2007

Visually, I prefer them to other nav displays... very clear, and good usage: don't know what "pros" think, though ...

Dave on May 01, 2007

I add them to documentation-type stuff sometimes. But with the websites themselves, I avoid making navigation systems complicated enough to warrant breadcrumbs.

If it's a particularly complex site you're working on, they're probably a good thing to have, but for small sites they're overkill.

Novak Vip-micro on May 01, 2007

I like the context they provide. Here's a nice write-up on the rationale for breadcrumbs.

KatieK on May 01, 2007

Thumbs up. I use them on more complex hierarchical sites.

armendariza on May 01, 2007

These days most people find content by using search engines and global site search, vs. the old method of drilling down from a top level navigation. Generally, a user lands on an article page, so on large web sites it's good to have an identifier like a breadcrumb for a user to navigate toward there area of interest.

pam Vip-micro on May 01, 2007

Ditto to what Dave said :)

Jahnoth Vip-micro on May 01, 2007

Interestingly enough, Jakob Nielsen's Alertbox for April 10, 2007: Breadcrumb Navigation Increasingly Useful

smalltide on May 01, 2007

Why?

inkblot on May 05, 2007

LOL smalltide... I think more than breadcrumbs people should have a full high res photo spread of themselves in every imaginable stock pic pose, available to the public for download!
hahaha damn funny...