Visio® 2007 Bible

Chapter 23. Mapping Web Sites

IN THIS CHAPTER

• Planning web sites

• Creating conceptual web diagrams

• Generating maps of existing web sites

• Viewing elements on web site map diagrams

• Working with the web site map model

• Configuring site maps

• Identifying web site problems

Whether web sites are a few pages and a handful of links or a complex spider's web of pages and related web sites, they require careful planning during the development stage. After sites are up and running, they require conscientious maintenance to ensure that they serve the needs of their organizations and, in turn, those organizations' customers. Visio 2007 provides powerful tools for documenting and managing both stages of web site work.

The Conceptual Web Site template helps plan the structure and navigation of web sites as well as proposed content before you build anything. The Web Site Map template is an invaluable aid for maintaining and refurbishing existing web sites. It includes tools that build models of existing web sites whether they reside on servers or local hard drives and then develop web site map diagrams from those models.

A site map makes it easier to maintain a web site because the current content and organization is plain to see. Furthermore, a Visio site map detects broken links. This chapter explains how to use Visio to create and fine-tune conceptual Web diagrams, as well as how to generate and work with web site maps for existing web sites.

Planning Web Sites

Internet and intranet web sites have become crucial ...