6b. Write each menu so it offers a meaningful structure. Challenge-- Web Writing that Works

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Home > Guidelines > 6. Make meaningful menus. > 6b. Write each menu so it offers a meaningful structure. > Challenges + Answers

Diagram Background Examples Audience Fit Challenges Bonus! Hot Text chapter (126K, PDF, 2 minutes at 56K)	Challenges Reorganize one of these topic lists into a meaningful menu, by dividing items into groups, sequencing those, and rewriting items to articulate your new structure. Feel free to delete duplicates. You may need to create group names. Remember that similar items ought to have the same grammatical structure. (a) Choosing the Paper for Your Sales Brochure • Paper weight • Paper surface and texture • Slickness • Bendability, foldability • Color • Absorbability • Toughness in standing up to mail • Ability to print small type clearly • Resemblance to papers we have used before • Cost per 500 sheets • Ease of printing (how much gets damaged) Answer	Answers (a) Choosing the Paper for Your Sales Brochure Thinking about Quality Paper weight Paper surface and texture Slickness Toughness in standing up to mail Bendability, foldability Thinking about Printing Absorbability Ease of printing (how much gets damaged) Ability to print small type clearly Thinking about Impact Color Resemblance to papers we have used before Thinking about Cost Cost per 500 sheets
	(b) Arguments in Favor of Purchase • Recommending $100,000 purchase of equipment • The budget • The benefits • The possible disadvantages • How we will cope with any problems • How the machinery works • Where the machinery will go • Changes we need to make in wiring • Possible code violations and solutions • Air conditioning upgrades needed • Break-even date (when we’ll start saving money) • Labor-saving aspects • Improved quality, thanks to this equipment • Improved competitive position • Unfamiliarity of equipment • Training needed to familiarize workers with gear • Replacement cycle • How to speed up replacements • Why the cycle is slow now • Vendor promises, on replacement cycle • Quality of this equipment • Mean time between failure for this equipment • Speed of this equipment • Maintainability of this equipment Answer =>	(b) Arguments in Favor of Purchase Recommending $100,000 purchase of equipment The benefits Labor-saving aspects Improved quality, thanks to this equipment Improved competitive position The possible disadvantages Unfamiliarity of equipment Possible code violations and solutions How we will cope with any problems Challenges when we install Changes we need to make in wiring Air conditioning upgrades needed Replacement cycle Why the cycle is slow now Vendor promises, on replacement cycle How to speed up replacements The budget Paying for the equipment and installation (new item) Training needed to familiarize workers with gear Break-even date (when we’ll start saving money) Technical specs Quality of this equipment Mean time between failure for this equipment Speed of this equipment Maintainability of this equipment How the machinery works Where the machinery will go
	(c) Electronic Devices to Catch a Thief (list of topics) • Anti-theft devices • Equipment to catch a thief • Electronic guard dogs • Spotting a shadow • Locating metal • Sensing heat gradients • Noticing temporary duration brightness deltas • Picking up a break in the circuit • Detecting metal • Electronic gizmos to warn you if a robber has entered your business • Installing a fan to set up a background vibration • Breaking an ultraviolet beam to change current in a photoelectric cell • Detecting a change in light levels • Detecting a change in heat patterns • Picking up metal in a location that usually has no metal • Detecting a change in pressure • Detecting a change in capacitance • Detecting a change in vibration • Alerting the police over the phone lines • Autodialing the police • Sounding an alarm • Running a surveillance camera Answer =>	(c) Anti-theft devices Electronic guard dogs Surveillance cameras Sensors Detecting metal Detecting a change in light levels Spotting a shadow Detecting a change in heat patterns Detecting a change in pressure Detecting a change in vibration Installing a fan to set up a background vibration Detecting a break in an ultraviolet beam How a break in an ultraviolet beam changes the current in a photoelectric cell Picking up a break in the circuit Detecting a change in capacitance Alerts Autodialing the police Sounding an alarm
	(d) Network Security • User rights • User privileges • User access options • What a user can do with a file or directory • The things a user can get ahold of in your computer • View, read, write privileges • Right to view a file • Right to read a file • Right to write to a directory • Right to overwrite a file • Right to view contents of a directory • Right to view and read, but not write to a directory • Privilege to look inside a directory • User ability to open a particular file • User ability to assign rights to a file • A user can set up privileges (or rights) for everyone, or a group, or just oneself • Setting security options on your own file • Setting security options on your own directory • Setting up a group account • Defining a group’s privileges as read-only or view-only for the whole system, a directory, or a file • Defining a user as read-only or view-only for the whole system, a directory, or a file • Defining a user’s privileges for a particular file • Regulating an individual user’s access to a directory • Regulating a group’s access to a directory • Defining user rights for a directory • Specifying what a user can do with a file Answer =>	(d) Network Security Defining privileges for a particular file, directory, or system What privileges you can grant Reading (also known as Viewing) Only Writing (or Overwriting) Assigning privileges Who gets privileges All A group An individual Only yourself Setting up a group account Setting security options on your own file For all For a group For an individual For you alone Setting security options on your own directory For all For a group For an individual For you alone Setting security options for the entire system For all For a group For an individual For you alone
	(e) Help on the Distributed File System • Add a Dfs link • Add a Dfs root share • Add a Dfs shared folder • Check status of a Dfs shared folder • Conceptualizing a distributed file system • Create a Dfs root • Creating a distributed file system • Delete a Dfs root • Delete a Dfs root share • Display a Dfs root • Managing a distributed file system • Remove the display of a Dfs root • Set replication policy • Troubleshooting a distributed file system • Understanding a distributed file system • Using a distributed file system Answer = >	(e) Help on the Distributed File System About Distributed file systems (Dfs) Understanding a distributed file system Creating a distributed file system Managing a distributed file system Using a distributed file system Troubleshooting a distributed file system Setting replication policy Working with the Dfs root Create a Dfs root Delete a Dfs root Display a Dfs root Remove the display of a Dfs root Working with the Dfs root share Add a Dfs root share Delete a Dfs root share Working with Dfs links Add a Dfs link Delete a Dfs link Working with a Dfs shared folder Add a Dfs shared folder Check status of a Dfs shared folder Delete a Dfs shared folder

Don't make me use this ax on your menu!

Other ways to make your menus meaningful:

6a. Think of a heading as an object you reuse many times.

6c. Offer multiple routes to the same information.

6d. Write and display several levels at once.

6e. When users arrive at the target, make it obvious.

6f. Confirm the location by showing its position in the hierarchy.

Resources on menus

Taking a Position on Menus

Heuristic Online Text (H. O. T.) Evaluation of Menus

Poster

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