New Approach re Fasteners, Interior Panels, Body Parts, etc

[Gary Lewis]

Six hours ago in Fasteners: Where To Put The Pages I asked a question.  But no one has replied.  So either I did a poor job of explaining and confused everyone, or this is of no import.  And since I think it is a matter of great import I chose to assume the former and will, therefore, explain it differently in the hope that I can get your input.

Heretofore we've had a section called Fasteners & Illustrations.  It was fairly well hidden and little used.  But it had some neat stuff as it had illustrations of various sections of these trucks with hot links to pages on the fasteners.  I've been working on those pages to improve them, but had a sneaking suspicion that they were either misplaced or poorly done.

Today I realized that there's no reason those illustrations should be only about the fasteners.  They have body panels, interior pieces, carpet, etc shown.  So why not use those illustrations to let people quickly find the part for which they are looking?  In computer-speak, a graphical user interface.

As an example, let's say you are looking for information on something to do with interior trim.  We currently have a page at Documentation/Interior/Interior Trim that has a tab for Illustrations and another for Part #'s.  And on the Illustration tab there are tabs for Regular Cab, Supercab, Crew Cab, Bronco, and Common Parts.  So on the Regular Cab and Bronco tabs I've taken away the static illustration and substituted the illustration with the hot links.  (An easy place to see the difference is on the Bronco tab where both exist.)  And if you click one of the blue boxes you'll be taken to info on that part.

To me this could be a big step in making the site easier to navigate.  One reason is that I have it set so when you click on a link it opens a new window, meaning you have the window with the illustration still open, so you can go back.

Thoughts?  Suggestions?  Ideas?

[66gtk]

Works good!...the fasteners are hyperlinked on the diagrams, so easy to click for more info!

[delco1946]

That is awesome!  I noticed it also pops up with a URL when you hover over it. I don't think you need to bother with a URL since the cursor turns to a hand (signifying that one can click).

[Gary Lewis]

Thanks, guys.

Christopher - The URL bit is a given when you are on a web page.  If you hover over a URL it'll show up at the bottom left.  I don't think there's any way to turn it off.

[85lebaront2]

Gary, I really hadn't had a chance to play with it, but works great and makes perfect sense. If you know where a missing fastener is supposed to go, bingo, there's the PN and possible source.

[ArdWrknTrk]

      a lot of thought and care went into this, and it shows!

I only have two thumbs, or I would have given you more!

[Gary Lewis]

Thanks, Bill and Jim!  I hope to use this approach across the board - over time.

[grumpin]

Very nice! Thank you!