SlickMap CSS Lets You Create Beautiful Visual Site Maps Easily
Bored with the same old uninspiring, list-based sitemaps? If you’re like me, most likely you will find that creating better looking sitemaps can be quite time consuming. Thus, we end up having to settle for text-based unordered lists that look nothing like a map.
Well well well, worry not my friends, for now you can have a very beautiful and visual site map with nothing more than your standard unordered list and some CSS magic. Thanks to the efforts of Matt Everson of Astuteo, LLC, who released for public consumption what they call SlickMap CSS.
SlickMap CSS is “a simple stylesheet for displaying finished sitemaps directly from HTML unordered list navigation. It’s suitable for most web sites – accommodating up to three levels of page navigation and additional utility links – and can easily be customized to meet your own individual needs, branding, or style preferences.”
The first thing that really impressed me with SlickMap was the way data is visualized. The arrangment, grouping, and color coding of data makes it very easy to identify and find relevant data. The “Home link” is color blue and found at the top left most corner, immediately followed by the “Main links”, also colored blue. Level 2 and level 3 links can be found below them, each level having its own color, with a connector leading to each link. “Utility links” are grouped at the top right corner, separate from the main map.
What’s even more amazing about SlickMap is that everything is implemented in pure CSS. There is not a single line of JavaScript to be found anywhere. It’s also very easy to implement. Simply create an HTML file with an unordered set of links and import the slickmap.css file. Couple this up with an online site map tool like WriteMaps and you should be all set to rock and roll.
It supports most standards-compliant browsers, which means Safari, Firefox, and Opera. Sorry, IE but no love for you.
In the README file:
SlickMap CSS was created for web designers, and such was tested and developed for use with Safari, Firefox, Opera, and other standards-compliant browsers. Because of that, current versions of Internet Explorer (and probably IE versions long into the future) might look like sh*t.
The only downside I could think of right now is actually a strength in itself. While those large boxes would work for small to medium websites with a fairly standard site map layout like the one Astuteo has, it might do very well for larger websites with hundreds of links on their site maps. But then again there are methods to optimize and trim down those gigantic things.
It is a very well thought out and solid demonstration of the power of CSS, and for this reason I raise my glass and give my kudos to Matt Everson and the folks at Astuteo. Well done guys!
July 16th, 2009 at 11:13 am
I’m new to this, so please help me out here…why would I want to couple SlickMaps with WriteMaps? Don’t both programs do the same thing, with the difference being that one is a Web-bases tool and the other is a CSS style sheet? How does one tool enhance the other?
July 17th, 2009 at 5:55 pm
Thank you, pretty decent CSS. The IE6 issues were quite easy fix, after all. Thanks!
July 17th, 2009 at 8:34 pm
WriteMaps is a web application that allows you to create, edit, and share your sitemaps online. SlickMap is a CSS stylesheet that rearranges the sitemap into a graphical display.
July 28th, 2009 at 12:48 pm
Looks great for a website with about 30 pages or less…. and the price is right. (free)
October 29th, 2009 at 12:28 pm
Ooh dang i just wrote a huge comment and when i hit post it came up blank! Please please tell me it worked properly? I dont want to sumit it again if i dont have to! Either the blog bugged out or i am an idiot, the second option doesnt surprise me lol.
October 31st, 2009 at 9:44 am
Good Morning just figured i would let you know i also had a problem with your blog appearing frozen as well. Might be gremlins in the system.