Global Navigation
What it is: Consistent menu visible on every page.
Pros:
Consistent and familiar across the entire website
High discoverability of all pages
Simpler to implement
Cons:
Can overwhelm users with too many options
Irrelevant on certain pages
Links to pages only, not sections
Page-Specific Navigation
What it is: Menu changes based on current page.
Pros:
Cleaner interface
Task-focused experience
Links to both sections and pages
Cons:
Inconsistent across pages
Users may lose orientation
More complex to implement
Quick Comparison
| Global | Page-Specific |
Consistency | ✓ | ✗ |
Discoverability | ✓ | ✗ |
Screen space | ✗ | ✓ |
Easy orientation | ✗ | ✓ |
When to Use Each
Global navigation: When you want consistency across all website pages.
Page-specific navigation: When providing a task-focused experience.