Two-Level Menu (as Rows)

For a website with ten to fifty pages, it is helpful to group the pages into sections.  The result is a two-level hierarchy, with the "sections" as the top-level.  Within each section, the individual pages form a second, or "sub" (subsidiary) level.

My preferred way to navigate a two-level website is to always show the user two groups of links:

1. The top-level sections.  Each of these links to the main page of a section.  This is the first row of links shown at top of this page.
2. The individual pages within the current section.  This is the second row of links shown at top of this page.  These sub-links could alternately be shown in a narrow sidebar column (left or right of main content).

This navigation method:

1. shows the user where they are: "I'm on page ABC in section XYZ";
2. Gives the user a sense of context, a feeling of location within the site as a whole: I see NN sections, and I see NN pages in the current section, and I see how my current location fits within that overall scheme.
3. Gives one-click access to the choices the user is most likely to make: either to go to another page in the current section, or to switch to a different section.