There’s this theory of website organization that I half-jokingly call the “Mayan Pyramid Scheme.” The basic idea is that the broadest, most general information is the base of the pyramid. Stacked on top of that is a narrower step of information, followed by something more specific, and so on until you reach a nice tiny chunk of extremely specific info telling you exactly what you want.
As an organizational scheme, it does have a few drawbacks. If it’s not done well, it can take a long time to climb the pyramid to your destination. In its defense I should point out once you do get to the top of this particular Mayan pyramid, the chances are extremely low that you’ll wind up with your heart being cut out by a guy in a feathery headdress. Plus, with all of the groundwork in place, it’s easy to tell that what you’re looking at is what you were looking for.
Trouble is, I’ve just been handed off a website that really really wants to be built using this sort of structure. And all they’ve got so far are some of the little tiny chunks that are supposed to be at the top of the pyramid, and none of the rest of the pyramid structure.
This turns the nice step-like building into one of those really frustrating Mario-Brothers like games. I can see the pages for the site, hovering there way up above the ground, but there’s nothing linking to them, and no way to jump that high.