Pagination: Right vs. Wrong

Pagination is an increasingly popular method of breaking up content into multiple pages. Specifically, I'm addressing the method of navigating to older content using single buttons.

Above, "the good" is from the tech blog Engadget, while "the bad" is from The Unofficial Apple Weblog. In the good example, the buttons are specifically labeled "older" and "newer", with the older posts being located on the left.

On the contrary, the bad example is simply labeled "previous" and "next" with no indication as to which will display older content. In practice, the button on the left here takes you to newer content. This is entirely backwards with respect to the good example.

Here are my guidelines for page-to-page navigation:

• Clearly label buttons with "Older" and "Newer" to differentiate the direction of content navigation
• Keep the button that leads to older content on the left

Consistency in site navigation is very important, and these little changes can help users navigate with less confusion.

Permanent Link · Published on May 10^th, 2010

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