GigaSpaces : Tabbing help

Accomplished use of tabbed presentations gives enquirers quick access to relevant parts of an archive.

The Site

GigaSpaces, a provider of information architecture software and technologies, has an Online Help page in the Documentation area of its Developers section that acts as a gateway to an extensive support resource.

The page is divided into vertical panels headed, respectively, Choose A View and Get Some Background. Each uses a tabbed presentation to offer multiple ‘views’ based on audience need. The first has a choice of three tabs: Middleware Components, Interfaces & APIs and Configuration & Management. The selection dictates the content display within the panel, which previews the more detailed sub-options. The three Background options (Concepts, Basic Examples and Quick Start Guide) function independently of the Choose A View panel. Tabs are also used in the Browse Space feature linked from the page navigation, which includes Recently Updated documents as the default display among its seven options.

The Takeaway

GigaSpaces use of tabbed presentations to categorise its documentation help and provide users/enquirers with quick routes to the most relevant parts of the archive – or marketing material, through the Background options – is not exactly groundbreaking. But its execution is a good example of how tabs can be an effective tool for managing the presentation of large amounts of data to a varied audience.

GigaSpaces’ provision of a Developers section and multi-faceted help page reflects not only the large amount of material its business generates, but also the benefit of the resource to itself and its customers. Product documentation archives are among the most regularly used areas of business-to-business sites, not least because they are a natural ‘fit’ with the web’s strengths of virtually limitless storage capacity and searchability. By putting them online companies can also divert a considerable volume of routine calls and requests to the self-help environment of their website.

First published on 09 January, 2007