Breadcrumb Trails

A breadcrumb trail is a navigational tool that shows the user the path of displays they have visited from the homepage. This breadcrumb consists of links so the user can return to displays on this path.

A breadcrumb trail looks like this:

Provider/License Search > Provider Details > Claim Detail

This breadcrumb trail shows that the user started by doing a provider/license search and selected a Provider from the search results and then selected a claim, and the user is currently looking that the details for that claim. Both the "Provider/License Search" and the "Provider ID" sections of the breadcrumb trail are links back to those displays in the application.

Breadcrumb trails are a helpful navigational tool when the page displayed is within a hierarchy of pages and is not the topmost page or when the user cannot easily navigate through the hierarchy via other local navigation methods. For example, if the page is fairly deep in a hierarchy, the breadcrumb maybe the simplest way to provide navigation. Also, the page may be arrived at from an external source (e.g., a search results page) and the breadcrumb trail provides a sense of context.

The breadcrumb trail resets when a display is selected from the menu bar or the user utilizes the history drop-down functionality.