Again, from my newspaper background, I came to regard to the top of a Web page that distinctly identifies its creator as "The Masthead." In newspaper parlance, the word has come to mean either the inside page that identifies the newspaper's owners and staff, or the "nameplate" above all the content that uniquely brands the newspaper. Nameplate or Masthead, take your pick. It's still the top of the page.

Specifically, in the terms I use, the Masthead is the top portion of the Web page above the Navigation Tabs. Care should be taken in how much space is alloted to it. On my own Web site, I allowed just just under 100 pixels because I wanted more room for content. If you have less content, or are less concerned about driving your content below the fold, you could add another 100 pixels with no problem.

Generally, I build my pages from top to bottom, left to right. I first determine how my content can be most generally divided, and I use those divisions as my tabbed categories. Once I have this part down, I go to work building my menu, one category at a time. The following pages outline this process, step-by-step.