We look at the menus as interlocking ripples of a pool of information. It is possible to get to almost every item in the PROfiles data catalog from multiple continuous and interlocking menus. This makes it possible for a user to change perspective and search method as the investigation progresses. Most information that is directly served by PROfiles can be tied to an incorporated place or county, so these are the basic building blocks of the presentation. PROfiles is centered on a set of geographic map menus that allow the user to select counties and drill down to places.
Information is presented in text, tabular, and graphic forms.
At present, the primary presentation is in the form of static pages. This reduces download time for the user, but increases update time for the developer. The proper choice in this regard depends upon site size and consistency. PROfiles has reached a sufficient size to justify the move of at least part of the site from a static to a dynamic page format. The move from a static to a dynamic platform will not affect our standard of presenting data in concise profiles of a particular subject or area rather than as large datasets.