Menus and Navigation

Menus

There should be no-more than 1 main system menu, and 1 sub-menu (contained in some form of pull-out-box / quick links)
Sub-menus should be stylized so as to differentiate them in some way from the top-level navigation, but also as being one level down in the navigation hierarchy
The main menu should contain no more than 2 levels of sub-menus
Submenus should first drop-down from a main menu positioned in the header, and the second level should propagate to the right of the selected sub-menu item. In the case of a left-column main menu, it should only be one level deep and propagate from left to right
Sub-menus should propagate on click (not hover) to provide for tablet support

Quick Links

Quick links should be to the right of the content column, but should not be combined with a left-hand column navigation system
Quick links box should contain links such as FAQs, pertinent or frequently visited topics that are not covered by the main menu, or context relevant information
Main menu should either be to the left of the main content column, or within the header aligned left
Help or Support should be prominently displayed on the first page or top level menu? This menu option should then of course list all the self-help resources available

Breadcrumb Navigation

Breadcrumb trails should provide the user a sense of hierarchy and place within a system
Breadcrumbs should conform as closely as possible to the URL structure (or visa versa)
Each level in the breadcrumb should be a clickable link (except the current level)
Breadcrumbs should always appear at the top of a web page