Publication continuum refers to the full range of publications from those that are evolving and limited in accessibility to those that are completed and in the public domain. The following design patterns may help to create systems and tools that support the full range of the publication continuum. The full range of the publication continuum is best realized when content is created in a digital form and is distributed over a network.

(Because analog content is difficult to reproduce and distribute, once published, it cannot continue to evolve…)

1. Categorize content by making it a node in a hierarchy
2. Associate and rank content/assets/nodes by means of aggregated tags
3. Map as many nodes of hierarchy to a navigational interface as is relevant and feasible.
4. Provide options to display a list of as many tags as is relevant and feasible
5. Allow content creators to determine who can access their content/assets/nodes and specify precisely what they are authorized to do with that content
6. Make the default configuration of a given node the same as its parent.
7. Parent nodes specify the display region of their children and target of grandchildren.
8. Display all nodes of a given generation in the same display region
9. Terminal nodes display their own content to all their peers
10. In general, display regions higher up or to the left contain parents of regions below or to the right (exception: navigational layouts that use only a right sidebar or that use both left and right sidebars for a given generation)