Those magnificent links
Internet links, or hyperlinks to give them their
full name, seem perhaps a strange topic here, but their importance for net
designers, authors, and users cannot be underestimated. They are the basis of surfing the web, and search engines and
other major websites such as Wikipedia
and social media sites. All use hyperlinks
extensively, and
they are used extensively on this Goldhanger Past
website both to move between pages on this site and to link to
other websites.
Computer programmers who
gained experience in the days before the arrival of the internet, when their
applications were isolated inside the bounds of one processor, will doubtless
remember their forerunners: the “jump” and “goto”
instructions. Then as now, there were pros & cons to their uses and were
much maligned as the source of excessive complexity, errors and bugs. Web
hyperlinks have some similarities, but have many overwhelming benefits...
o
they empower the reader to choose their own path through
a website and around the web.
o
they provide relevant and recommended routes to other
parts of the net.
o
links can be shown in forms: a word, a phase, an image, a
button, an icon, or be part of a list or menu.
o
the displayed text on the home site does not have to
reflect the destination address.
o
the destination, or target, can take many forms such as
a picture, video, audio, music, etc.
o
they are all effortless for the user with just point
& click or select.
o
they save web designers and authors time and effort by
removing duplication, and avoid plagiarism.
o
the link can be opened in a new tab or window by the
author or user, leaving the
original page still visible.
o
links can be copied into emails, social media messages
and be in many on-line document file types.
o
the back-button on the browser can be used to return
the user through the chain of previous links and pages.
However there
are several disadvantages...
o
a user can opt for a link to new site, becomes
absorbed in it, and not return to the original site.
o
users can be confused by a multiplicity links, and not
recognise a link for what it is.
o
links can open in a separate browser tab and users can end up with too
many pages open at the same
time slowly the device down and
even stopping it working completely.
o
links can be deliberately disguised to mislead for
commercial gain and to hide viruses.
o
links not updated after the destination site has been
restructured, resulting in not found messages.
Experience has shown that it is large public
organisations and councils that regularly re-structure their
websites, resulting in these not found messages. The solution for
this web designer is to copy some
of the information into this Goldhanger Past site. The solution for the user is to separately search
for the information within the destination site.
select the back button to go back to the previous
page or go
home or go to... about
this website