Thread: cross links randomly become footnotes
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Old 11-14-2017, 12:46 PM   #14
Hitch
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Tex2002ans View Post
Side Note: Hitch has also written extensively about a semi-related problem, "Many to One" links. It mostly comes up with Indexes, but it seems like it could be a serious issue in Glossaries as well.
Well, firstly, IME, everybody wants the parsers/renderers to do what they want, and that's where we always end up in this sort of situation--where AlanHK doesn't want his x-reffed links to be pop-up footnotes, but they ARE. My question is this: is that really a problem? Why not code the back links, and let them ALL pop-up? On those devices that do that, that is. After all, to this day, most don't. Presumably, the book isn't ONLY for his use, right? So...unless there are also footnotes, in this novel, and that would then be confusing, I'd say, let it go and make them ALL popup. FWIW.

Secondly--yes, it's a problem in glossaries, as well. Same exact thing, many to one is ALWAYS a problem when dealing with how to get back. We've had someone persist in INSISTING that multiple links, to a resource that's cited in an endnote, get "back" so now we have links to/from that look like this:

Link 1 from wherever in the book (outbound)
link 2 from wherever in the book (later)(outbound)
link 3 from wherever in the book (yet later)(outbound)

Endnote Resource [1][2][3].

Honestly, I don't think that the typical user will think "oh, right, that's my second/third use of that reference time" and know which of the bracketed links to click.

Spoiler:
Of course, she also is insisting on something else, and I'm 99% sure that users won't know to click those, either (section heads, like "About Butter" or the like. Her body text section heads aree STYLED blue--yes, kids, just like links--so..who the hell's going to think "oh, yeah, that section head is a link, unlike the other 50 that aren't"?


Whatev.

Unless/until there is bonafide separate footnote coding, I don't see how this is dealt with. There are many perfectly valid reasons for backlinks, unrelated to footnotes.

Hitch
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