Special Linking Presentation Format

On Special Linking Presentation Formats ThinkingOutLoud.DonaldNoyes.20090327.20121028

The page ReachableDocuments, exposes methods presenting links and link alternates.

Example 1

http://donaldr.noyes.com/Example20090327-1.htm

 This example uses a single superscripted link.
  A second form (shown below) use several superscripts
  A third (shown below) shows a possible use to present auxiliary pages, such as BackLinks, or ExternalLinks?, which uses a
  subscriped link presentation.
 (I view these using TextPad and the View, In Web Browser pull down menu item)
 (it must be saved first using a .htm or .html extension)

 <html>
 <head>
 <title>Reachable Link</title>
 </head>
 <body>
 <h2>Reachable Links</h2>
 The presentation of links in a manner such as to make this
 <a href = "http://donaldr.noyes.com/ReachableDocument.htm">
   <em>NamedLink?</em></a>
   <sup>
     <a href = "http://donaldr.noyes.com/ReachableDocument20090327.htm">20090327</a>
   </sup>
   reachable, either through the primary (which in this example, does not exist, or a secondary,
   a versioned cached copy, which does exist.
 </body>
 <html>

Example 2

http://donaldr.noyes.com/Example20090327-2.htm

 <html>
 <head>
 <title>Reachable Link</title>
 </head>
 <body>
 <h2>Reachable Links</h2>
 The presentation of links in a manner such as to make this
 <a href = "http://donaldr.noyes.com/ReachableDocument.htm">
   <em>NamedLink?</em></a>
   <sup>
     <a href = "http://donaldr.noyes.com/ReachableDocument20090327.htm">20090327</a>
     <a href = "http://c2.com/cgi/wiki?ReachableDocuments">WardsWiki</a>
   </sup>
   reachable, either through the primary (which in this example, does not exist, or a secondary,
   a versioned cached copy, which does exist.
 </body>
 <html>

Example 3

http://donaldr.noyes.com/Example20090327-3.htm

 <HTML>
 <HEAD>
 <title>Reachable Link</title>
 </HEAD>
 <BODY BGCOLOR="beige" TEXT="000000" LINK="0000FF" VLINK="800080" BACKGROUND="">
 <h2>Reachable Links</h2>
 The presentation of links in a manner such as to make this 
    <sub>
      <a href = "http://donaldr.noyes.com/BackLinks20090327.htm">BackLinks</a>
   </sub>
 <a href = "http://donaldr.noyes.com/ReachableDocument.htm">
   <em>NamedLink?</em></a>
   <sup>
     <a href = "http://donaldr.noyes.com/ReachableDocument20090327.htm">20090327</a>
     <a href = "http://c2.com/cgi/wiki?ReachableDocuments">WardsWiki</a>
   </sup>
   reachable, either through the primary (which in this example, does not exist, or a secondary, 
   a example page, which does exist, or a third (as on WardsWiki).
   (The fourth subscripted link is shown as a prefixed link to the page back links)
 </body>
 <html>

To make the insertion of the SpecialLinkingPresentationFormat less a distraction, one might shorten the links to single number digits, or single letters, or to a superscripted formatted footnote.

 b  Backlinks
 c  cached copy
 nnn for a included numeric footnote with extended linkages and explanatory remarks
 s  WikiSoundLink?
 p  Page with list of pages having same pagename or having related emphasis

(wiki or otherwise) I prefer this short form. Preferably configurable whether the letters are shown or the footnote only. Or even better whether a right click (or comparable action, e.g. hover) displays the alternative links on demand (requires JavaScript magic of course).

A WikiEngine need not depend upon JavaScript Magic, since events such as hover, click, double-click and other such events can preferably take place in the executable or on the server-side.

[Anything other than default browser behaviour (as opposed to appearance, which can be changed via stylesheets, etc.) regarding links and buttons does require use of Javascript, and cannot "take place in the executable" (which executable?) or "on the server-side". Browser-based interaction is independent of the server until a new page is loaded (e.g., a link is followed), a form is submitted, or an asynchronous transfer is requested as in AJAX. AJAX requires JavaScript.]

This is a case of ItDepends. In my envisioned scenario of a WikiWithMoreThanPages and a WikiWithMoreThanUsers, I prefer "default" browser behaviour and that the "more" part of the Wiki be processed in the local environment of the Server, rather than in the client environment. This ensures consistant handling of processes, dependencies and data that are required will be always "reachable". Others may prefer the utilization of a special JavaScript "magic" or other processes and plug-ins to present the page to the user.

[So... You're saying you prefer use the default linking style and annotate links with text, with the annotations generated on the server-side?]

The following methods might be used to support this presentation format:

A WikiServer, or WikiEngine which renders the page immediately in the above format (1) or
a HttpProxy? which dynamically enhances pages as the are requested (2),
a 'WebService' which like the WaybackMachine provides access to 'enhanced' web pages transparently (transparent to the user, not of the protocol) (2) or
a BrowserPlugin? which dynamically enhances pages as the are displayed (2),
a JavaScript library loaded by the page in question and thus must already be present in the page (3) or
a PreProcessor? which takes a static page before it is uploaded to the WebServer and modifies it like the proxy (1) or
some other means.

Notes:

(1) Can access local (to the engine) data to be linked in.
(2) Needs access to some repository providing the alternative locations which might be remote.
(3) Needs access like (2) but also can potentially access local (to the client) links.

I would call such an enhancing mechanism a PageProcessor which dynamically enhance pages as it encounters them.

An example of how the JavaScript library could work can be seen at http://zarncke-family.de/ (click on "Index"). a) I index pages as they are visited, b) I enhance the links such they can be back-linked.

I'd prefer the HttpProxy? or WebService solution, because it has the largest generality.

-- GunnarZarncke

This looks like a solution looking for a problem. What exactly kind of problem is it trying to solve?

From what I understand (I have been somewhat following him think this out), the idea is to always have reachable documents, even when the original is unreachable for X reason(s). I agree (with my limited understanding) also with his desire to process as much as possible on the server side, as this would eliminate some of the frustrating variables from different browser processing discrepancies.

It is also a way to show related or associated links as in the Wikipedia example following.

If a page has a page or pages associated with it and the page presenter wants to make a simple one-click method to navigate to it, this solution is SimpleMinded.
Some sites use tabs for this, but if the text is extended such that the tabs go out of view, or the relationship is to another page which is not on the same site, the method has no problems in dealing with this.

WeNeedExamples

I have noticed that Wikipedia is using a similar coding convention to show RelativeReachableLinks appended to a BaseTopic?

 Example:
  http://donaldr.noyes.com/ReachableWikipedia.htm
 Code:
 <html>
 <head>
 </head>
 <body>
 <b>Wikipedia's Special Linking Presentation Format</b>
 <li><a href="http://incubator.wikimedia.org/wiki/User:Ebe123">
       Ebe123
     </a>(
 <sup>
  <a href="http://incubator.wikimedia.org/wiki/User_talk:Ebe123" title="User talk:Ebe123">
  <u>Talkabout it</u></a>
 </sup>
  <big><b>|</b></big>
 <sub>
  <a href="http://incubator.wikimedia.org/wiki/Special:Contributions/Ebe123" title="Special:Contributions/Ebe123">
   <i>contribs</i>
  </a>
 </sub>)
 <br><b>Individually presented</b>
 <li> Ebe123       - <a href="http://incubator.wikimedia.org/wiki/User:Ebe123">Ebe123</a>
 <li> Talkabout it - <a href="http://incubator.wikimedia.org/wiki/User_talk:Ebe123">Talkaboutit</a>
 <li> contribs     - <a href="http://incubator.wikimedia.org/wiki/Special:Contributions/Ebe123">contribs</a>
 </body>
 </html>

CategoryWiki