The varieties of hypertext:
- The primary advantage of hypertext over other formats is in keeping extra detail in the background.
- Other uses for hypertext include: multi-path fiction, adding suspense by delaying info display, annotating texts, collecting diverse documents into 'anthologies', separating novice-level material from advanced material. Varieties of hypertext
Making hypertext navigable:
- Navigation among pages becomes disorienting unless a simple tree- structure is used as a basis. Every page needs a consistent menu with: home, up, previous, and next.
- 'Traditional' hypertext theory recommends one screen of info per page. On the WWWeb, this seems too little. Navigation in hypertext
Menus and maps:
- On the WWWeb, clickable graphics are a popular form of menu, but they have some undesirable features. Ascii graphics are an interesting alternative.
- Also, what text you highlight can make a great difference in readability (etc). Hypertext menus and maps
Making hypertext exportable to other sites
- If any arbitrary page of your hypertext can be accessed directly from outside, you need to put clear identifiers on each page, with those newcomers in mind. Titles should be comprehensible without other explanatory context. Information about where you've come to should be unobtrusively available on every page.
Maintaining a system with worldwide links
- The farther away in cyberspace your reader is, the more likely it is there will be annoying delays. If you're trying to convey information, it's better that it not be broken up into too-small chunks, or weighted down with an unanticipated load of graphics. The reader needs to know, before choosing a link, what's she's letting herself in for.
- Also, a system for automatically updating links when the target is relocated is needed.
HTML issues: structure vs layout
- HTML is designer-unfriendly-- its whole raison d'etre is to make the appearance of all documents uniform, so it imposes a broad set of niggling rules about proper use of headers, whitespace, etc.
Platform issues: speed, reliability, graphics, whitespace
- On top of this straitjacket, there's the added complication that no two web-browsers display HTML exactly the same, and that the most popular among all of these-- Netscape/Mozilla-- has encouraged people to go beyond pure HTML, to increase their control over layout.
Professionalism: grammar, spelling
- Finally, there are some basic principles of communication, like a simple, direct style, and thorough proofreading for confusing grammar and misspellings.
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David Warlick The Landmark Project |
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