Suggesting a tip

Hello to everyone,

First, I don't know if you'll get this message as I didn't find any  
place to actually subscribe to the list.

I wrote a paper some time ago in French about what I consider to be  
good practice. I tried to translate it in English but it just sound "so  
much French".

I would appreciate some feedbacks both about syntax, grammar... and the  
ideas themselves. If you can read French, I suggest you to read the  
original paper:
<http://blog.empyree.org/?2004/02/12/191-manuel-de-style>

And now for the submission (text then HTML version)

--------Text-----------
Hyperlinks should not break the harmony of an article but /mold/ into  
it. Who said the best tools are the ones you forget?

In order to avoid breaking this harmony, here are two complementary  
methods; one at the time of writing and the other at the time of  
proofreading:

 - *Authoring* : When authoring, /do not add/ hyperlinks. You will add  
them /later/, without changing /anything/ to your article.
 - *Proofreading* : Create a minimal CSS-Print removing any evidence  
that there are links (like: a {background:inherit;color:inherit}) and  
proofread your text. Now you cannot see links, it should appear like a  
book. Does it still make sense? Congratulations! If not, it means your  
text focuses too much on links.

Example:
 - Do not write : Hervé tells us about his passion for theatre ``here``.
 - But : Hervé tells us about his passion for theatre ``on his site``.
 - Better yet : Hervé tells us about ``his passion for theatre``.

Some notes :
 - On the Web (not always true for printed results), hyperlinks usually  
outstand compared to the rest of the text (usually with underlining  
and/or different color)  . As a result, they are /naturally emphasized/  
(a bit like <em> or <strong>).
 - Because of this, a link should be /self-explanatory/. A reader will  
actually focus on the emphasized string (here, the hyperlink) without  
noticing the rest. In Hervé's example, comprehension is getting better  
from 1. to 3. It of course helps a lot in the comfort of reading.
 - There is nothing wrong about hyperlinking a verb, as long as it is  
well-thought: a “``Get Amaya``” link should point to the download page,  
while a “Get ``Amaya``” link should point me to the main page of the  
project.
 - For visual media (handheld, print, projection, screen, tty, tv, see  
``http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-CSS2/media.html#media-groups`` for further  
explanation), a link must be large enough to be clickable. Avoid "1 2 3  
4 5" or "click ``here``". The link zone is simply /too small/.

--------XHTML-----------

<p>Hyperlinks should not break the harmony of an article but  
<em>mold</em> into it. Who said the best tools are the ones one  
forget?</p>
<p>In order to avoid breaking this harmony, here are two complementary  
methods; one at the time of writing and the other at the time of  
proofreading:</p>
<ol>
 <li><strong>Authoring</strong> : When authoring, <em>do not add</em>  
hyperlinks. You will add them <em>later</em>, without changing  
<em>anything</em> to your article.</li>
 <li><strong>Proofreading</strong> : Create a minimal CSS-Print  
removing any evidence that there are links (like: <code>a  
{background:inherit;color:inherit}</code>) and proofread your text. Now  
you cannot see links, it should appear like a book. Does it still make  
sense? Congratulations! If not, it means your text focuses too much on  
links.</li>
</ol>
<p>Example:</p>
<div style="background:#eee;border:#ddd .1em solid;margin:0 1em;">
<ol>
 <li>Do not write : <code>Hervé tells us about his passion for theatre  
<a href="#">here</a>.</code></li>
 <li>But : <code>Hervé tells us about his passion for theatre <a  
href="#">on his site</a>.</code></li>
 <li>Better yet : <code>Hervé tells us about <a href="#">his passion  
for theatre</a>.</code></li>
</ol>
</div>
<p>Some notes :</p>
<ul>
 <li>On the Web (not always true for printed results), hyperlinks  
usually outstand compared to the rest of the text (usually with  
underlining and/or different color). As a result, they are  
<em>naturally emphasized</em> (a bit like <code>&lt;em&gt;</code> or  
<code>&lt;strong&gt;</code>).</li>
 <li>Because of this, a link should be <em>self-explanatory</em>. A  
reader will actually focus on the emphasized string (here, the  
hyperlink) without noticing the rest. In Hervé's example, comprehension  
is getting better from 1. to 3. It of course helps a lot in the comfort  
of reading.</li>
 <li>There is nothing wrong about hyperlinking a verb, as long as it is  
well-thought: a <q xml:lang="en" style="color:blue" title="This is NOT  
a link">Get Amaya</q> link should point to the download page, while a  
<q xml:lang="en">Get <span style="color:blue" title="This is NOT a  
link">Amaya</span></q> link should point me to the main page of the  
project.</li>
 <li>For visual media (handheld, print, projection, screen, tty, tv,  
see <a  
href="http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-CSS2/media.html#media-groups">http:// 
www.w3.org/TR/REC-CSS2/media.html#media-groups</a> for further  
explanation), a link must be large enough to be clickable. Avoid  
<samp>Page <em style="color:blue" title="This is NOT a link">1 2 3 4  
5</em></samp> or <samp><q>click <em style="color:blue" title="This is  
NOT a link">here</em></q></samp>. La zone de clic est tout simplement  
<em>trop petite</em>.</li>
</ul>

--
</david_latapie>
blog.empyree.org

Received on Saturday, 16 October 2004 19:25:08 UTC