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Posted by newsreader on 05/15/06 14:56
John Dunlop wrote:
> Chung Leong:
>
> > It's a common practice for government sites. The idea is that people
> > need to know they will no longer be looking at official information.
>
> The idea sounds fine to me, and I would even extend it further than
> government webpages. I would have *all* links as clear as possible, so
> that the relationship between the current page and the linked-to one is
> obvious. (Unless there is some reason to obscure that relationship;
> none spring to mind.)
>
> I would still take issue with the setting up of a middle page to
> achieve that end though, but from a user's perspective I can't offer
> much in the way of argument other than my own opinion that it would be
> a nuisance being presented with an 'are you sure?' (said in a Mrs Doyle
> from /Father Ted/ voice) each time I followed an external link.
Perhaps the middle page could be used to describe the external link in
more detail so the user can decide if it's worth the time to load the
page. The javascript option I posted can descibe in more detail the
external link, graphic intensive, only suitable for a articular browser
etc... or the other option is a middle page, and that doesn't require
anything more advanced than standard html 4.01.
But obviously there is a valid use for an option to decline loading the
external link.
>
> Besides, external links can be set apart in other ways. For example,
> the title attribute of the link (e.g., title="EXTERNAL LINK: ... "),
> the rel attr. (e.g., rel="external", with a suitable Profile), the
> surrounding text (e.g., explain in the prose what the link is), and the
> style of the link (e.g., an image after every external link). Those
> can be combined to make the relationship between the two pages more
> explicit.
>
> > There is also a security dimension. Such a page helps ensure that
> > you're not leaking sensitive information through the HTTP referrer
> > field.
>
> Good call, hadn't thought of that. RFC2616 mentions it.
>
> I think we would need to distinguish intra- from internet then.
>
> --
> Jock
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