It's great, isn't it, that all these years in, there is still so much room for individuality and experimentation? One thing that drives me mad is when I am reading an article and click on a link within it only to find that, instead of opening in a new window, it has carted me away from the article altogether by opening in the same page, when what I had in mind was to finish the article first and then check out the page which had had time to load in the background!

Another thing I dislike is links that don't change colour after you have used them so that you find yourself clicking on a link a second time in error... Oh dear, I sound like an old moaner, don't I?!

Well, for balance, then - a couple of things I do like... Links that are consistent with the colour scheme of the page (I don't care whether they are the same as the text or darker/lighter/toning/contrasting just as long as they don't actually clash with everything else... and... links that form part of the content rather than breaking it up with CLICK HERE or whatever. If the words 'a magnificent view of the valley' are obviously a link to an image, one can click and take a look or read on undisturbed and I like that...

I think it's important to try and put yourself back in the shoes you wore the first time you entered the Internet and remember how alien it all seemed, however exciting. The simpler and easier to navigate the site was, the more likely you were to enjoy it and want to return... Is one building sites with which to impress other webmasters or with which to appeal to the public? The two things may not, necessarily, be compatible...

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Linnet Woods
The pen is mightier than the sword. Except when the other guy has the sword.