Wednesday, July 9, 2008
Holy Smokes! We got some mail!
(Especially odd, since we don't give out our e-mail address)
From: Darren Hootey [mailto: xxxxxxxxx]
Sent: Wednesday, July 09, 2008 9:02 AM
To: The Editorial We
Subject: Hypersensitive
Dear Editorial We,
What's the proper way to cite hyperlinks?
--Darren Hootey
From: The Editorial We
Sent: Wednesday, July 09, 2008 19:12 AM
To: Darren Hootey [mailto: xxxxxxxxx]
Subject:
We'll tell you what's not the proper way: Leaving the damn autoformat on. Before you do anything else, go to Word (which you should be using to write anything you plan to submit for publication—having to manually retype a printed manuscript is a pain, as is resaving a damn .rtf file as a .doc). Now go to Tools, then AutoCorrect Options, and click on AutoFormat As You Type. The box labeled Internet and Network Paths With Hyperlinks should have a check in it, click on the check and it should disappear. Now click OK.
It's an unbelievable pain to remove hyperlinks from everything that begins with http://www...and, outside of an e-mail or personal blog entry (which would unlikely require proper citations), having the link included in the text doesn't really serve any purpose or make it any easier for the editor or the designer—regardless of whether the piece is for print or digital publication.
From: Darren Hootey [mailto: xxxxxxxxx]
Sent: Wednesday, July 09, 2008 9:38 AM
To: The Editorial We
Subject: Re: Hypersensitive
That really doesn't help me at all.
--DH
From: The Editorial We
Sent: Wednesday, July 09, 2008 10:49 AM
To: Darren Hootey [mailto: xxxxxxxxx]
Subject:
Okay then, let's look at the link. Chances are, it'll look something like this: http://www.hyperlink.com. Nice and simple, easy to type and remember, all-around good. Only thing is, it doesn't really stand out, does it? Well, we take that back: It does stand out, but mainly because it has those hideous and eye-gouging forward slashes. Let's axe 'em.
Now we have www.hyperlink.com. That looks much less convoluted, but it still doesn't really stand out, so let's italicize it: www.hyperlink.com. There we go, now we know we're dealing with a hyperlink.
Nevertheless, sometimes it's appropriate to leave the http:// -- grotesque as it looks – in. For example, say we have a link http://hyperlink.com/page1.php/ -- you'll notice that there's no www. And while most links will have a www (and if they don't, you probably shouldn't be citing them anyway [more on that in a moment]), some won't, and the easiest way to do that is to just write out the whole damn link.
From: Darren Hootey [mailto: xxxxxxxxx]
Sent: Wednesday, July 09, 2008 10:51 AM
To: The Editorial We
Subject: Re: Re: Hypersensitive
Why shouldn't I be citing links that don't have www in them?
From: The Editorial We
Sent: Wednesday, July 09, 2008 11:09 AM
To: Darren Hootey [mailto: xxxxxxxxx]
Subject:
Piss off; we're getting to that.
Most links that don't have www in them are going to be specific pages on the site and are going to have equally specific and labyrinthinely mind-blowing addresses, such as http://hyperlink.com/page1/labyrinthine%20link%20address/horrendously%20confusing/M1N0T4UR.php
If you saw such a magnificent beast of a link in print, you'd throw down the magazine and make like Hell for the exit; there'd be no damn way you'd try typing that vicious bastard into your browser. Your reader would probably react the same way.
So what do you do?
If it's for print, just write the link to the site's homepage. Say it's www.hyperlink.com. Now, chances are the site'll have a search function, so tell your reader to go to the search bar on the home page and type in whatever keywords will lead him to the page http://hyperlink.com/page1/labyrinthine%20link%20address/horrendously%20confusing/M1N0T4UR.php
Sometimes just walking someone through it is better than dumping a trauma-inducing, flesh-eating monster of link on them. Plus it uses more words, so you'll get paid more for the piece.
If it's for digital media, say a Web page, you should be sterilized for posting such a link. Digital gives us the luxury of not having to worry about how long the damn link is because we can insert it into any word we want. You could have something 10 gazillion characters long, and it could all be contained in the simple instruction, "Click here."
From: Darren Hootey [mailto: xxxxxxxxx]
Sent: Wednesday, July 09, 2008 11:11 AM
To: The Editorial We
Subject: Re: Re: Re: Hypersensitive
Anything else?
From: The Editorial We
Sent: Wednesday, July 09, 2008 11:20 AM
To: Darren Hootey [mailto: xxxxxxxxx]
Subject:
Before anything else, you should first consult the style guide of your recipient. We admit that our advice is based on personal preference, but it’s a preference borne of many hours’ deep contemplation—mostly when we should have been working—so if you have a problem with it, bite us.
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