Are all links created equal? January 14, 2010 7:56 AM Subscribe
Why are there two places to click? Why does the "[more inside]" link point to the same place as the "XX comments" link?
I checked the FAQ.
[If this is not worthy of discussion, feel free to flag it and a mod will delete the question... but I would still like an answer of some kind.]
I checked the FAQ.
[If this is not worthy of discussion, feel free to flag it and a mod will delete the question... but I would still like an answer of some kind.]
Some posts don't have [more inside]. So for consistency of ... um... experience... we just make the [more inside] link to the whole thread, more inside and all. And then all threads have one way to get inside them and some have two. Unless I am not understanding your question?
posted by jessamyn (staff) at 7:59 AM on January 14, 2010
posted by jessamyn (staff) at 7:59 AM on January 14, 2010
Evolutionary phenotype.
posted by peacay at 8:00 AM on January 14, 2010 [1 favorite]
posted by peacay at 8:00 AM on January 14, 2010 [1 favorite]
The "xx comments" link skips directly to the comments. If there's a lengthy "more inside," you'll miss it by clicking on the comments link.
posted by moviehawk at 8:01 AM on January 14, 2010
posted by moviehawk at 8:01 AM on January 14, 2010
Maybe for consistency, posts that don't have more inside could say [no more inside] and have that be a link?
(Yes, that is a joke.)
posted by FishBike at 8:01 AM on January 14, 2010
(Yes, that is a joke.)
posted by FishBike at 8:01 AM on January 14, 2010
We should have a link on the inside that links to the outside. Also, a link on every comment linking to the head of the thread.
posted by DU at 8:03 AM on January 14, 2010
posted by DU at 8:03 AM on January 14, 2010
Is this where I complain about Favorites?
posted by JeffK at 8:08 AM on January 14, 2010 [1 favorite]
posted by JeffK at 8:08 AM on January 14, 2010 [1 favorite]
The "xx comments" link skips directly to the comments. If there's a lengthy "more inside," you'll miss it by clicking on the comments link.
Actually, the comments link and the "more inside" link both go to the same place (the top of the page). Your way would be more pedantically consistent, but would annoy me, because I'm used to just clicking the comment count to get into the thread.
posted by dirigibleman at 8:09 AM on January 14, 2010
Actually, the comments link and the "more inside" link both go to the same place (the top of the page). Your way would be more pedantically consistent, but would annoy me, because I'm used to just clicking the comment count to get into the thread.
posted by dirigibleman at 8:09 AM on January 14, 2010
If you want to contribute to the thread (i.e., put "more inside"), then you have to click the "More Inside" link. If you just want to read the comments, you have to click the comments link.
Doing it any other way could have dire consequences.
posted by backseatpilot at 8:09 AM on January 14, 2010
Doing it any other way could have dire consequences.
posted by backseatpilot at 8:09 AM on January 14, 2010
Some "more inside" history:
Dec 19, 2002: Can we have more inside?
Feb 17, 2005: Added to AskMe
Feb 17, 2005: More inside - could it look nicer?
Feb 18, 2005: Guidance on the correct use of AskMe's [more inside] field
posted by smackfu at 8:12 AM on January 14, 2010
Dec 19, 2002: Can we have more inside?
Feb 17, 2005: Added to AskMe
Feb 17, 2005: More inside - could it look nicer?
Feb 18, 2005: Guidance on the correct use of AskMe's [more inside] field
posted by smackfu at 8:12 AM on January 14, 2010
The "xx comments" link skips directly to the comments. If there's a lengthy "more inside," you'll miss it by clicking on the comments link.
As dirigibleman points out, this is not true. Many sites do that; we don't.
posted by cortex (staff) at 8:18 AM on January 14, 2010
As dirigibleman points out, this is not true. Many sites do that; we don't.
posted by cortex (staff) at 8:18 AM on January 14, 2010
cortex and jessamyn: Yes, you understand the question.
Sometimes I get curious.
backseatpilot, Oh, I thought that the "more inside" was if you wanted to read the extended question and the "XX comments" was if you wanted to add something... clearly, I have been doing it wrong! :)
posted by Drasher at 8:20 AM on January 14, 2010
Sometimes I get curious.
backseatpilot, Oh, I thought that the "more inside" was if you wanted to read the extended question and the "XX comments" was if you wanted to add something... clearly, I have been doing it wrong! :)
posted by Drasher at 8:20 AM on January 14, 2010
Drasher: "Why are there two places to click?"
I've heard from UX experts that having more than one way to do something makes it more likely that people will be able to do what they want. Not everyone thinks "hey, I want to read the more inside" and not everyone thinks "hm, comments". Having two thoughts do the same thing is better than having one thought end in a "how the hell do I do that" dead end.
In programming this is TIMTOWDTI, pronounced "Tim Toady" and coined by the Perl community. I'm not sure if there's a UX term for it.
posted by Plutor at 8:25 AM on January 14, 2010
I've heard from UX experts that having more than one way to do something makes it more likely that people will be able to do what they want. Not everyone thinks "hey, I want to read the more inside" and not everyone thinks "hm, comments". Having two thoughts do the same thing is better than having one thought end in a "how the hell do I do that" dead end.
In programming this is TIMTOWDTI, pronounced "Tim Toady" and coined by the Perl community. I'm not sure if there's a UX term for it.
posted by Plutor at 8:25 AM on January 14, 2010
There's a perfect reasonable explanations for this behavior. Of course there's [more inside].
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 8:34 AM on January 14, 2010
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 8:34 AM on January 14, 2010
...coined by the Perl community. I'm not sure if there's a UX term for it.
I think you answered your own question. If it's from Perl, it's not usable.
posted by DU at 8:35 AM on January 14, 2010
I think you answered your own question. If it's from Perl, it's not usable.
posted by DU at 8:35 AM on January 14, 2010
The "xx comments" link skips directly to the comments. If there's a lengthy "more inside," you'll miss it by clicking on the comments link.
As dirigibleman points out, this is not true. Many sites do that; we don't.
That's odd; I could have sworn that the comments link sent you to the top of the comments. What site have I been on all this time? THE CALL IS COMING FROM INSIDE THE HOUSE!
posted by moviehawk at 8:41 AM on January 14, 2010
As dirigibleman points out, this is not true. Many sites do that; we don't.
That's odd; I could have sworn that the comments link sent you to the top of the comments. What site have I been on all this time? THE CALL IS COMING FROM INSIDE THE HOUSE!
posted by moviehawk at 8:41 AM on January 14, 2010
We should get that boarding pass guy to redesign Metafilter's user experience if you ask me.
posted by game warden to the events rhino at 8:41 AM on January 14, 2010 [1 favorite]
posted by game warden to the events rhino at 8:41 AM on January 14, 2010 [1 favorite]
DU: "We should have a link on the inside that links to the outside. Also, a link on every comment linking to the head of the thread"
And to round it out each comment should have a link to itself.
posted by idiopath at 9:04 AM on January 14, 2010
And to round it out each comment should have a link to itself.
posted by idiopath at 9:04 AM on January 14, 2010
Predator 2 is not really as historically or medically accurate as you might think, Burhanistan.
posted by Mister_A at 9:22 AM on January 14, 2010
posted by Mister_A at 9:22 AM on January 14, 2010
One interesting thing from those old MeTa threads is that, at one point, the more inside was a plus sign.
posted by smackfu at 9:23 AM on January 14, 2010
posted by smackfu at 9:23 AM on January 14, 2010
Can you fix it so posts I don't care about don't have any links for me?
posted by Babblesort at 9:32 AM on January 14, 2010
posted by Babblesort at 9:32 AM on January 14, 2010
![[Moor inside]](http://content9.flixster.com/question/36/69/55/3669559_std.jpg){kind=link}
Because it's sexy. Incredibly sexy.
posted by Slack-a-gogo at 9:50 AM on January 14, 2010
posted by Slack-a-gogo at 9:50 AM on January 14, 2010
Why am I seeing contacts adding themselves as contacts?
posted by Marisa Stole the Precious Thing at 9:53 AM on January 14, 2010
posted by Marisa Stole the Precious Thing at 9:53 AM on January 14, 2010
Marisa Stole the Precious Thing: "Why am I seeing contacts adding themselves as contacts"
blame cortex
posted by idiopath at 9:58 AM on January 14, 2010
blame cortex
posted by idiopath at 9:58 AM on January 14, 2010
Is this self-referential thing referring to itself?
Is this self-referential thing referring to itself?
Is this self-referential thing referring to itself?
Is this self-referential thing referring to itself?
...................
posted by Drasher at 11:41 AM on January 14, 2010
Is this self-referential thing referring to itself?
Is this self-referential thing referring to itself?
Is this self-referential thing referring to itself?
...................
posted by Drasher at 11:41 AM on January 14, 2010
FishBike: Maybe for consistency, posts that don't have more inside could say [no more inside] and have that be a link?
Instead: THAT IS ALL.
posted by Pronoiac at 12:05 PM on January 14, 2010
Instead: THAT IS ALL.
posted by Pronoiac at 12:05 PM on January 14, 2010
![[Moore Inside]](http://funnybookfanatic.files.wordpress.com/2009/11/alan-moore-tie.jpg){kind=link}
Feature, not a bug, imo.
posted by frecklefaerie at 1:25 PM on January 14, 2010
posted by frecklefaerie at 1:25 PM on January 14, 2010
Why does the "[more inside]" link point to the same place as the "XX comments" link?
Can we change NSFW threads to say "XXX comments"?
posted by special-k at 2:05 PM on January 14, 2010
Can we change NSFW threads to say "XXX comments"?
posted by special-k at 2:05 PM on January 14, 2010
Morin's side.
More in slide [to extinction]
a moron's side
mooring side
morningside
posted by blue_beetle at 2:54 PM on January 14, 2010
More in slide [to extinction]
a moron's side
mooring side
morningside
posted by blue_beetle at 2:54 PM on January 14, 2010
moviehawk - I seem to recall that it used to work that way, especially in AskMe.
posted by Irontom at 3:40 PM on January 14, 2010
posted by Irontom at 3:40 PM on January 14, 2010
There are a few redundant links on the site. At the top of each page there are 2 links to your profile page. Another on top of the comment box, and one on the page footer. There are 3 links at the top of each page to get back to the main page of whatever sub-site you're reading and another 2 at the bottom.
But all those extra links don't bug me nearly as much as that ugly gray button by the search box.
posted by sambosambo at 3:41 PM on January 14, 2010
But all those extra links don't bug me nearly as much as that ugly gray button by the search box.
posted by sambosambo at 3:41 PM on January 14, 2010
Many sites do that; we don't.
And thank heavens you don't. Sites where the [read more] link leads to an #anchor in the middle of the post drive me crazy. Why? Because dipshits will copy and paste that link without removing the #anchor and post it to other sites as the link to the content, and when I click on it the page jumps down to the second paragraph of an article for which I've not even read the title or first paragraph, necessitating that I scroll up.
Also, as far as redundant UI is concerned, this one is nothing compared to the "0 Comments - Post a comment" thing that the blue does where both links are the same thing and the second one goes away once the first comment is posted.
posted by Rhomboid at 4:31 PM on January 14, 2010
And thank heavens you don't. Sites where the [read more] link leads to an #anchor in the middle of the post drive me crazy. Why? Because dipshits will copy and paste that link without removing the #anchor and post it to other sites as the link to the content, and when I click on it the page jumps down to the second paragraph of an article for which I've not even read the title or first paragraph, necessitating that I scroll up.
Also, as far as redundant UI is concerned, this one is nothing compared to the "0 Comments - Post a comment" thing that the blue does where both links are the same thing and the second one goes away once the first comment is posted.
posted by Rhomboid at 4:31 PM on January 14, 2010
Can you rename the [more inside] to [more after the jump]?
posted by qvantamon at 7:35 PM on January 14, 2010
posted by qvantamon at 7:35 PM on January 14, 2010
I made a script that will do that!
But in answer to your question: no.
posted by jessamyn (staff) at 7:47 PM on January 14, 2010
But in answer to your question: no.
posted by jessamyn (staff) at 7:47 PM on January 14, 2010
You are not logged in, either login or create an account to post comments
I remember there being a lot of requests for the more inside to be a link, back when it wasn't, which I think what pushed that into linksville. It's redundant, yeah, but not in a problematic way I don't think.
posted by cortex (staff) at 7:59 AM on January 14, 2010