On Wed, 9 Feb 2005 14:11:18 -0800, Jan Steinman Jan@bytesmiths.com wrote:
Before you snort derisively about not knowing how to use a "back" button, think of someone you know that can barely use a VCR -- a parent or grandparent, perhaps. Shouldn't we try to make the Internet as easy as possible for them?
The assumption you are making here, which maybe you realise, but you haven't mentionned explicitly, is that closing the window to reveal another "underneath" is easier ("more intuitive" as the jargon goes) than clicking a button labelled "back" to reveal the page you've just left.
I'm not sure this is a safe assumption, as people tend to browse with their windows maximised, and novice users aren't generally very aware of the taskbar (assuming they're using Windows) as a clue to what is still open. Consequently, they may not be aware that a new window has openned, and that closing it will only take them "down" a layer, rather than being what you do when you've finished everything.
What's more, I've watched people get confused because their back button [which they *have* learnt to use] ceases to work - indeed, I do it myself - because a new window openned without them realising [a behaviour they have rightly *not* learned to rely on].
The best you can do to distinguish between internal and external links is to go really over-the-top on the [CSS] styling you apply to them. You could even, I believe, have your MediaWiki:monobook.css add the words "[External Link]" in small red letters after every single one of them. If people failed to notice that, they really would be beyond your help.