On Sun, Oct 12, 2008 at 3:30 PM, Thomas Dalton thomas.dalton@gmail.com wrote:
In your example I would have expected "ping poing player" to link to an article about the specific involved ping pong player.
Ouch, that's *my* pet peeve! Don't link to an article using text that could well be the title of another article. A generic phrase like "ping pong player" should only link to a generic article about ping pong players (or the player section of the ping pong article if we don't have an article dedicated to ping pong players). If you want to link to a specific player, use their name as the link text. Piping is great when using an alternative name for something or for using something in a different part of speech than the title of the article (redirects work just as well), it shouldn't be used for hiding what article is actually being linked to. You should be able to tell from the link text what to expect when you click on it.
I'd argue that a link used in the direct object of a sentence should be a link about the direct object or not a link at all. If the sentence is about a general topic, it should be a link to a generic topic. Something specific, to something specific. Or in other words the linking should be at my conceptual level of understanding, which is usually a much higher level than 'just the text'. I can't say with confidence that I am even aware of the exact text that I'm reading in most cases unless I pay special attention.
My complaint is not so much that I am pro-linking-the-generic-to-the-specific, so much as I am *against* linking to a generic thing when the sentence has me thinking of a specific thing. I find it upsetting, frustrating, and confusing. I alone am not a statical study, but I've heard from others with the same complaint.
I think this means our positions are not mutually exclusive: I suspect both of us happy by not linking the "generic words" at all and always including specific words when you intend to link. Although this might cause some twisty wording in cases where the specific name of something had to be needlessly repeated just for the purpose of anchoring a link.