I just noticed that the editsection links, now with both the visual and source editor links, use a pipe character (|) to separate the two. Is this generally the desired way to separate multiple links in a bracketed section like this, in MW? Is there a policy?
I ask because I've been producing editsection-like links for a long time in our extension project, with commas in between - for example a LaTeX document will come with a list of links like "[log, pdf, dvi]". Maybe I should switch to using pipes instead of commas.
Sorry in advance for such a bikeshed-friendly question :P ...
Lee Worden McMaster U., UCB, SF Art Institute WorkingWiki
----- Original Message -----
From: "Lee Worden" worden.lee@gmail.com
I ask because I've been producing editsection-like links for a long time in our extension project, with commas in between - for example a LaTeX document will come with a list of links like "[log, pdf, dvi]". Maybe I should switch to using pipes instead of commas.
I'm not sure if there's a *policy* answer, but I would say that my opinion is that a pipe is a better separator than a comma for two reasons:
1) Commas have a left-affinity (which pipes don't) and 2) Commas expect a following space (whereas you can do pipes with or without as long as you make the same choice on both sides).
Therefore, for this category of separator, I think pipes would be less jarring to readers -- at least English readers.
Cheers, -- jra
On Sun, Sep 1, 2013 at 3:35 PM, Lee Worden worden.lee@gmail.com wrote:
I just noticed that the editsection links, now with both the visual and source editor links, use a pipe character (|) to separate the two. Is this generally the desired way to separate multiple links in a bracketed section like this, in MW? Is there a policy?
I ask because I've been producing editsection-like links for a long time in our extension project, with commas in between - for example a LaTeX document will come with a list of links like "[log, pdf, dvi]". Maybe I should switch to using pipes instead of commas.
Jay's previous answer is correct I think. When choosing between pipes and commas, the former are better for clear separation between equal elements. However, the honest truth is that using punctuation to call out and separate interactive elements like this is a pretty retrograde UI pattern.
Images or symbols plus words are together more easily memorable than words alone. If you are in a situation where you let users interact with a LaTeX document using a variety of methods, the ideal design might be one where you give each type (log, pdf, dvi) a small, simple, and easily distinguishable icon. Adding things like appropriate styles on hover, to denote when a user is about to select an element, also might be helpful.
Ultimately I think we want to be shooting for a world where we can just use whitespace, icons, and other less busy-looking methods to denote section edit links,[1] rather than using punctuation.
Steven
1. https://usability.wikimedia.org/wiki/Acai_Designs#Section_Edit_Links
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