[epub] Re: Clickability

["Mark Brownlow" <mark.brownlow@xxxxxxxxx>]

John wrote:

>>  To suggest that links can be made clickable simply by adding a
>>  http:// before them is oversimplification

> It is not oversimplification. It is fact. This works in any email
> program.

Not by a long shot unfortunately. Although adding http:// will make most
links clickable in most software, there are many cases where it won't. Some
examples (don't ask me which software applies to which though):

o Older versions of AOL software

o URLs with unusual endings (some software or web interfaces won't recognize
a .exe ending).

o Adding a punctuation mark, like a period or bracket immediately after or
before a URL can throw some software

Then you can add those cases where the link is clickable but not as you
intended:

o Long URLs that get split over two or more lines by the receiving software
(which is why you'll often see email publishers adding a "long url - cut and
paste on one line" note after such URLs)

o some software won't count, for example, referrer data as part of a URL
(e.g. maybe only the .html bit shows up blue underlined in .html?id=23)

The issue Mani was getting at was not whether we should try and make links
clickable, but whether we should try and make links clickable *for all
people and all software*.

In other words, if 95% of people can click on the link just by adding the
http://, is it worth going the extra mile to ensure the remaining 5% can
also click?

Setting up an extra list and format for AOL subscribers, for example, takes
time. Mani is asking whether that time is justified by the additional
return. Or can we just rely on that 5% using cut and paste?

Which is a very sensible question to ask if you're in business, and not the
sign of an amateur, as someone inferred.

Mark Brownlow
Web publisher and writer
http://www.KeepingtheKey.com/
Turning ezine subscribers into enthusiasts




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