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Archiver > GENEALOGY-DNA > 2001-10 > 1003481089
From:
Subject: Re: [DNA] Zuraff - Polish or English? (Corrected)
Date: Fri, 19 Oct 2001 04:44:49 EDT
In a message dated 01-10-19 01:57:47 EDT,
writes:
<< Dear Ann,
The plain text came out fine.
However, as you can see below, "Semino reference" in the hyperlink was not
underlined.
I have Outlook Express. >>
Actually, she probably can't see it. :-) Because when it came back to AOL
from Outlook Express it IS underlined again. However, when Orin Wells sent it
back to AOL via Eudora it is NOT underlined.
I'm not quite certain why she is doing this other than she said she needs to
test how hyperlinks are handled at Rootsweb. But for what it's worth I'll
explain why I ususally send BOTH an AOL hyperlink AND a plain text URL when I
send URLs to a list.
The problem has to do with the fact that AOL handles hyperlinks, or
"hotlinks," differently than just about everybody else (this probably doesn't
come as a surprise to most people here . :-) ). Several years ago while
working with a rather large Rootsweb list I found that when I would send an
AOL hyperlink to the list a few people would complain that the link was not
"clickable" for them. On the other hand, if someone sent a plain text URL to
the list it was not "clickable to me on AOL. Some mail-handling programs
recognize a URL as a web site address and automatically make it a hotlink.
AOL does NOT. So I would have to copy and paste it. Basically, with respect
to how they viewed the links the people on the list tended to fall into three
groups.
If I send an AOL hyperlink such as: <A
HREF="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&lis
t_uids=11073453&dopt=Abstract">Semino reference</A>
Group A (Alll AOL Users) - AOL users will see the words Semino reference
highlighted and underlined and can simply click on it to go to the web site.
Group B (The majority on non-AOL Users) - Most non-AOL users will a plain
text URL surrounded by HTML text with the words Semino reference at the end.
However, their mail-handling program will still recognize the http: as the
beginning of a URL and make it a hotlink anyway.
Group C (The minority of non-AOL Users) - These folks will see the same thing
as the folks in Group B. However, their mail-handling program will NOT
convert the URL to a hotlink. So, these folks would have to copy and paste.
If I send a plain text URL such as:
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&;
>list_uids=11073453&dopt=Abstract
Group A (Alll AOL Users) - AOL users will see the plain text URL "as is."
AOL will NOT convert it to a hotlink. They would have to copy and paste.
Group B (The majority on non-AOL Users) - The mail-handling program for these
users would recognize the plain text URL as a web site address and convert it
to a hotlink that they would be able to click on.
Group C (The minority of non-AOL Users) - These folks will see the same thing
as the folks in Group A (plain text "as is"). Their mail-handling program
would not convert the URL to a hotlink and they would have to copy and paste.
>From the above you can note the following:
1). The people in Group A (all AOL users) may or may not have to copy and
paste (depending on which methed is used). .
2). The people in Group B never have to copy and paste (no matter which
method is used).
3). The people in Group C always have to copy and paste (No matter which
method is used).
So, I send BOTH types mainly as a courtesy to Groups A and C. Group A (the
AOLers) can very conveniently click on the AOL hyperlink and IGNORE the plain
text URL. And for group C, including the plain text just gives them a copy of
the URL that isn't surround by HTML text and makes it a bit easier for them
to copy and paste it.
Regards,
Bill
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