From: Philippe Verdy (verdy_p@wanadoo.fr)
Date: Mon Jul 24 2006 - 19:38:13 CDT
From: "Curtis Clark" <jcclark-lists@earthlink.net>
>> The concept "external" is somewhat vague in this context. Apparently it
>> means "external to the current site", but what is a "site", really? If
>> we expect that the new character will become widespread, or even
>> "standard" marker, it should perhaps have more definite meaning.
>
> Like the definite meaning of "a" or "♂", perhaps. :-)
I do think that "external" here means a website for which the current page author cannot endorse its validity as it is managed by a third party; This icon or symbol acts as a way for the users to see that the referenced pages or files have not been reviewed completely and won't be checked.
This is a sign that says: "use this at your own risks, for any problem please refer to the owner of the referenced web site". It also means "I do not own the copyright of the referenced content you will be accessing to through this link", and "I, the owner of this web page, don't want to give support to anyone jut because one external link is broken".
For this to be possible, users should visibly know where the links point to, notably the domain name, which should not be hidden to them. Hovering the mouse on the symbol should reveal the target of the link, whatever the text present after it.
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