Three Types of Links (in this website)

LINKS IN THIS WEBSITE

Three types of links are used in a consistent way
throughout our website for Whole-Person Education:

An italicized link is always INSIDE-the-page, taking you to another place inside the page you're reading. { For example, this link takes you to an explanation of "how to prevent time-wasting reloads" later in this page. }

A non-italicized link does one of two things, depending on its location:
• In the main BODY of a page, a non-italicized link is always a page-ADDING link that adds a new page by opening it in a new window, so this page will remain open in this window and you can easily move back to it after exploring other pages through links.
• In the BOTTOM of a page, a non-italicized link is always a page-REPLACING link that replaces this page by opening the new page in this window. {synonyms: You can also think of page-replacing as page-exchanging, page-swapping, or page-trading.}

For example, here is a page-adding link (A Quick Education) and at the bottom of this page you'll find page-replacing links.

TIPS FOR USING LINKS:

In this website (and others?) don't turn off "underline links" in your browser's preferences. In most websites, and especially in this one (because it uses colors for non-link purposes) underlining provides a clear visual clue to tell you what is and isn't a link.

In any website, you can use visual cues to know whether a link has added a new page or replaced the old page, because (with most browsers) a new window will open in a slightly different location so you'll be able to see both pages, new and old. { This is impossible if you're using a Windows operating system, unless you decrease the size of your browser window so it doesn't occupy the entire screen; then when a new window opens it won't "eclipse" the old window, instead it will appear in a different location and you'll be able to see both windows. }
Another way to know "what happened when you clicked the link" is to try using your browser's BACK-button. If it's active the button will "re-replace" and take you back to where you were before the page-replacing. But if it's inactive and doesn't do anything, you'll know that you've added a new page, so now both pages (new and old) are open in different windows. * / Or you can SEE what happened if you just look at the BACK-button, since it "looks different" when it's active and inactive.
* Both behaviors are logical, because the back-button takes you "back" in the history of a particular window: if the link was page-ADDING, the back-button will be INACTIVE because the new page is in a brand new window (with no previous history) so it cannot go back to anything in its non-existent history; but if the link was page-REPLACING, the ACTIVE back-button can take you back to where you were (in the active history of this window) before the page-replacing.

The MAIN BODY usually ends, as you'll see later in this page, with TRIPLE SEPARATION-BARS followed by the page-BOTTOM which usually includes a BOX-WITH-LINKS, some TEXT, and a NAVIGATION TABLE FOR THE WEBSITE-AREAS. But occasionally there is a simpler page-bottom, with a DOUBLE SEPARATION-BAR followed by TEXT.

In the main body, all italicized links keep you inside a page, and all non-italicized links add a new page, either inside the ASA Science Ed website or in another website. If you don't know whether a new page is in this website, you don't know what its links will do, but you can always use visual cues (for page-locations or the BACK-button) or you can try using the BACK-button, as explained earlier.

WHY DOES THIS WEBSITE HAVE THREE KINDS OF LINKS?
Each type of link serves a different function, and all three can help you use the website:
• The web is for exploring. Since you can explore either inside a page (with italicized links) or outside the page (with non-italicized links) it's useful to know "where you are," and the formatting (italicized or not-italicized) lets you know whether you're still in the same page or in a new page.
• When you reach the bottom of a page, we assume you've finished reading it and you're ready to move on, so bottom-of-page links move you into a new page. { By contrast, when you click a middle-of-page link we assume you just want to explore a tangent for awhile, and after this temporary tangent you can easily return to "where you were" in the original page, because it's still open, and continue reading it. }

MORE TIPS:

To prevent page-reloads that (especially if you're surfing with a slow modem) will waste your valuable time, for large pages the URL (which you can see in the "address location" window of your browser) will end with #i. I've added this suffix to the URL because, when you use an inside-the-page link followed by your BACK-button, it lets you come back to "where you were" instantly, since the #i prevents a reloading of the page. If you're in a large page that does reload (after using an inside-the-page link and then your back-button) because the URL does not end with #i, you can type it yourself and press "return" to reload the page (once), and then your inside-the-page links will be fast. { The only browser that doesn't take you back to "where you were in the page" is MS Internet Explorer for Macintosh. }

After a page-replacing link, you can return to the original page by using your browser's BACK-button, or you can BOOKMARK a page in your FAVORITES, or look for it in your browsing HISTORY.
After a page-adding link, you can close the new window (or any other window) by clicking in its top corner.

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