Steve's list left out one other URL-handling strategy: omit them altogether if they aren't needed:
*HTML:* <a target="_blank" href="https://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc6455";>RFC 6455</a> <a target="_blank" href=" https://adobe.com/content/dam/acom/en/devnet/actionscript/articles/PLRM.pdf#page=144";>PostScript Language Reference Manual, page 130</a> *Text:* RFC 6455 PostScript Language Reference Manual, page 130 *@B 9:* If you're interested in PDF and hyperlinking, you might find this <https://rawgit.com/Alhadis/Roff.js/web-demo/index.html> useful <https://github.com/Alhadis/Roff.js>. :-) On Wed, 17 Jun 2020 at 19:10, Raf Czlonka <rczlo...@gmail.com> wrote: > On Tue, Jun 16, 2020 at 07:27:58PM BST, Steve Izma wrote: > > > > I find the whole idea of typesetting URLs in printed matter to be > > full of contradictions, but this is mostly on account of how > > contemporary Web frameworks construct URLs for dynamic pages and > > need all sorts of variables set in the posted URL. If Web sites > > were set up with mostly static pages in a normally organized > > filesystem hierarchy, URLs would be simpler and more likely human > > readable. As it is, no one is going to retype a URL that's longer > > than a few words from a printed page. From an online PDF, the URL > > shouldn't actually be typeset, I'd argue, but hidden in the link. > > > > Anyway, my strategies for typesetting for a printed document: > > > > - test the URL iteratively by removing as much as possible from > > the end of the URL until you have the minimum number of > > characters for getting to the page; usually this means removing > > all the set variables; > > - if the resulting URL is longer than the output line length, > > break the line and begin the URL on the next line > > - there are well-established rules for breaking a URL, which > > include: never add a hyphen to show a break; break the line > > such that the beginning of the next line looks like a > > continuation of the URL, e.g., with a slash; > > - don't set the URL at all in the body of the text but use a > > footnote or endnote marker and set the URL in the footnote or > > endnote, since these are usually set in a smaller point size > > and gives you more flexibility for fitting on lines; if a text > > contains a lot of URLS, then set the notes as endnotes in a > > longer line length, if possible; > > - some publishers use a style that ignores any part of the URL > > other than the site location; they expect that once the reader > > gets to the Web site, they can use the site's search mechanism > > for finding the appropriate material; > > - since URLs are notoriously short-lived, encourage authors not > > to use them at all but to cite printed material rather than > > online material, or give complete bibliographic information > > about the citation and a short reference to the home page of > > the site. > > > > One of the key issues is that a printed work is very likely to > > outlast the accuracy of a URL, so don't diminish the usefulness > > of a printed work but relying on URLs. > > > > Hi Steve at al., > > My £0.02, and a first post here :^) > > A quick comment - somewhat related to the matter at hand. > > Some of the above are covered by URL scheme guidelines such as > Clean URL[0]. Other can be remedied by concepts such as PURL[1]. > None of it is panacea but good place to start, IMHO. > > [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clean_URL > [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Persistent_uniform_resource_locator > > Regards, > > Raf > >
