[uf-discuss] The need for a Trackback microformat?

Fri Dec 2 09:36:33 PST 2005

> With that said rel-enclosure doesn't make a whole lot of sense. It 
> says
> "relEnclosure is one of several microformats. By adding 
> rel="enclosure" to
> a hyperlink, a page indicates that the destination of that 
> hyperlink is
> intended to be downloaded and cached."
>> *Any* link indicates that the destination may be downloaded and 
> cached -
> that's the whole point of making a link. If it's not meant to be
> downloaded there wouldn't be a link, and if it wasn't meant to be 
> cached
> the HTTP header would tell me so (and my browser would handle it 
> without
> me caring).

This is interesting because the description really depends on 
audience. I agree with you: perhaps better language for rel-enclosure 
should be "By adding rel='enclosure' to a hyperlink, a page indicates 
that the destination of that hyperlink is not meant to be viewed by 
the client browser." However, this implies a more technical 
understanding of HTTP than the average person (or amateur web 
developer) has. For those people, "viewing" and "downloading" a file 
are very different. While the language should change, perhaps some 
language somewhere should reflect this difference in audience.
-- 
Ryan