Editing Hypertext

Hypertext, with its non-linear structure, is rather different from traditional, linear text. That fact has implications for both composition and editing. (Note: Here on SL composition is sometimes called editing, because the way to add something to a page is to use the edit page command. On this page editing means alteration or deletion of existing material. --Bill)

SL is something of a hybrid. Discussions on SL tend to follow a thread (linear structure). Person A may make a comment, then person B responds to A, then person C also responds to A, etc., one following the other. In pure hypertext style, B's response would be linked to A's comment, as would C's, in a tree structure rather than a linear structure. The overall hypertext structure is usually a network, or web.

A collaborative document in pure hypertext style discourages editing. If there are many links to a node (page) in the web, editing that page may well break at least one of the links, in the sense that the material in the page that the link referred to has been altered or deleted. That is not so much a problem for a single author document, but the coordination between authors becomes a problem with editing. The spirit of collaboration should extend to editing.

Conversely, editing discourages pure hypertext style in a collaborative document. If you don't want a link to be broken by editing, do not link your response to a page, but include it in the page. Doing so, OC, produces a hybrid style.

A hybrid style, such as we have here on SL, encourages editing, because discussions in linear style on a page tend to become long and rambling, leading to clutter and confusion. Wiki Master Edits help take care of that.

Under Construction. More later. Please wait. :-)

--Bill Spight