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

[Ryan Cannon]

> 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