[uf-discuss] Jeremy's inline friend link pattern

[Paul Wilkins]

On Dec 6, 2007 11:46 PM, Jeremy Keith <jeremy at adactio.com> wrote:
> As far as I can see, the
> CITE element can (and should) be used when you are *referencing* a
> resource (book/film/person, etc.) regardless of what the surrounding
> context is.
>
> So in HTML I could say:
>
> The film <cite>Gone With The Wind</cite> contains the line <q>Frankly
> my dear, I don't give a damn</q>.

Yes, that's fine, you have the relationship of
gone with the wind => quotation

> But I could equally say:
>
> <cite>Gone With The Wind</cite> is a film.

You could say it, but you'll be wrong.

> Or even:
>
> <cite>Gone With The Wind</cite>

it makes no sense to have a citation all by itself.

As time goes on, people have been using the cite element for more and
more inappropriate uses. The developers understand this and have been
providing more accurate descriptions of how the CITE element is to be
used.

HTML 5 says the following
http://www.whatwg.org/specs/web-apps/current-work/#the-cite

The cite element represents a citation: the source, or reference, for
a quote or statement made in the document.

A citation is not a quote (for which the q element is appropriate).

This is incorrect usage:

<p><cite>This is wrong!</cite>, said Ian.</p>

This is the correct way to do it:

<p><q>This is correct!</q>, said <cite>Ian</cite>.</p>

This is also wrong, because the title and the name are not references
or citations:

<p>My favourite book is <cite>The Reality Dysfunction</cite>
by <cite>Peter F. Hamilton</cite>.</p>

This is correct, because even though the source is not quoted, it is cited:

<p>According to <cite>the Wikipedia article on
HTML</cite>, HTML is defined in formal specifications that were
developed and published throughout the 1990s.</p>

And XHTML 2.0 has this to say
http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml2/mod-text.html#sec_9.2.

The cite element contains a citation or a reference to other sources.

In the following example, the cite element is used to reference the
book from which the quotation is taken:

cite as book reference

As Gandalf the White said in
<cite cite="http://www.example.com/books/the_two_towers">The Two Towers</cite>,
<quote xml:lang="en">"The hospitality of
your hall is somewhat lessened of late, Theoden King."</quote>

cite to reference another specification

More information can be found in
<cite cite="http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-xml">[XML]</cite>.

--
Paul Wilkins