Pagination getting a bad rap Apr29 '07
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# (2 of 2): Joe Clark » joeclark.org/weblogs
1 day, 12 hours after the fact. (Mon 30 Apr 2007, 10:52 PM CST)
If I believed that, I wouldn’t work in Web standards and accessibility. I’m all about getting people to stop doing the wrong thing online. The free content can still be provided, merely in a less-asshattish way.
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Web professionals are beginning to shed light on why pagination is bad for site authors and readers.
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# (1 of 2): Tim
23 hours, 1 minute after the fact. (Mon 30 Apr 2007, 8:56 AM CST)
Matt, I think that pagination is one of those things that defaults to personal preference. Its just like standards compliant markup or unobtrusive javascript. They are followed or not followed based on need and time and resources. The object of Pain in the Tech is to help people solve their technology issues; it is not to follow every trend in web snobbery. Two years from now pagination may be all the rage again. Who knows. This is how web professionals are. (I know because I am).
The fact of the matter is though if you need inflated page views or increased impressions on advertisements, why should you bypass the opportunity to get those because it annoys a few people. If you are providing your content largely for free (only cost being ads viewed and pagination links clicked) then isn't it totally justified to force your visitors to give you something back.
Seriously, I hate paginated articles. I always go to the print view so I can avoid the pagination and the ads. Regardless of what I think though, it needs to be a decision made based on the preferences and needs of the site owner. I think Joe Clark should mind his own business, suck it up and be glad that someone is willing to provide him with some free content.