Indiciating within-page links (fragment identifiers)
There are three types of targets for for a link:
- Different page in a different application
- Different page within the same application
- Resource within the current document
typically provided by a fragment URI (i.e.#Section2)
Existing research: The following questions help to provide insight on ways to distinguish between Type 1 & Type 2 (but none offer any comment on differentiating between Type 2 & Type 3):
- External links: Whether & how to distinguishing them from internal links, and to open them
- Is there a convention for distinguishing internal and external links in a website?
- How to best show links that are internal
Question: Can this type of clarity be helpful for an end user, and how best to accomplish it?
The use case I have in my in when a page has dirty state and the user doesn't know if links, internal or external, will cause the new page to reload. In some instances, even if the link is to read something else lower on the page, the user may have reticence in clicking and risk losing any current state of the application.
Here's an idea for each of the three types:
