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Why isn't the external link symbol in Unicode? (2018)

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Re: Why isn't the external link symbol in Unicode? (2018)

#41

Post by baddox »

VMG wrote: post #24
bluescrn wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Like the play/pause symbols then, which are already in there? And since when was a smiling poop an ‘element of plain text’

not that I agree with the final decision, but I can imagine "Play"/"Pause" to show up in a device manual and Smiling Poop as part of a chat message. Neither applies to the "external link" symbol.

I can imagine it showing up in an instructional book or article about how to indicate to your web site visitors that a hyperlink is to an external site, or perhaps in a comment about the Unicode standard body rejecting it. Neither of those are any more contrived than play/pause buttons being in an instructional manual about a television remote that contains those symbols.

Re: Why isn't the external link symbol in Unicode? (2018)

#42

Post by TeMPOraL »

I find myself agreeing with the rejection. As much as I dislike the ridiculous amount of emojis in Unicode, and their increasingly widespread use, they do fit plain text communication, whereas an "external link" symbol does not. My heuristic is something I'll call SMS sniff test: would it make sense to type that symbol into a text message? If it wouldn't, then it doesn't belong in Unicode.

"External link" symbol tells you, "that last bit of differently-formatted text is an active element in this application, leading to an outside resource". It's not something that makes sense in plain text, because any external link in a plain text message is both visible and obviously a link.

Elsewhere in the thread someone mentioned the play/pause/stop symbols from cassette recorders/VCRs. But those have been used culturally as symbols denoting starting, pausing and stopping for decades now, so they're an idea communication tool that makes sense in plain text, and thus pass the SMS sniff test.

(Note that I'm not sure if all symbols in Unicode actually pass the SMS sniff test. I suppose the best option for those wanting "external link" symbol to be included would be to resubmit it as the DOUBLE ARROW POINTING TOP RIGHT OUT OF SQUARE symbol, or something like that.)

Re: Why isn't the external link symbol in Unicode? (2018)

#43

Post by baddox »

Symbiote wrote: post #34
Sephr wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That didn't stop the Unicode Consortium from including a left-pointing magnifying glass in the standard. I use this on my blog for the search button.

I don't think that's inconsistent. I've seen a right-pointing magnifying glass printed in a book, and a left-pointing one would be equivalent for Arabic or Hebrew. I'd expect to see it in a school science book, for example.

Search Google Books for “external link icon” and you will find several web design books that describe and depict the icon.

Re: Why isn't the external link symbol in Unicode? (2018)

#44

Post by dandellion »

golergka wrote: post #8
chris_wot wrote: post #7

God, they spend so much time on emoji which is much the same. They are becoming a bit of a joke!

You don't expect to be able to click emoji, and they don't lose their meaning when printed out on paper.

If you print a web page the links are still there. The icon tells you "this here was a link" and you can go to the computer and look it up. If the link wasn't underlined and had a different colour but you printed in b&w it might be the only way to know that was a link, so I would argue that the icon is more useful in paper than on a live web, actually.

Re: Why isn't the external link symbol in Unicode? (2018)

#45

Post by tomc1985 »

TeMPOraL wrote: post #42

I find myself agreeing with the rejection. As much as I dislike the ridiculous amount of emojis in Unicode, and their increasingly widespread use, they do fit plain text communication, whereas an "external link" symbol does not. My heuristic is something I'll call SMS sniff test : would it make sense to type that symbol into a text message? If it wouldn't, then it doesn't belong in Unicode. "External link" symbol tel…

I agree with you but including it would make it easier to express in text-only environments

Re: Why isn't the external link symbol in Unicode? (2018)

#47

Post by rootlocus »

TeMPOraL wrote: post #42

I find myself agreeing with the rejection. As much as I dislike the ridiculous amount of emojis in Unicode, and their increasingly widespread use, they do fit plain text communication, whereas an "external link" symbol does not. My heuristic is something I'll call SMS sniff test : would it make sense to type that symbol into a text message? If it wouldn't, then it doesn't belong in Unicode. "External link" symbol tel…

I'm not a regular user of SMS, but it seems to me like adding links to SMS messages is either already available or not a bad idea. The "SMS sniff test" seems pretty weak to me. A better one would be a printed document.

Re: Why isn't the external link symbol in Unicode? (2018)

#48

Post by gray_-_wolf »

Symbiote wrote: post #34
Sephr wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That didn't stop the Unicode Consortium from including a left-pointing magnifying glass in the standard. I use this on my blog for the search button.

I don't think that's inconsistent. I've seen a right-pointing magnifying glass printed in a book, and a left-pointing one would be equivalent for Arabic or Hebrew. I'd expect to see it in a school science book, for example.

And as others have already mentioned, I've seen the external link printed in several manuals for various products I've bought.

Re: Why isn't the external link symbol in Unicode? (2018)

#49

Post by m_eiman »

Symbiote wrote: post #23

The closest I can think of is U+2b00 (north east white arrow) followed by U+20de (combining enclosing square). I suspect HN will eat the character: ⬀⃞ although they sometimes pass through if there's enough other text in the comment.

On my blog I use " U+27AB BACK-TILTED SHADOWED WHITE RIGHTWARDS ARROW"

E.g. https://www.eiman.tv/blog/posts/lannames/index.html

Re: Why isn't the external link symbol in Unicode? (2018)

#50

Post by lstamour »

Symbiote wrote: post #31
Symbiote wrote: post #23

The closest I can think of is U+2b00 (north east white arrow) followed by U+20de (combining enclosing square). I suspect HN will eat the character: ⬀⃞ although they sometimes pass through if there's enough other text in the comment.

Alternatively, for a single-character symbol, there's either ⤤ (2924 north east arrow with hook) or ⮳ (2bb3 ribbon arrow up right). The combining square isn't exactly centered, depending on where I paste it. There's a useful selection of arrows here: http://xahlee.info/comp/unicode_arrows.html

The closest alternative I’ve seen is definitely north east arrow with hook. Personally, I like its simpler appearance. Ideally you would still want to label it on hover with some alt or title attribute text.
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