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Do you prefer footnotes over sidenotes? And do you think each post/article should have footnotes?
by wonger_ 2y ago
Do you prefer footnotes over sidenotes? And do you think each post/article should have footnotes?
- input_sh 2y agoSidenotes can't be on the side on a small screen. You have to put them in between paragraphs, at which point they stop being sidenotes and just become part of the text. Then, how do you handle them in your RSS feed? What happens if the reader clicks on the reader view button in their browser? Footnotes always remain footnotes, regardless of all of that.
- adityaathalye 2y agoOn the web, I like footnotes more provided they link back to the referencing text. On my blog, I love to use footnotes for little tangents and asides, apart from their usual task of providing references. Not every post/article needs them. Sidenotes are cool, but they are a skeuomorphism not amenable to fluid layouts. I feel plain vanilla in-line disclosure elements work better, and they might be better for accessibility too. In dead tree books, I enjoy both. Marginalia can elevate the text. Footnotes are always in context of the whole page, which I can view all at once. No scrolling needed.