I got suckered in by a link in Adam's forum sig. While visiting his blog I noticed that he has a "full link disclosure" policy on his blog. I've never seen anything like it before on a blog or website. Basically he "colors" his links to let you know what kind they are; blue links are regular links, while green links are affiliate links and brown(?) links are no follow links.

Do you practice something similar to full link disclosure on your blog? Do you think more blogs should and this should be the next "Do Follow" blog policy?

I don't because I like keeping my links all the same color not having a different color for Ads, another for educational, etc. If all the links were 1 color maybe it would be a bit more confusing but simpler lets just keep it at that.

No, but I really like the idea. I love color coding ... I've got maps of my region on the wall, highlighted in different colors according to the type of trip brought me there. It's a great way to pick up information at a glance.

Unfortunately I don't have any ad links to color this way. But I do use spans to decorate the names of different roads and highways when I'm giving directions...

I don't have one because I use the same color for in content links. I think it's a good idea. I don't know how many people will check the page like you did and it's possible some will miss some links because they look different.

But given Adam's audience I would think most are savvy enough to recognize a link even if they don't check the 'full link disclosure' page. I think the page is a good idea since it's helpful to those who do check the page.

I think it's a good idea. It gives useful information at a glance about the link. After a few clicks, a visitor should be able to figure out the colour coding, and if not the explanation is on that linked page above.

The reason you haven't seen anything like it on a blog before is because it was my own creation. And as an objective first party, I think it's tied for the greatest idea in the history of the universe with every other idea I've ever had.

Steven: The thing with my audience is that not all of it is tech-savvy (that's why I often try to over-explain certain concepts). Many of them don't even comment, but call me or MSN me to talk to me about the blog or ask me questions. Why do they do this? I don't really know. (Probably the tech-savvy thing.)

I don't know how well I could implement this with Blogger. I think the closest I could come to it would be doing it the adsense links a different color since those are the only links on my blog that are there because of money.

Adam if you were smarter you'd have turned it into a trend or badge like AdfreeBlog. BTW the links in part one of your eBay post are wider than your blog's page in my browser and cause scrolling to the right.

That makes sense Adam. I shouldn't really assume your audience is automatically tech savvy just because you discuss technical things.

Do you think some might miss the link since it's not the standard blue underlined? I know it's still the common advice, but I wonder sometimes how well that holds up. I think many people have gotten to the point where if they see several phrases of text set apart from the other text on a page they make the assumption it's a link.

I have absolutely no facts to back that of course. Just a hunch on my part.

I do like your idea. It's a nice way for to give extra meaning to the people who check the full disclosure link.

Originally Posted by vangogh

Do you think some might miss the link since it's not the standard blue underlined?

I sure hope not! The links in my blog's main text content are blue, but a lighter shade, and not underlined. This is one of the first things I change when I'm building a site. I think people understand that some text that looks a little different from its surroundings is usually a link. Moving the mouse over the text is all it takes to figure out that site's styling.

My only problem with that theory, Forrest, is that a lot of people tend to miss non-underlined links because they suffer from some form or other of color blindness. So my compromise is to remove the underline on hover...it gives a visual cue even beyond the color change that it's definitely a link.

As far as the non-standard blue underlined, I don't know if I'd go that far. As long as it's underlined, I think people do tend to figure out the links (even the non-savvy types). It's a tough call, though. The major rule I have though is...underline links, and not anything else. I can't even remember the last time I used the <u> tag when I wasn't forced to.

By the way, I noticed someone Stumbled that page but haven't bothered to look it up yet. I'm not complaining or anything, but was it really that worthy of a Stumble? I never thought it was...I just thought it was a good idea.

I'm usually a bit hesitant to go away from the standard underline blue for an in content link just because it's so synonymous with a link. Adam I don't use underline for anything else either. I think any piece of underlined text will get confused as a link.

I think you can change the style to anything you want on hover without losing anything.

I guess someone or someones liked your idea enough to stumble it.

Originally Posted by ADAM Web Design

By the way, I noticed someone Stumbled that page but haven't bothered to look it up yet. I'm not complaining or anything, but was it really that worthy of a Stumble? I never thought it was...I just thought it was a good idea.

Well, it's clearly unique. Makes people think for a minute, and that's a good thing. Besides, this guy liked it.

I gotta stop being so cool. I don't even know all my fans anymore.