13.2 Webs

A web is the collection of all links between all nodes. There may be many webs for a given set of nodes, each web depending on the interests and needs of the web's author. Thus, a single set of nodes affords many different interpretations, depending on the web that ties the nodes in the hyperdocument together. The hypertext comes with a pre-defined web, the base web, consisting of the index links, CYBERMAP links, animation links, definition links, reference links, and display links.

As we felt that it was important for the user to be able to modify the contents and links in the hypertext, we added tools to allow users to create their own nodes, and, in a limited sense, their own webs. Since we felt that no single user would want to create all the links needed to make sense out of hundreds of nodes, we decided that users could add links to the pre-defined web, but not delete base web links. To create a link between nodes, the user chooses an anchor in the initial node. The anchor can either consist of highlighted text, or an entry into the "related topics" field. The user then navigates to the destination node, and completes the link. The information that defines the new link is written to the user's personal stack. To add their own nodes, users must create a new card in the personal stack, and link it to the main stack.