Hypertext

Hypertext is a way of showing text on a computer display or other electronic devices that lets readers jump quickly to related information. These jumps are called hyperlinks and can be activated by a mouse click, a keypress, or even a touch on a screen. Hypertext isn’t just for words—it can also include tables, pictures, and other materials linked together.

This idea is a big part of the World Wide Web, where many Web pages are created using a special language called the Hypertext Markup Language. Because of hypertext, we can easily share and find information all around the Internet, making it simple to learn and explore new things with just a click.

Etymology

The word "hypertext" is a new creation. The prefix "hyper-" is used in the way it is in math, meaning extension and generality, like in "hyperspace" or "hypercube." It does not mean something is big or excessive. Instead, it refers to structure.

The English prefix "hyper-" comes from the Greek word "ὑπερ-" and means "over" or "beyond." It shares its roots with the prefix "super-" from Latin. This prefix shows how hypertext moves past the straight line of written text.

The term "hypertext" is often used even when "hypermedia" might be a better fit. In 1992, Ted Nelson, who created both terms in 1965, wrote that while "hypertext" is widely accepted for text that branches and responds, the term "hypermedia"—which includes graphics, movies, sound, and text—is used much less. Instead, people often say "interactive multimedia," which is longer and does not fully capture the idea of extending hypertext.

Types and uses of hypertext

Hypertext documents can be static, meaning they are prepared and stored in advance, or dynamic, meaning they change based on what the user does, like dynamic web pages. Static hypertext can help connect information in documents, software applications, or books on CDs. Links in hypertext usually replace what you are reading with new information. One special feature is StretchText, which lets you expand or shrink the amount of detail shown. Some systems also support transclusion, where content appears automatically when needed.

Hypertext is very useful for complex systems of linking and connecting information. The most well-known example of hypertext is the World Wide Web, which was created in late 1990 and made available on the Internet in 1991.

History

Main articles: History of hypertext and Timeline of hypertext technology

In 1941, Jorge Luis Borges wrote a story called "The Garden of Forking Paths" that many people think inspired the idea of hypertext.

In 1945, Vannevar Bush wrote about a device called a Memex in an article titled "As We May Think". This device would store information and let people connect different pieces of information, which was an early idea of hypertext.

Ted Nelson gives a presentation on Project Xanadu, a theoretical hypertext model conceived in the 1960s whose first and incomplete implementation was first published in 1998.

In 1965, Ted Nelson created the terms 'hypertext' and 'hypermedia'. He worked with Andries van Dam to make a system called the Hypertext Editing System in 1967 at Brown University. Later, a system called FRESS let students read and discuss poems online.

Douglas Engelbart showed a system called NLS in 1968 that let people connect information in new ways.

In 1982, a system in France called Minitel let people access information using telephone lines, which helped people get used to connecting to information in different ways.

In 1989, Tim Berners-Lee came up with the idea for the World Wide Web, which changed how we connect and find information online forever.

Implementations

Besides the already mentioned Project Xanadu, Hypertext Editing System, NLS, HyperCard, and World Wide Web, there are other important early examples of hypertext with different features:

Hypertext Editing System (HES) IBM 2250 Display console – Brown University 1969

FRESS – a 1970s multi-user successor to the Hypertext Editing System.
ZOG – a 1970s hypertext system developed at Carnegie Mellon University.
Electronic Document System – an early 1980s text and graphic editor for interactive hypertexts such as equipment repair manuals and computer-aided instruction.
Information Presentation Facility – used to display online help in IBM operating systems.
Intermedia – a mid-1980s program for group web-authoring and information sharing.
HyperTies - a mid-1980s program commercially applied to hundreds of projects, including July 1988 Communications of the ACM and Hypertext Hands-On! book.
Texinfo – the GNU help system.
KMS – a 1980s successor to ZOG developed as a commercial product.
NoteCards – a mid-1980s system from Xerox PARC using a notecard metaphor and graphical browser for idea processing
Storyspace – a mid-1980s program for hypertext narrative.
Document Examiner - an hypertext system developed in 1985 at Symbolics for their Genera operating system.
Adobe's Portable Document Format – a widely used publication format for electronic documents.
Amigaguide – released on the Commodore Amiga Workbench 1990.
Windows Help – released with Windows 3.0 in 1990.
Wikis – aim to compensate for the lack of integrated editors in most Web browsers. Various wiki software have slightly different conventions for formatting, usually simpler than HTML.
PaperKiller – a document editor specifically designed for hypertext. Started in 1996 as IPer (educational project for ED-Media 1997).
XML with the XLink extension – a newer hypertext markup language that extends and expands capabilities introduced by HTML.

Academic conferences

Some important meetings for new ideas about hypertext happen every year. One is the ACM Conference on Hypertext and Social Media. Another group, the Electronic Literature Organization, has meetings about special stories, poems, and other art made with computers, including hypertext fiction and electronic literature. Even bigger technology meetings, like those organized by IW3C2, often include talks about hypertext too. You can find a list of these meetings online.

Hypertext fiction

Hypertext has created a new kind of storytelling. With the growth of computers and the internet, writers began using hypertext to write stories in digital form. Two tools, Storyspace and Intermedia, helped writers create these stories in the 1990s. Two early examples are Judy Malloy's Uncle Roger from 1986 and Michael Joyce's afternoon, a story from 1987.

A screenshot from a reading of Shelley Jackson's Patchwork Girl, where windows layer on top of each other

One big advantage of hypertext stories is that they can give readers new ways to experience a story. By using links between different parts, or "nodes," writers can change how readers move through the story. This can make the story feel more like exploring a world rather than just reading in a straight line. Some people think this can make stories harder to follow, but others enjoy seeing many different views of a story.

Hypertext fiction comes in different forms. Axial hypertext follows a straight path from start to finish. Arborescent hypertext branches out like a tree, letting readers choose different endings. Networked hypertext has many connected parts without a set start or end. Layered hypertext has two levels, with text on one and pictures or sounds on the other.