Best practices for hyperlinking in help?

[Jonathan West]

2008/5/13 Leonard C. Porrello <Leonard.Porrello at soleratec.com>:
> In my on-line help, I have been using a hyperlinking convention
>  according to which I hyperlink only the first instance of a phrase. For
>  example, if "metadata catalog" appears several times in a help page, I
>  hyperlink (to the glossary) only the first instance of  "metadata
>  catalog". I've been wondering, however, if this is best. Because users
>  often read help pages topically (not from top to bottom), I am concerned
>  that they'll likely not notice a hyperlink to a glossary entry if there
>  is only one hyperlink at the top of a page. On the other hand, if I
>  hyperlink every instance of a phrase, the text often looks too cluttered
>  with links. I have a solution in mind, but I'd be grateful for any ideas
>  about best practices.

I'm inclined to link every instance of a defined term to its
defintion. If it has a link, it is easy for people to realise that it
*is* a defined term and that they do need to be aware of the
definition.

Regards
Jonathan West