On Oct 22, 2009, at 3:51 PM, Alvin Penner wrote:
I agree strongly. There are a significant number of bug reportsthat have been complicated a great deal by the fact that users did not realize that they were using links, they assumed the objects were embedded.
Of course, that doesn't mean we should make image links easier to use,
just that we should not default to creating them.
What it comes down to is that you will confuse half the users, depending on which way you default. That is, if you default to only linking images you will confuse/annoy those who expect embedded. However, if on the other hand you default to always embedding images, you will confuse/annoy those who expect linked.
A simplistic approach of a solution is to merely switch the default. However what generally happens in these cases (and specifically in this one) is that you are seeing bug reports from those who don't like the current behavior, but you see no feedback at all from those who are happy with the current behavior. People really only speak up when something bothers them. So you will make the second half of the users happy at the expense of the first half.
Taking a step back to the higher level, this issue is really one of confusion on what is happening. The program's behavior is not clear, and thus people get confused. The real solution is to change the UI and workflow to make it very clear to users what is going on. *Part* of that solution is to allow a user to set the default behavior as needed for that specific user. But a *prior* step is to clearly communicate to the user what is actually happening, what those choices are, etc.
BTW, we have looked at this issue for some time, and there are severe consequences to making embed the default. We definitely need to remember to keep those in mind as we make changes.