The meaning of page
numbers changes over time.
Which defies the
whole point of a URL.
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Page 2 has no relationship
to the content of the page.
It has no more intrinsic meaning than
next.
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So how is it
supposed to work?
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So how is it
supposed to work?
Like in books. You know:
where page numbers come from.
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1
old new
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1 2
old new
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1 2 3
old new
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1 2 3 4
old new
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1 2 3 4
old new
5
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So. Page 1.
Book: the beginning
Net: the end
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So. Page 1.
Book: the beginning
Net: the end
WEIRD.
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On the internet:
• Pages go from newest to oldest
• Page content varies over time
• Page numbers are for relative
navigation only
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WAT
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Solution:
• Number pages from first to last
• Newest content stays left (because
we read ltr)
• We use older and newer instead of
forward and back
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1
new old
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2 1
new old
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3 2 1
new old
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4 3 2 1
new old
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4 3 2 1
new old
5
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Now:
• Page numbers are deterministic
• Content is stable and linkable
• Page numbers actually have
inherent meaning
• The whole thing actually makes
sense
• Dead easy to implement
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BUT:
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New SoundCloud:
• Endless scrolling
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MEH
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Pagination: still relevant?
• endless scrolling is everywhere
• lots of collections change all the
time anyway
• no-one minded when pagination
was broken
• is a book really the best basis for
an interaction pattern for
collections of items?
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Pagination: still relevant?
• content has changed
• behaviours and expectations have
also changed
• finding things is different: less
browsing, more searching, filtering,
tags, recommendations etc.
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But pagination still is useful:
• Are streams really applicable to
everything? Naw.
• Some collections are meant to be
stable and long-lasting
• Archivability is still useful there
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So if you‘re going to have
page numbers, you might as well
make them consistent and useful.