Bloggers, may I ask for your help? I’m not sure what you expect me, the reader, to do when I encounter a footnote.

On a printed page, of course, the footnote is generally on the same page as its reference, so I can move my attention fairly readily between the reference and the note. (The jump still interrupts my–your–train of thought, but I can do it.) In contrast, on a web page, the footnote is often below the visible area, so I have to scroll down to see the footnote, then scroll back up to continue from the point of reference.

What behavior do you expect of me? Here are the possibilities:

1. I can commit to memory all the footnote references as I read them, and when I finish the body of the article I can read the footnotes beginning to end, remembering the point where each footnote was referenced in the text.

2. I can pause reading the article, scroll down (or click a link) to the footnote, read it, and then scroll back up, find my original position in the article, and continue from there.

3. I can ignore the footnotes while I read the article, and when I reach the end, I can read each footnote and then go back and re-read its reference context in the article.

Is there another option? I have tried those three and frankly none of them is particularly convenient. That prompts me to wonder what behavior you anticipate from your reader.

Thanks for your response. Comments are off, so you can respond by Twitter (RossT), email (ross at rosscarter.com), or your own blog.

Sarcasm is never appropriate, and I am not being sarcastic. I honestly want to know what writers expect readers to do when they find a footnote in a blog.