Do you include footnotes in technical documentation served on the web?

Question

Footnotes are less commonly used in technical documentation on the web compared to traditional printed documents, or at least this is my own personal experience on the matter. This is because footnotes are typically designed to provide additional explanatory or contextual information on the same page, and the structure of web pages and the nature of online content consumption often prioritize a more scannable and hyperlinked format.

My question is whether you should clarify if by "hooks" you mean React hooks or Wordpress hooks and use a footnote to clarify this fact inside your technical documentation.

In the document, it is obvious I am talking about Wordpress hooks, but the example is found 2 paragraphs later and the example is not easy to read, but I can't change the example, because it's a particular bit of code in our React, Wordpress solution. Should you still include the footnote even if not necessary. What are some guidelines for this if there's any?

Answer 1

I would say that one reason we don't use footnotes in digital formats is because they have in some ways been replaced by hyperlinks. If something is important enough to warrant listing the specific original source then just link directly to it. Beyond that, digital formats have more tools like callouts that display additional text in a small window when you hover over the main text. Technically speaking we probably should still be using footnotes or some other form of proper citation, but depending on the audience the consistency is far less consistent than in formally printed documents.