Floatlinked

Floatlinked is a term used in digital documents and user interfaces to describe a linkage pattern where a reference or link is visually associated with its target via a floating element that remains contextually connected as the user interacts with the content. The term is not widely standardized and appears mainly in niche discussions and experimental implementations. In practice, floatlinked patterns share the goal of keeping citations, notes, or related content visually close to the relevant text rather than relegating them to footnotes or separate panels.

In web design, a floatlinked citation or annotation often uses a small floating panel or tooltip that appears near the anchor and updates as the layout changes. Implementations commonly rely on CSS positioning and lightweight JavaScript to preserve alignment during scrolling. In data contexts, floatlinked can describe a value paired with a live link to metadata or a resource, enabling a single data item to carry both a numeric value and a reference to expanded information.

Key considerations include accessibility, focusing and keyboard navigation, screen-reader compatibility, responsive behavior, and performance for large documents. Poorly managed floating elements can obstruct content or cause layout issues, so careful design and testing are important.

See also: tooltips, hovercards, footnotes, inline citations, sticky elements.