Backtracking

In most hypertext systems links are unidirectional. This means that links have a source and a destination. Source anchors are visible and are used to follow the link to the destination. Within the destination node the destination anchor is not visible and the link cannot simply followed backwards.

Most hypertext systems however offer a back button which lets you return to the last visited node. Usually this backtrack facility lets you go back repeatedly until you reach the first node you visited.

Also useful is a forward button, which lets you undo the backtracking. By means of forward and back facility systems like most WWW browsers offer an undo and redo mechanism for the follow-link operation.

Note that when a hypertext system does not offer backtracking the user may get stuck when reaching a node with no outgoing links. To avoid this problem almost all hypertext systems offer backtracking.