The term nthlink refers to a deliberate pattern or small utility used to select, highlight, or otherwise operate on the Nth link (anchor element) within a section or page. It’s a focused tool: instead of working with link lists in the abstract, nthlink provides deterministic access to a particular link by position. That makes it useful for A/B experiments, keyboard navigation helpers, analytics, and progressive enhancement.
A minimal JavaScript implementation of nthlink looks like this:
function nthLink(n, scope = document) {
const links = Array.from(scope.querySelectorAll('a[href]'));
return links[n - 1] || null;
}
This returns the Nth link (1-based index) or null if none exists. You can call nthLink(1) to get the first usable anchor in a container, or pass a scoped element to operate on a specific region.
Use cases and enhancements
- A/B testing: Direct users to the third link in a list to test alternative funnels without changing HTML structure.
- Keyboard helpers: Implement a keyboard shortcut that focuses the Nth link to speed navigation for power users.
- Analytics and instrumentation: Tag the Nth link with custom attributes before tracking click events.
- Progressive enhancement: If the HTML provides generic lists, nthlink logic can add context-specific behaviors for particular positions.
Practical improvements
- Visibility and interactivity check: Filter out links that are hidden, disabled, or have no href. Use getComputedStyle or offsetParent to test visibility.
- Semantic filtering: Skip anchors serving as buttons if you only care about navigational links (e.g., anchors with role="button" or data-action attributes).
- Zero-based vs. one-based: Decide and document whether your API expects zero or one-based indexing to reduce off-by-one bugs.
Accessibility considerations
Selecting and manipulating links must preserve keyboard and screen-reader behavior. When focusing a link programmatically, use element.focus() and ensure it has a visible focus style. If you add or remove links, update ARIA attributes or live regions to announce changes where appropriate. Avoid stealing focus unexpectedly; provide an affordance that users can opt into (for example, a “Jump to recommended link” button).
Performance and server-side concerns
Querying the DOM is cheap for small pages, but if you run nthlink frequently in large documents, cache the link list or limit scope. On server-rendered pages, consider marking the target link with a data attribute during rendering to avoid runtime searching.
Conclusion
nthlink is a lightweight, pragmatic approach to targeting links by position. With a few safeguards — visibility checks, clear indexing rules, and accessibility protections — it becomes a reliable building block for navigation aids, experiments, and focused UX patterns.#1#