I have a table on which each cell is already a link to a different section (eg. the row contains 'Name', 'Location' and 'Type' columns and clicking the name cell takes you to the Show action of that person, ditto for Location and Type). But the row data is only a summary and I want to provide a link to the Show action of the entity on the row (with all the details). I can't make the entire row a link because individual cells are already links.
Some alternatives I thought of:
- Add a Details button/link on the row. As a button it adds a lot of visual weight to the table. As a link is hard to notice. As an alternative, make it visible only on row hover, but I generally don't like 'surprise!' actions that are visible only on hover. I also shun hover due to future mobile plans.
- Add a iOS style disclosure arrow, with link to Details. Is pretty much same as above, but with a less obtrusive button.
- Get rid of the individual cell links and have only one row link pointing to the entity Details view. The role of the individual cell links (Name -> Person details) would be picked up by the entity Show Details view, ie. one has to navigate to the details first.
I would also appreciate if one can point me to some good reading material on the subject. Something equivalent to Apple's interface guidelines but for HTML/Web.