RE: describe-text-properties highlighting and mouseover face is broken

[Drew Adams]

        Actually the Help buffer uses widget buttons that have the
        type `link'.
        So it makes sense to put mouse face only on `link' buttons,
        but not on
        other button types.

    Do others agree that this is the right distinction to make?
    Aside from the Help buffer, what uses `link' button type?

I don't know where (else) such `link' buttons are used.

Buttons and links should not generally be treated the same.

The "buttons" in Help are really links. If they need to be implemented as
"`link' (widget) buttons", so be it.

But links should generally be identifiable even without mouseover - they
should be underlined. (Exception: dense lists/tables, where it is clear that
nearly everything is a link.)

The original post was also about links, in fact, not buttons. Text that,
when clicked, takes you to different text (a different page), is a link. A
button performs some other action, besides text navigation. So, they should
be signalled as links by underlining them, in addition to giving them a
mouse-face property. A convention - e.g. blue - on link color is also
helpful. Coloring visited links a slightly different color - e.g. violet -
is also helpful.

In sum (my 2c): links, including those mentioned (Help), should be
underlined (and, say, blue). Upon mouseover, they can show a mouse-face.
Whatever we do for some such links, we should generally do for others (there
could be exceptions).

I can't answer the question whether it is necessary or sufficient to find
all "`link' widget buttons" and turn them into links.