One of the popular features of early hypertext fiction are “paths.” Formed by one or more links of the same type, they helped authors semantically cluster lexias along their connections. The link type is a custom label that—once created—could be reused to mark other links. For the reader, paths are visible as link names on the link menu. A single line represents a single available connection. On the right side of the line is the name of the destination; on the left side, the name of the connection.

In the video above the link menu shows four possible connections. Clicking the first line directs to a lexia named "MUS131 (Vivaldi)." Its path name is "Vivaldi1." Similarly, lexia "brown" has a path name of "yesterday." Whereas "Vivaldi1" marks just a small cluster of lexias, the path name "yesterday" represents a prominent group of nodes that tell the story from before the major event in the novel. Readers can access the "yesterday" group of lexias right after the introductory scene and—thanks to the presence of paths—can decode to stay on this particular path for longer.