Have links open in a new window (Page 1 of 2)

Thanks for providing this, and sorry I didn't find it on initial search.

I do disagree with the idea, however, since the default manner to handle links to offsite locations is to open them in a new window for about 98% of websites (if a user has JavaScript shutoff then it will simply default to not doing this behavior).  When you change what people are used to to cater to 1 person's request to do it differently, then you end up with the majority of users not having it setup the way they are used to having it.

At the very least, allowing some BBCode element to let users put open in new window (like [new][/new] around a url or something) into their links would be nice, or again having a choice the user can setup in user options for new window or not.  I really do not see any reason to go off this forum whenever I click a user's link to see their site and basically it means I'm not going to click links at all on the forum since I am a) lazy enough to not want/have to right click for a new window, b) do not care as much to see the other sites as to stay on the forum to read more posts about things here to do with punBB itself since I am a forum addict (who wants to leave the forum and have to backtrack to find it again), c) do not like to have to go clear up to the backclick button b/c following with point a point about being that I am lazy.

Just my 2 cents.  Most users are like me and pretty lazy too, and it may well cost having them decide to use the forum or install it.

Also, I apologize if I'm coming off as crass in any of this.  I have been following punBB for about 6 months in making a decision on whether I want to go with it for a future site, and it initially impressed me with its speed but the look itself I wasn't a big fan of.  I keep coming back to it and the look is improving (actually the board itself is very customizable for the look anyway).  I like the simplicity and am just wanting to piont out what I see as a flaw in how it is setup currently, so please don't take what I'm saying as trying to be rude since these are simply legitimate concerns on my part and I do like this forum.

Thanks again.

If you insist on having links open in new windows and thereby making it impossible for people to choose, you can edit one line in one script.

probably in the parser, where the [ url ] gets parsed into 'real' html

That is why not catering to 1 group is the way to go (I do not think it is bad at all to separate one site's content from another by having one open in another window) and why I noted putting the option to choose in user preferences would be good to do so that people can decide on their own which way they want it to be.

You really aren't giving people the choice here to make their own decisions at all by restricting it to one of them (and the one far fewer sites use).  I am well aware of the various arguments for and against opening a new window or not.  If a user doesn't like Javascript playing around with the system, that user does have the option as well to turn it off and not have new windows open up at all (the same as such users can deactivate Flash capabilities of displaying or even just simply go to Lynx and have a text-based only interface if preferred).

Thanks btw for downplaying those who like separate content sites to open in a new Window as those with poor Windows skills by noting that only advanced Win32 users can appreciate links in the manner they are on this board.  Just b/c I am lazy doesn't mean I don't know what I am doing in Windows or Linux, IE or Firefox nor that others who likewise prefer the logical separation of separate content by having a new Window open aren't advanced users either.  Putting down 1 group to prove your point of what you prefer is not the way to convince others nor appropriate discourse for that matter.

Again, is there a reason that a choice between the 2 cannot be provided?  You seem set to ensure only the one you like is used without giving an actual choice to people in user preferences or even considering that as a feedback item for a future capability.

Thanks.

Yes, there is. The target attribute does not exists in XHTML. You can add it by using your own DTD, but that's just too much hassle. Not only that, it's missing from XHTML for a reason. Working against the usability and accessibility improvements in XHTML just doesn't feel right. You could do it with JavaScript, but then you're really making life difficult for people who want to control themselves where links are opened. As far as I know, you can't override window.open() without disabling JavaScript and that just isn't an option. Lots of pages don't even work without JavaScript (e.g. pretty much anything written in ASP.NET).

I'm sure lots of users don't know that you can control how you open links by either right-clicking the links or by holding down shift or ctrl or whatever your browser likes. If that's the case, we'll have to teach them. At some point, people will have to learn how to "control their clicking" and now is as good a time as any. target="_blank" is the <blink> of our times.

My Firefox sure doesn't fight window.open(). I can force it into a new tab, but I can't make it not open in a new tab or window.

Yeah, my bad on how I wrote that.  What I meant to say is that sometimes it can be quite a challange to force it into another tab rather than having another window popup.  One of those moments again

~j

it does now.

@ analogue

You're right, there might be a little disadvantage for the advanced user who insists in the freedom of choice where to open a link if a "_blank" link is used. If you want to open it in the same window, you can still do it, just right click the link and choose copy link adress, then paste it into the location bar.

What we need to do is to weight the advantages and disadvantages of normal and "_blank" links in relation to the likings and expectations of our users.

I consider myself an advanced user, I know about right clicks to open links in new windows or new tabs. Given the experience I made with most websites, I become accustomed to having a link leaving a website open in a new window. And you know what? I like it because it makes perfect sense to me. But as this is just my opinion we should not overweight it.

If I look at my forum (and yes, the following numbers are just a qualified guess), I would estimate that 70% don't know of the right click option, from the rest 70% never use it because of the extra click needed, and from the remaining rest 70% (like me) just don't want the external link open in the same window. So we have 2.7% of the users who - like you - insist in the choice to open external links in the same window. And we have 97.3% of the users, who would in one way or the other be bothered with unwanted or at least unexpected behaviour or having to make an extra click.

As you (and 2.7% of my visitors) still have the choice to open a "_blank" link in the same window, as I mentioned in the beginning, I will put this burden on your shoulders to save the other 97.3% from a negative experience in my forum. This doesn't mean that this needs to be the standard behaviour of PunBB but it shows my experience with my forum (which is not PunBB yet).

I understand Rickards point of staying xhtml compliant, so I will use a javascript solution like

<a href="http://domain.tld/path/to/file.php" onClick="return newwindow(this)">Linktext</a>

to have a solution that works fine even if javascript is disabled. function newwindow() needs to be included somewhere and "return false".

Hope this might calm down the emotions a little bit.

One thing to remember is that the idea of opening "external" links in a new window was never intended behaviour. It's something banner advertisers discovered in the 90:s as a way of forcing people into new windows. Using target="whatever" to open content in a new window is essentially a hack. The target attribute was initially meant to direct content into a particular frame. I don't even think W3C defines the expected behaviour of browsers when the target does not exist (e.g. _blank). It's a sad, sad thing that some people have grown to expect this from hyperlinks.

Also, to all of you that right-click. Use ctrl+click and shift+click instead. It's a lot faster.

if you have "_blank" you have to open it in a new window

if you don't you can choose

whats the problem?