A constructive suggestion

I got this feedback from Nancy:

Your links need to open in a new window, for the ones going to external sites, I say “grrr” every time I open one and its in the same window. 😉

You can tell WordPress to do this in that little window that pops up on the visual tab when you’re editing and inserting a link there, tell it to open in a new window, or on the html tab, insert target=”_blank” in the link code. So, it looks like 

Only for the links going to a site other than yours. 😉

Cheers,

N

OK, so I figured out how to make it open in a new window — although it will require remembering an extra step each time I do a link. Maybe I can figure a way to make it the default, but I don’t see how yet.

Actually, what I would prefer would be for it to open in a new tab, not a new window. A lot of people resent it when a new window suddenly pops into being. I’m one of them.

But so far, I don’t see that as an option.

Before I proceed further, any thoughts from anyone else on this issue?

12 thoughts on “A constructive suggestion

  1. Kathryn Fenner

    New tab is preferable. I wonder if my Firefox settings would force that….but anything is better than having to toggle back and forth.

  2. Emmie

    agree with the tab idea. Much better than another window popping up. Either way, I’ll still be reading. 🙂

  3. Brad

    Aren’t “canned” and “fresh” antithetical concepts?

    And you know what? I didn’t know there were smiley faces in that request until it showed up here. WordPress sticks them in, not me…

  4. jfx

    I think by default Chrome and Firefox process target=”_blank” into a new tab, while the abominable Internet Explorer belches out a new window.

    Yeah, I would say if you have common text in a post that you are also leveraging into a link, it should link out on a separate tab so as not to obstruct the continued reading of the post.

    However, the context of your Virtual Front Page main article links is a little different than just following a link that happens to be part of a post’s body. Like, if I go to Google News, my mindset is, I’m going to click on this article link and expect that the page changes to that story. So, food for thought.

    I see by a quick search that there are some small script chunks out there in places like javascriptbank that can make the new tab/window behavior a permanent fixture if you want it like that.

  5. Kathryn Fenner

    People people people–Please save yourself a lot of aggravation and install and use Firefox instead of IE!!!

    Mozilla is your friend.

  6. Nick Nielsen

    Firefox can be configured to open either a new tab or a new window when a link is clicked. I’m using an add-in called Tab Mix Plus that allows me to specify that ALL links open in a new tab. B-)

  7. Eva

    Would you consider changing it back, Brad? Forcing links to open in new tabs/windows is not considered accessible web design. It can throw off screen readers used by blind people; and, as you note, new windows can be annoying.

    Readers who want links to open in new tabs/windows can set their browsers to do so by default. That’s better than having you choose for us.

  8. Kathryn Fenner

    @Pat–what is this “right click” you speak of–some of us have Macs (I think you can command+click on a Mac?)

  9. Pat

    Kathryn,
    re Mac – My daughter tells me you can command click(?same as control click?) and it will pull up the the choices or click on the apple and it will pull up in a new tab. She says a Mac can also take a 2 button mouse and be used the same way I do.

  10. Kathryn Fenner

    I have a MacBook for most of my work, and use the track pad. My iMac could use a better mouse, though. The Command key is a special Apple deal–it has a sort of four loop infinity sign on it.There’s also a control and an option key–Option seems to be = Alt.

    So thanks!

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