Comments on: Should links open in a new window?

By: Mark Bell

Mark Bell — Tue, 08 Dec 2009 10:08:57 +0000

I’ve used standard links on my blog from the start, because I know how much it annoys me when I’m clicking around in someone’s blog post and end up with four or five windows open. I think I’m with Paul on this one – perhaps I’d refine it like this:

For links within web applications (Gmail, Google Reader, Twitter) , I’d prefer them to open in a new tab.

For links on a normal web site, I’d prefer they were just standard links and let me decide whether to open them in a new window/tab/whatever.

By: Tomas

Tomas — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 20:59:46 +0000

Hi david..thanks for letting me know about this article…from my point of view i prefer when external links open in new tab…but yeah, you are right that many users dont have to find it that friendly…so perhaps in general its better to keep it opening in same window :) and asyou said, there is always good old right click ;)…cheers man and keep it up :)

By: David Airey

David Airey — Wed, 23 Sep 2009 14:32:15 +0000

“So for websites no, but for a reader yes.” Interesting point, Paul. I use Google Reader, and can’t actually remember if links open in a new window. I’m so used to right-clicking for new tabs, and I know I’ve never adjusted the reader settings.

By: Paul Gailey Alburquerque

Paul Gailey Alburquerque — Mon, 21 Sep 2009 23:31:16 +0000

As a rule I hate it (links opening in a new window) but the irony was not lost on me, when I arrived to this article via my Google RSS Reader panel, which by default opens the link in a new window/tab.

For website nav, i will often middle click an interesting link open and continue reading the piece, and systematically reduce my open tabs during the day – or the pc keels over when the open tab count gets to 74 plus and then ffox still tries to restart them all again post crash.

So for websites no, but for reader yes.

Oh and by the way I loathe those links with mini bubble previews of the page – that makes my mouse dance around the page complete hell. I really really despise those things.

Give me predictable, chunky, well behaved links with a nice contrast any day.

By: Milbach's Scratchpad

Milbach's Scratchpad — Mon, 08 Jun 2009 20:59:54 +0000

That is a great point about IE on Widows. When you are using IE with the window full screen you don’t know really if you are in a new window or not. As I was going through my basic and advanced web layout classes we were told that the sites we build should be as user friendly as possible. So I think you really should set up our links so that you open in the same window and have the user over ride it if necessary.

By: Pim

Pim — Wed, 06 May 2009 15:05:57 +0000

I agree with Begga, it so f*cking irritating when you are on a (good) website and for instance reading something and then when you click on a link you are suddenly lost. Maybe you then click some further. Finally you don’t know that (good) website anymore.
With other words I prefer links opening in a new tap or window. Thnx!

By: Rick Lecoat

Rick Lecoat — Wed, 29 Apr 2009 09:14:34 +0000

If the user is browsing with IE (and possibly other browsers under Windows) and has the browser set to full-screen — a practice much more common on Windows than on Mac systems — then a link opening a new window can cause confusion. The new full-screen window will not be offset and, lacking this visual clue, the visitor may not realise that a new window has popped up over the top of the old one; they’ll simply wonder why their back button has suddenly stopped working. This problem is particularly acute for users with learning difficulties.

Designing to web standards is, in large part, about removing obstacles for visitors who may have abilities (or disabilities) different to those of the web designer, and so I think that this is another argument against coding your links to open a new window.

The visitor can always open the link in a new tab or window if they so desire, but why should we assume that they wish to do so?

By: Milbach's Scratchpad

Milbach's Scratchpad — Wed, 29 Apr 2009 03:49:52 +0000

I find that everything is based on how a user browses. After reading some of the comments the argument really goes back and forth. I actually like when some links open in a new window/tab. depending on the situation relation the link has. I feel if you are referencing a site you should have that open in a new window. On the other hand it’s not necessary for media links such as video.

I really enjoyed reading everyones point of view on the matter. You can really tell a lot about how some one views the web by their point of view.

By: Rick Lecoat

Rick Lecoat — Mon, 02 Feb 2009 11:49:17 +0000

Manvir, if you’re just talking about Google then you can change your Google preferences from the Google homepage (the basic one with the search input bar). One of the options is “Open links in a new window” (checkbox). It’ll set a cookie in your browser.

For other sites, if they are coded to open in a new window then there is little you can do about, which was my point above. Deciding on behalf of the user whether the links on your page will open a new window or not is rather rude I think, as it removes the element of choice. The best that a user can then do is to to use a key combo to try and force the link to open a new Tab rather than a window. But I’ve yet to find a way to force a link (that is coded to open a new window) to replace the page it is on.

Links should not open new window or tabs without an explicit request from the user, ie. via keyboard modifiers. One good option when building pages is to give links that go off-site an additional visual cue, like a little icon, so that visitors know that they’ll be leaving your site when they click on the link. They then can make an informed choice about how they want that link to open.

By: Manvir

Manvir — Sun, 01 Feb 2009 23:58:37 +0000

I don’t like when internet explorer opens a link that I press in google in a new window.

I don’t know how to turn it off though. Can someone tell me how for websites to open the links u click on in the same webpage.