Should It Open a New Window?
One question I have been asking myself when writing this blog is - should external links in my blog open a new window by default, or should it stay in the current window? What is considered "best practice" nowadays? So I decided to do a bit of research. As usual when it comes to such topics the opinions are many and varied, and everyone thinks they are right. So I decided to share with the world my conclusions. 
I have decided that it is best practice to not open new windows to external sites by default. Why?
- New windows popping up can confuse inexperienced surfers who are used to the safety of the "Back" button. A new window does not retain the browser history of previous windows, thus rendering the Back button useless.
- Experienced surfers know how to open new windows or tabs - let them choose. Tip: In Internet Explorer and Firefox hold down the "shift" key when clicking a link to open it in a new Window, or in Firefox use the "ctrl" key to open in a new Tab.
- New windows opening up are a big problem for the visually impaired whose speech-to-text software may not have been warned of the window change, or they have missed hearing the warning that a new window was opened.
Of course, there are always exceptions to the rule. In some situations opening a new browser window is the logical thing to do - but not for every link by default.
If you do…
When/if you do want to open a new Window keep in mind that the target attribute of the <a> tag is deprecated, and will prevent your pages from validating in HTML 4.01 Strict, XHTML 1.0 Strict, or any future version. There are a number of alternative methods around - most of them using JavaScript. Here is the method I recommend:
<a href="http://google.com/" onclick="window.open(this.href); return false;">
A Test Link
</a>
Here is a sample link using this code.
Why is this recommended method? It achieves our objective of opening a new window, but it also:
- Preserves the href element for Search Engines
- Users who want control can still right-click
- The link can still be Bookmarked or added to the browser Favorites
- Your code will validate
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So … future external links on this blog will not open a new window by default. And on the odd occasion it is a good idea, I will use the method outlined above.
If you have any thoughts on this topic I would love to hear them…
