Jan
22

Should Links Open in a New Window? Twitter Web Designers Voice In

Yesterday I asked the Twitterverse the question:

John Wang (jwang392)
Web Designers Question (for upcoming post. all responses will be featured)!: When should links open in a new window/tab?

Here are their responses:

Patrick McCoy (wootstudio)
@jwang392 When the user expects it or is warned about it before hand.
  • Chad Engle (chadengle)
    @jwang392 If it link travels outside of the site. I hate new windows but love new tabs especially if I am not done with the previous content
  • Chad Engle (chadengle)
    @jwang392 But I usually just apple click so I rarely make new windows…
  • Matt Lewis (MattLewisDesign)
    @jwang392 links should open new window only when being taken to a completely diff site. So like opening a 3rd party from your banking site.
  • Brian Dote (dote)
    @jwang392 Whenever the link is to an external resource that’s not in the same domain as the page the link appears on
  • Further Reading:

    Readers Voice Your Thoughts! target = _blank friend or foe?

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    View Comments to “Should Links Open in a New Window? Twitter Web Designers Voice In”

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    1. Should Links Open in a New Window? Twitter Web Designers Voice In…

      Web Designers on Twitter voice their thoughts on when Links should open up new windows and tabs…

    2. Links should open in a new window whenever you want the end user to swear, close the window, and leave your site.

    3. admin says:

      I don’t think I would go that far. I do find them annoying when they are part of the main website and not links to external websites. Though, in most cases I do just right-click and choose “open in new tab” option or CMD+Click.

      I think most of the links that do that are informational links. Even so, I think they can be done better with Javascript or some other means that do not cause a new window. Especially those that force-resize your main window. That, I feel like is a much worse move.

    4. John Wang says:

      I don't think I would go that far. I do find them annoying when they are part of the main website and not links to external websites. Though, in most cases I do just right-click and choose “open in new tab” option or CMD+Click.

      I think most of the links that do that are informational links. Even so, I think they can be done better with Javascript or some other means that do not cause a new window. Especially those that force-resize your main window. That, I feel like is a much worse move.

    5. [...] up links suck. The twitterverse also responded when asked: Should Links Open in a New Window? Twitter Web Designers Voice In. But sometimes you need to use them. Sometimes you are required by your clients to use them. Or [...]

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