Re: Should external links really open in the samewindow?

>I view sites that take it upon themselves to spawn new windows in
> about the same vein as sites that automatically resize my window or
> move it around. It's too presumptuous.
>
> Keep your code off my browser.
>
> I can anticipate how links on any given site will behave based on
> past experience with other websites. Past experience tells me that a
> single click on a link opens that link in that window.
>
> But past experience also tells me that hyperlinks can be opened in
> baroque ways if I choose, depending on the controls my browser
> provides and my situational preference. If I prefer to open links in
> a new window or a new tab, I can do so with no trouble; but it's my
> choice, not the site's.
>
> Automatically targeting links to a new window is draconian. It can't
> be circumvented. It enforces a particular conception of appropriate
> behavior. If I prefer links to open in some other way I'm out of
> luck.
>
> Even when I don't have a preference, the behavior is usually
> unexpected because by default external links look no different than
> internal links. If an object behaves differently it should look
> different. Some sites get this right but generally there's no way to
> anticipate whether a link is going to suddenly spawn a window. So I
> expect them to behave themselves.
>
> Even if there weren't philosophical objections, the practical
> problems of users not realizing a new window had been opened and then
> subsequently being confused about the disabled back button should be
> enough to discourage the behavior.
>
> // jeff
>
>
> . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
> Posted from the new ixda.org
> http://www.ixda.org/discuss?post=31169
>
>
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