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Re: Question about links opening in new tabs/windows

for

From: Jared Smith
Date: Dec 3, 2013 10:01AM

Greg Gamble wrote:
> I'd think this would be the preferred way of handling links, especially for those concerned with web site marketing.

I disagree. If this were "the preferred way of handling links", all
external links would automatically open in new tabs/windows and you'd
have to program them not to.

Forcing new windows/tabs has consistently been in Jakob Nielsen's top
mistakes lists since 1999:
http://www.nngroup.com/articles/top-10-mistakes-web-design/
http://www.nngroup.com/articles/the-top-ten-web-design-mistakes-of-1999/

If you're concerned about folks not knowing they are leaving your site
(it is 2013, I think folks can tell sites apart these days and they
know how to use the Back button), I think a better approach is to use
an icon indicator to designate external links and give the user the
option of opening the link in a new window rather than forcing this
upon them.

Some other resources:
http://uxdesign.smashingmagazine.com/2008/07/01/should-links-open-in-new-windows/
http://www.webcredible.co.uk/user-friendly-resources/web-usability/new-browser-windows.shtml
https://managewp.com/should-you-open-links-in-new-windows

Jared