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Links opening in a new tab

FWIW here are my reasons for wanting links to open in a new tab.

I am a big user of tabbed browsing, it's how I do everything and I more often than not have double digit amounts of tabs open. I appreciate it's a personal thing but it's a reason.

No other website I regularly use (and very very few that I can remember that I irregularly use) open links in the same page now. The problem for me with the right click option is simply that because this is the only website I encounter it on, I forget. Often what happens then is that I click a link to a picture. It opens in the same page and after I am done viewing it I close the tab thinking it was separate. This means I then have to undo the close and start clicking back to get back to the forum.

I think more and more people are started to prefer tabbed browsing and fully utilizing it. I do appreciate the cleanness and convention in hyper linking and having everything connected on one page, but I think it is starting to become clumsy for people who use the internet more seriously.

United Kingdom

The expected behavior is that links posted on a forum will open in a new window. When I follow a posted link, I have the habit to close the window once done.

I know it's a minor issue, but it's an easy fix (target="_blank")

For those people wanting to open in a new tab - just hold down ctrl while clicking (or if your mouse has a middle button, use that).

This works on all modern browsers (just tested on IE, firefox and chrome - the last two on windows and linux).

On the ipad/iphone and android, just tap and hold over the link to open a menu (tested on Chrome and Safari on IOS, and Chrome on Android).

EGEO

jwoolard, the problem (at least for me) isn't that I don't know how to open the link in a new tab. It's that because this is the only sight I use which doesn't do it by default, I don't even think to do it, so I open a picture for example and then close it once done, which means I've actually just closed the forum page and then have to undo the close and start back clicking to get back to the forum.

United Kingdom

Priho - I see you point (sorry if my post was a little blunt).

Having this configurable per user would be a nice feature/compromise. Everyone has their own little habits on the internet (my personal one is double clicking to select the paragraph - I reserve a special place in hell for sites that try to give you word definitions or searches when you do that).

EGEO

the worldwide standard is to open in a new tab

Really? I've never come across that standard. Admittedly I'm not a developer although I am heavily involved in web testing. I'm not even aware of a RFC that discusses it and even RFCs aren't standards. Unless of course you mean "de facto" standard, in which case I'd have to disagree. My personal experience is that about half of the sites I visit do it that way with the other half opening in the same tab.

I don't want web sites telling me how to browse the web. It's my browser and I should have the control of whether to open in a new tab or not. Each individual's browser is configured differently and the web site you're viewing shouldn't try to impose specific behaviour on those that don't want it. If you aren't convinced by the uniqueness of your browsing environment, check out

It's easy for the user to open in a new tab if they wish, both on a traditional computer and also on touchscreen devices.

Fairoaks, United Kingdom

"No other website I regularly use (and very very few that I can remember that I irregularly use) open links in the same page now. The problem for me with the right click option is simply that because this is the only website I encounter it on, I forget. Often what happens then is that I click a link to a picture. It opens in the same page and after I am done viewing it I close the tab thinking it was separate. This means I then have to undo the close and start clicking back to get back to the forum.">

+1

For me, I will often go to the links provided (for example an air accident report), read it and by the time I have finished reading it, I will have forgotten that I need to go 'back' to return to EuroGA and shut the whole page down. Or the other scenario is clicking on one link then leads me to click on another.... and the same happens. PERSONALLY (FWIW) I cannot think of any other site I visit which doesn't open up a new tab in such a situation. However, I will hold up my hands and say that I am not an IT junkie so probably have more limited experience of web surfing than many on here. I would just consider myself an 'average' user I suppose.

UK, United Kingdom

For me, I will often go to the links provided (for example an air accident report), read it and by the time I have finished reading it, I will have forgotten that I need to go 'back' to return to EuroGA and shut the whole page down

Exactly that happened to me a couple of days ago. Clicked through to a report that was 6 or 7 pages long, so had to keep clicking. At the end, just closed that tab - and Euroga was gone....

Anyway, according to David, this will soon be user-definable, thus avoiding sectarian war on here ;-)

That's just it.

I work with these things for a living and have 'many' tabs open across 'many' browsers all the time. If links would open in the same tab by default my productivity would drop by 'many' points.

There's a reason why browser tabs exist, you know.

Otherwise, keep up the good work, Peter!

EFHF

> thus avoiding sectarian war on here ;-)

Maybe this could be EuroGA’s equivalent of the map & compass vs GPS debate. Or the Cirrus CAPS debate. Or the wing down vs crab debate. Or…

Fairoaks, United Kingdom
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