Have your links open a new window

[gahspidy]

Since I have launched my site a few weeks ago, i have made some improvements with the great help of Peter, and the rest of the members in this forum. I have also come across a few little things that might help others, if they do not know already.
One of them is having your links to other sites open up in a new window. If you only place the url in the link, then the visitor is taken to the links site and removed from your website, which would make it very unlikely that they might make the effort to return back to your site.It's best to have the link open a new window, so when the visitor closes the links site, your site is still there in it's original window. The visitor never leaves your site.
To do this, you need to place a piece of coding into the url code.

The code is target="_blank"

This code is to be placed right after the last quotation marks in the url.

Lets say the link url is . . .
a href="http://www.merchant-url.com/product-page.aspx?kbid=1225">text

You would place the code after the last quotations and it would look like this:

a href="http://www.merchant-url.com/product-page.aspx?kbid=1225"target="_blank">text

This is very quick and easy to do to your existing site. Just copy the code with a right click, and then paste it into the correct spot on all your link codes.

I'm sure many know of this, but if someone could benefit from this then that would be good.

Over and Out

[Asylum Steve]

Yeah, have to admit, this is something I just take for granted at this point...

One major rule about web design is you should design and code your site so your viewer does NOT have to use their BACK key. Sure, if they want to (hey, I'm a back key fiend myself, heh heh), that's fine, but you should always provide a way to move FORWARD easily through your site, especially "returning" to your home as well as the other major section pages, even previously viewed ones.

Keeping this in mind, how you present links to pages outside of your site is important.

Like you say, if you simply straight link to another site, you take the viewer completely away from your site, and so rely on them to "back key" to return.

Maybe they will, maybe they won't...

By having outside links open up in new windows, you keep the viewer in your site, but offer them a look at another site.

BTW, the open in new window feature can be very useful staying within your own site as well. I use it to open individual image pages in smaller seperate windows while I keep my thumbnail page visible, so the viewer can look at a photo without losing touch with the larger group.

I also use it for sidebars on my site that offer quick information, but can be quickly closed without losing view of the main site. Click on any of the links in my site's intro page (http://www.photoasylum.com/intro.html) to see what I mean...

[Peter_AUS]

One thing to remember when you do this sort of linking and opening another window is, this gives them the opportunity to close your window and continue on with the new window they opened up, so it can lead to people leaving your site as well.

Don't get me wrong, I use this technique all the time as well, but you need to keep this in mind. Presentation and ease of use is what keeps people on your a site.

[Overbeyond]

Thanks for bringing this to my attention Gary. I have now pasted it at the end of my external urls. I have often got frustrated to loose a site all together as a result of linking away from it temporarily.
Tom
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[ekstasis16]

I can certainly see the benefits of opening external sites in new browser windows, but there are some drawbacks. Read rule #2 from the following page:

The Top Ten Web Design Mistakes of 1999
http://www.useit.com/alertbox/990530.html

Granted its from 1999, but a lot of these usability rules are still relevant and in use today.

I've confirmed his findings to a certain degree with my own usability studies and those I've performed at work. Users that aren't very computer literate tend to get confused when new windows pop up and they aren't expecting it. Breaking the Back button is enough to give me pause before implementing it.

I agree with Asylum Steve that you should build your site's navigation as efficiently as possible, but the Back and Forward buttons are still very valid means of navigation on the web and are used by the majority of web users. Care should be taken to ensure that their function isn't broken.

[gahspidy]

Yes, I'll agree that efficient navigational layout is the best first step. howver, the links I'm speaking of are only those per say on my links page that steers users to another site that I may like to recommend. It is only if i am directing them to another site that i open another window. Everything within my own site stays in the one window. Personally, as a user and browser of other sites, i have found that to actually be a convenient method of navigation. I had wanted to stay on the original site, but wanted to browse through some recommended links, with it in mind to eventually return. i was pleased to have it open a window so that i could look around as much as i wanted knowing thay when i was ready to return I had only to minimize or close the window while the original site i was visiting was still there waiting for me. Like anything else, it should just be used tactfully.

[Axle]

On my sites, all links that go external open in a new window. I use a few Javascript popups (then have a 'close window' link). All internal links stay in the same window, but will have a link to return them to the master page where they linked from.

[readingr]

I took a different approach and put the new window inside my navigation window, so that the user still sees how to get to my pages.

Is this a method that would anoy users?

roger

[ekstasis16]

readingr:
Yikes. I don't know if it would annoy them outright, but it would certainly confuse many people. If I wasn't aware what was going on, I would think that it was just another part of your site rather than a completely external site. A lot of people don't look at the URL path in at the bottom left of their browser to see where a given link will take them when they hover over it, so in your case I could see a lot of people becoming confused. In some cases, the owner of the site you link to might get angry that you're putting their entire site within a frame on your own.

gahspidy:
It's about giving the users control of their browser. You might like external sites to open in a new window (as do I sometimes), but some others might not. If you force the new window to open by hard-coding it in, they have no choice. You can always right-click on the link and choose "Open link in new window", or whatever your browser says. It's the same reason why browsers allow users to change font sizes and select user-created styles. The user should be allowed to decide how they want to browse the web; as developers we shouldn't be taking those choices away.

[gahspidy]

ekstasis16, that is true about giving the user the option, or rather leaving the users options there. However, I am very doubtful that most average web surfers would actually right click and choose a method of opening a link. In my estimate, most users simply click a link and let what happens happen. At least from my experience and the people that I know. What your saying makes sense and is reasonable, but it comes down to preference ,of course, and I would prefer that an external link not take a viewer away from my site. I will let the viewer make the decision to close or leave my site when they are ready.

[Peter_AUS]

It has been generally considered since the time of WWW began that when doing web design you should endeavor to keep potential clients on your website and make the browsing experience as painless as possible. If you have links that take the potential client away from your site, not just opening up a new windows which is considered the preferable choice, by taking them completely away from your site, then you have potentially, 9 times out of 10 taken the potential client away.

Everyone has their own views on what to do, what is right ????

Answer, what works best for you and you alone. Everyone's experiences on the web will be completely different, even when viewing the same sites, it has been proven that what deters people the most is the look and ease of use. The uglier it is, the more cluttered it is, the harder it is to get around, and people move on to other sites very quickly.

Don't believe me, take note of your browsing over a weeks period and look at why you leave sites and don't stay around them longer than 30 seconds, then you will see what I am talking about.

Gary, stick with what you have it works, looks pretty clean and is to your liking. I often right click to open, only because I don't know where the hell the link is going to and whether I will be leaving the site I am browsing. This site is a classic case in point, when you click on the other sites like computerreview.com it takes you totally out of this site. Not something I want to do when I go there.

[Harry Hing]

Read rule #2 from the following page:

The Top Ten Web Design Mistakes of 1999
http://www.useit.com/alertbox/990530.html

Granted its from 1999, but a lot of these usability rules are still relevant and in use today.

I respectfully disagree with this. Back inthe days of no Java and 14 inch monitors, this was a valid point. Now when often the back button is re-programmed with java to bring you right back to the page you were just on, the last thing you wnat to do is direct someone to a page they have no way of easily getting back to your site from