Open Links in a New Window
Dear Cricket,
Are there any rules of thumb or guidelines about opening one of your own webpages in a new window? For example, in my website, I have many external links to other websites. For these, I always open them in a new window. However, I also have many internal links. In most cases, I do not open these in a new window.
I’m wondering if there are instances when I should. For example, if I have a webpage where I reference something on another webpage within my site but the user may want to come back to the page after they’ve looked at the reference then should I open in a new window?
It sounds like I should but then I’m worried about doing too much of this. So before I start opening a lot of my own pages in new windows, I’d thought I’d check to see if there are any guidelines about when you should or shouldn’t do this?
Thanks in advance for your help.
Susan Kielly, Minnesota
Graduation Party
Hi Susan!
WOW! You have picked a tough topic. It really seems that just about everyone has a different viewpoint about if, and when it is acceptable for a webmaster to open links in a new window.
In a standards based world, following the strictest methods of coding, it is never considered acceptable to have a link open in a new window. From an accessibility standpoint, if you do choose to have a link open in a new window you must somehow make that fact clear. You also have to consider that higher security settings are blocking more and more of these types of pages from opening. After all of that, your visitors may have different ideas about all of this.
I strive to find a way to meet the needs of my target visitors while still keeping web standards, security, and accessibility in mind. In the beginning I always used the target attribute to open links to other websites in a new window.
Slowly but surely, I have begun to move away from that and have been going back through my sites page by page to make changes as needed. There are still situations where I feel it is necessary, such as displaying enlarged images that are not part of a page, and sometimes with screenshots for step by step tutorials, but those are limited and I try to always clearly indicate that a new window will be opening.
I personally do not believe there is a black and white answer to your question. The best you can do is research all of the information and then reach a decision that you feel is best for your visitors.
I WILL DEFINITELY SEE YOU AT THE TOP!
Ask Cricket Small Business Marketing Consultant and SEO Training Specialist
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