Opening Links In A New Browser Window - GoFuckYourself.com

clicker · 10-01-2006, 07:33 AM

I am wondering for a free site what is best? To pop open new browsers or not. Pro: it keeps them on your page until they find something they like. Con: they may have trouble getting a back to the original site and not like what you pushed.

lucky1 · 10-01-2006, 08:49 AM

IMO I would open a new window. If they don't like where you sent them they just close the window and they are back at your site.

fallenmuffin · 10-01-2006, 02:23 PM

I always open links in new window on everything I do. I use target tag usally _blank

Jenny S. · 10-01-2006, 04:41 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by clicker

I am wondering for a free site what is best? To pop open new browsers or not. Pro: it keeps them on your page until they find something they like. Con: they may have trouble getting a back to the original site and not like what you pushed.

We found that target-blank with a "Close this Window" button on the second page is the a good idea especially on pages with links to other pages. If the user clicks the new page away he still has you page open.

Johnny G · 10-04-2006, 09:43 AM

I agree with Lucky1. Opening in a new window keeps your page open for your visitors to return.

free4porn · 10-04-2006, 10:42 AM

yup i agree too

karlcore · 10-04-2006, 02:16 PM

Since I gotta fucking have 30 posts before I can post an URL, here ya go:

The Scourge of New Windows

Description – This article will discuss the usability and accessibility problems related to opening new windows, including popups and windows opened via the "target" attribute.

scourge (skûrj) n.(source: Dictionary.com)

1. A source of widespread dreadful affliction and devastation such as that caused by pestilence or war.
2. A means of inflicting severe suffering, vengeance, or punishment.
3. A whip used to inflict punishment.

On the surface, it seems a harsh overstatement to say that opening new windows is a scourge, but based on my experience, it is as accurate a statement as any when describing one of the worst ways a website can abuse its visitors. Although there are surely worse ways to inflict frustration and confusion on the people who come to your site, most of the time, these things are done to either be intentionally annoying or are done by people completely clueless about making websites such as amateurs and hobbyists. However, opening new windows is a practice of even the largest companies and most professional web designers. Why do they do this, and what are the effects?
Windows Opened As Javascript Popups

Popup windows are most often opened on the user’s screen to create an inescapable advertising impression. In such a case, users’ opinions are clearly demonstrated in the fact that no other web practice has spawned an entire industry dedicated to avoiding it.

All major browsers now have pop-up blocking features, as do products like Norton Internet Security, Google Toolbar, and others.

The public’s hatred for popup ads has gotten so severe that Microsoft announced it would remove pop-ups from its US sites in 2003 and the extension of the policy worldwide follows a report by Forrester Research, which found that 64% of US internet users found pop-up ads irritating and 28% avoided sites that allowed advertisers to use them.

The helpless casualty in this situation is the popup windows that are created for the purpose of delivering in-context information such has help systems for an online form or an important tool such as a mortgage calculator. My opinions on new windows not withstanding, your user, in their quest to avoid popups, may miss out on important information or tools because they’ve become so aggravated by popups that their software makes your site’s features not work for them. The problem – on your end – is magnified by the fact that now the user thinks your site is broken when they click on a link and nothing happens. With the release of Microsoft’s SP2 update for Windows XP, this pain is being felt by companies across the globe. The new popup blocking feature in SP2 can make surfing some sites seem like "the Internet is broken" to users who don’t understand why some links they click on do not work anymore.

The real cure for this problem is in the fact that if you need to open a new window for important supplementary information, you’d better take a closer look at your information architecture. If you think a popup with additional information is going to help users, you’re dodging the real problem – an information flow that is lacking somewhere. If the content of your site "requires" supplemental information from a new window, your users would be better served by a rewrite/ reorganization of that content so that it is more easy for them to use & understand, rather than a Band-Aid approach like a popup.
Windows Opened Via The "target" Attribute

While it appears that most are starting to "get the picture" about popup windows, sites are still relentlessly abusing their visitors through the use of new windows via the "target" attribute.

Even though some sites use this method to create another method to provide supplementary content, this practice is often used to open new windows to send users to external (third-party) links. Naturally, opening these new windows for supplementary content shares the same information architecture problems as their pop-up siblings. Regardless of whether they’re used for supplementary content or external links, the practice raises additional usability problems.

One of my colleagues, from Dartmouth college writes:

I have been doing some usability testing for a local hospital and we have been fortunate to have participants with no familiarity with the web all the way to self-described experts. We tested pages where external links opened in a new window and pages where external links opened in the same window. Nobody had trouble navigating when links opened in the same window. Many people had trouble navigating when links opened in a new window.

* Most everyone used the back button to navigate the site and not the site navigation links.
* Many people didn't notice when a new window opened, even when the page explicitly indicated that links would open in a new window.
* Many people were unable to get back to the main site when a new window opened because the back button did not work.

I have long thought that people get disoriented when following links and that I, as the designer, had to build in ways to help people keep their bearings. So I've done the javascript popups and the target="whatever". But from watching people work with the web I am starting to think that people don't really notice when they go from one site to another, and that they also don't really care. They are questing for information and don't much care where they get it. The damage done by trying to be helpful and impose "context" is much greater than that done by leaving people to make their own way.

These observations mirrored my own. During a recent usability test, I noticed that new windows had caused disorientation in all users who had experienced them. Primarily, this manifested itself in the form of a "broken" back button. When users experienced these new windows and wished to go back to where they came from, they were unable to. In fact, ALL participants needed to be informed by the test facilitator that a new window had opened and that in order to get back to the site, they needed to close the new window. This is the last thing a facilitator wants to do. Interrupting a test participant derails the testing process, and a facilitator will often wait quite a long time to see if the participant can figure out the problem for themselves. However, the new windows were such a problem that the facilitator needed to interrupt the test so that we could continue.
Any new window causes confusion and frustration, resulting in lost users

New windows opened via the "target" attribute causes confusion for the user, breaks the back button, and harms your users’ perception of your site. For those who think that opening a new window will help keep the user from "losing the [original] site", the real effect is exactly the opposite.

In a recent usability test I observed, about half the participants actually got lost. With the new window completely covering the original site, they did not notice that they had two (or more) windows open. In an attempt to return to the original site, they repeatedly hit the back button. When that didn’t work, they totally closed all browser windows and completely started over. Despite the fact that some sites insist on opening new windows "so the visitor doesn't lose our site" when in actuality, the new windows appear to actually cause people to lose the site rather than keep them.
"Band-Aids" only cover a gaping wound

During discussions of opening new windows with a colleague of mine, the argument was posed that seemed to make sense: The primary problem with these new windows wasn’t just the fact that the new window existed. The biggest issue was the fact that the window was full size, therefore covering the old window completely. This, he said, is what caused the users' confusion. The solution my colleague proposed was that the new window should be created so that it is noticeably smaller than full screen - say, 700 x 500. On the surface, this seems like an excellent solution.

Then, during another recent test, I noticed that users who encountered these smaller-than-full-sized windows would click the button in the upper right-hand corner in order to maximize the window. Because the site being tested opened new windows in multiple screens, some participants wound up with 3 or even 4 windows of the site open to full screen. It almost gave the impression that the new windows were cloning themselves. This practice of opening smaller windows is certainly is not a "fix", in my opinion. Indeed, there’s just no cure for the problems created by new windows except to simply avoid them.

Fat Panda · 10-04-2006, 08:20 PM

target="_blank" is the way to go...open in new windows period

clicker · 10-05-2006, 06:22 PM

thank you everyone for your imput!

hdkiller · 10-06-2006, 01:03 AM

Yeah, the problem with new visitors on a page what open the links in a new window is the confusion. The user will not remember where he came from. A good solution will be the frames in the future. (And not framesets, just iframes.) IMHO

karlcore · 10-06-2006, 04:59 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by hdkiller

Yeah, the problem with new visitors on a page what open the links in a new window is the confusion. The user will not remember where he came from. A good solution will be the frames in the future. (And not framesets, just iframes.) IMHO

iframes have exactly the same problems as regular frames.
how will that solve the problem of the visitor leaving or visitors being confused?

essentialeo · 10-06-2006, 07:40 AM

my opinion: open in new window

hdkiller · 10-06-2006, 01:24 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by karlcore

iframes have exactly the same problems as regular frames.
how will that solve the problem of the visitor leaving or visitors being confused?

Maybe, if the user has a little navigation bar (like in regular frames) on top, and pages opens into a new frame under them, the user will have a constant feeling of still being 'contacted' with the 'origin' site.

I think, users should be educated about how to use tabbed browsing, but i still think using target=_blank and other popup methods are against the happy user, but i also think, the user may stay happy if he notate the event before it happens ;) like Click here for more pr0n (Opens in new window) . It's may build loyality and trust.

We should do some 'naiv user' tests about this...

karlcore · 10-06-2006, 01:51 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by hdkiller

We should do some 'naiv user' tests about this...

Thats what I do for a living. Did you see the big long post I put up in this thread?

hdkiller · 10-09-2006, 02:03 AM

yeah i read that, but your post dosn't have a real solution in this scene if i get it right.. a usability test of a web application in an isolated enviroment is different than the mess of the adult world wide web.. That bloody back button is evil too, ajax would be good for a lot of time but users are still want to use the navigate buttons, and we can't script that. But yeah, you are right, the conclusion is do not use popups ;)

The tests what im thinked of; usability tests of 'framed' solutions, and telling the events before it's happens.

Btw, doing usability tests is very intresting, i have been optimized some sites to have more click ratio via mouse grabbing by javascript to record mouse movement and get the 'hot' areas, and tracking the user movement on the web page by recording events. The conclusion was; users learns fast, and they like to get to the same page on different ways. (Playing with placement and notation of 'free signup' made a difference from ~100:1 to ~15:1 in ratio, so it's matter!)

Oh and yeah, another problem with popups, when the user got 'enough' opened windows, he/she just close all of the windows, and start his session again from his favorite site.

scottybuzz · 10-09-2006, 02:49 AM

external links- new window/
Internal Links - Same frame

scottybuzz · 10-09-2006, 02:51 AM

BTW - anybody agree with me there?

hdkiller · 10-10-2006, 03:17 AM

im still dont belive in popups ;)

naughty_wld · 10-10-2006, 03:31 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by scottybuzz

BTW - anybody agree with me there?

yeah i agree.

VicD · 10-10-2006, 04:40 AM

<base target="_blank"> in the head, works fine

clip4free · 10-10-2006, 11:09 AM

yeah, opening a new window is the best option...and i hate pop ups!

The Prince · 10-10-2006, 01:03 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by vicd

<base target="_blank"> in the head, works fine

is it put on each page you want in a new window? does it matter where in the Head you put it? ... Does it have a closing tag or it's like you have it with no close tag?

VicD · 10-10-2006, 04:13 PM

Put it in each page if you like, just copy and paste

http://parislovesporn.com/tgp/tgp.shtml check the source for the placing

cmj1981 · 10-10-2006, 04:18 PM

Links that don't open in a new window piss people off.

The Prince · 10-11-2006, 09:01 AM

How about banner ads? My homepage is two frames and i have two banner ads... one on top and one on bottom.. when i click the banners the page opens in the main frame instead of a new window... can the same code be used?

10-01-2006, 07:33 AM	#1
clicker Confirmed User Industry Role: Join Date: Jun 2006 Location: Virtual Posts: 1,113	Opening Links In A New Browser Window I am wondering for a free site what is best? To pop open new browsers or not. Pro: it keeps them on your page until they find something they like. Con: they may have trouble getting a back to the original site and not like what you pushed.

10-01-2006, 08:49 AM	#2
lucky1 Confirmed User Join Date: Sep 2005 Posts: 309	IMO I would open a new window. If they don't like where you sent them they just close the window and they are back at your site. __________________ - See sig --->

10-04-2006, 09:43 AM	#5
Johnny G Confirmed User Industry Role: Join Date: May 2005 Location: New Jersey Posts: 516	I agree with Lucky1. Opening in a new window keeps your page open for your visitors to return. __________________ Imagine porn stars doing electrical work https://MrElectrician.TV

10-04-2006, 10:42 AM	#6
free4porn Confirmed User Join Date: Jun 2005 Posts: 4,654	yup i agree too __________________ Switch To Fling Now! I'm on 1:201 paid signups sending little traffic! Make $$$ Free Porn

10-06-2006, 01:03 AM	#10
hdkiller Full time cybermage Industry Role: Join Date: Jun 2006 Location: Cyberspace Posts: 461	Yeah, the problem with new visitors on a page what open the links in a new window is the confusion. The user will not remember where he came from. A good solution will be the frames in the future. (And not framesets, just iframes.) IMHO __________________ ClickPapa! - Buy and Sell traffic

10-01-2006, 02:23 PM	#3
fallenmuffin Confirmed User Industry Role: Join Date: Nov 2005 Posts: 8,170	I always open links in new window on everything I do. I use target tag usally _blank

10-04-2006, 02:16 PM	#7
karlcore Confirmed User Join Date: Jul 2006 Location: www.derangedworld.net Posts: 134	Since I gotta fucking have 30 posts before I can post an URL, here ya go: The Scourge of New Windows Description – This article will discuss the usability and accessibility problems related to opening new windows, including popups and windows opened via the "target" attribute. scourge (skûrj) n.(source: Dictionary.com) 1. A source of widespread dreadful affliction and devastation such as that caused by pestilence or war. 2. A means of inflicting severe suffering, vengeance, or punishment. 3. A whip used to inflict punishment. On the surface, it seems a harsh overstatement to say that opening new windows is a scourge, but based on my experience, it is as accurate a statement as any when describing one of the worst ways a website can abuse its visitors. Although there are surely worse ways to inflict frustration and confusion on the people who come to your site, most of the time, these things are done to either be intentionally annoying or are done by people completely clueless about making websites such as amateurs and hobbyists. However, opening new windows is a practice of even the largest companies and most professional web designers. Why do they do this, and what are the effects? Windows Opened As Javascript Popups Popup windows are most often opened on the user’s screen to create an inescapable advertising impression. In such a case, users’ opinions are clearly demonstrated in the fact that no other web practice has spawned an entire industry dedicated to avoiding it. All major browsers now have pop-up blocking features, as do products like Norton Internet Security, Google Toolbar, and others. The public’s hatred for popup ads has gotten so severe that Microsoft announced it would remove pop-ups from its US sites in 2003 and the extension of the policy worldwide follows a report by Forrester Research, which found that 64% of US internet users found pop-up ads irritating and 28% avoided sites that allowed advertisers to use them. The helpless casualty in this situation is the popup windows that are created for the purpose of delivering in-context information such has help systems for an online form or an important tool such as a mortgage calculator. My opinions on new windows not withstanding, your user, in their quest to avoid popups, may miss out on important information or tools because they’ve become so aggravated by popups that their software makes your site’s features not work for them. The problem – on your end – is magnified by the fact that now the user thinks your site is broken when they click on a link and nothing happens. With the release of Microsoft’s SP2 update for Windows XP, this pain is being felt by companies across the globe. The new popup blocking feature in SP2 can make surfing some sites seem like "the Internet is broken" to users who don’t understand why some links they click on do not work anymore. The real cure for this problem is in the fact that if you need to open a new window for important supplementary information, you’d better take a closer look at your information architecture. If you think a popup with additional information is going to help users, you’re dodging the real problem – an information flow that is lacking somewhere. If the content of your site "requires" supplemental information from a new window, your users would be better served by a rewrite/ reorganization of that content so that it is more easy for them to use & understand, rather than a Band-Aid approach like a popup. Windows Opened Via The "target" Attribute While it appears that most are starting to "get the picture" about popup windows, sites are still relentlessly abusing their visitors through the use of new windows via the "target" attribute. Even though some sites use this method to create another method to provide supplementary content, this practice is often used to open new windows to send users to external (third-party) links. Naturally, opening these new windows for supplementary content shares the same information architecture problems as their pop-up siblings. Regardless of whether they’re used for supplementary content or external links, the practice raises additional usability problems. One of my colleagues, from Dartmouth college writes: I have been doing some usability testing for a local hospital and we have been fortunate to have participants with no familiarity with the web all the way to self-described experts. We tested pages where external links opened in a new window and pages where external links opened in the same window. Nobody had trouble navigating when links opened in the same window. Many people had trouble navigating when links opened in a new window. * Most everyone used the back button to navigate the site and not the site navigation links. * Many people didn't notice when a new window opened, even when the page explicitly indicated that links would open in a new window. * Many people were unable to get back to the main site when a new window opened because the back button did not work. I have long thought that people get disoriented when following links and that I, as the designer, had to build in ways to help people keep their bearings. So I've done the javascript popups and the target="whatever". But from watching people work with the web I am starting to think that people don't really notice when they go from one site to another, and that they also don't really care. They are questing for information and don't much care where they get it. The damage done by trying to be helpful and impose "context" is much greater than that done by leaving people to make their own way. These observations mirrored my own. During a recent usability test, I noticed that new windows had caused disorientation in all users who had experienced them. Primarily, this manifested itself in the form of a "broken" back button. When users experienced these new windows and wished to go back to where they came from, they were unable to. In fact, ALL participants needed to be informed by the test facilitator that a new window had opened and that in order to get back to the site, they needed to close the new window. This is the last thing a facilitator wants to do. Interrupting a test participant derails the testing process, and a facilitator will often wait quite a long time to see if the participant can figure out the problem for themselves. However, the new windows were such a problem that the facilitator needed to interrupt the test so that we could continue. Any new window causes confusion and frustration, resulting in lost users New windows opened via the "target" attribute causes confusion for the user, breaks the back button, and harms your users’ perception of your site. For those who think that opening a new window will help keep the user from "losing the [original] site", the real effect is exactly the opposite. In a recent usability test I observed, about half the participants actually got lost. With the new window completely covering the original site, they did not notice that they had two (or more) windows open. In an attempt to return to the original site, they repeatedly hit the back button. When that didn’t work, they totally closed all browser windows and completely started over. Despite the fact that some sites insist on opening new windows "so the visitor doesn't lose our site" when in actuality, the new windows appear to actually cause people to lose the site rather than keep them. "Band-Aids" only cover a gaping wound During discussions of opening new windows with a colleague of mine, the argument was posed that seemed to make sense: The primary problem with these new windows wasn’t just the fact that the new window existed. The biggest issue was the fact that the window was full size, therefore covering the old window completely. This, he said, is what caused the users' confusion. The solution my colleague proposed was that the new window should be created so that it is noticeably smaller than full screen - say, 700 x 500. On the surface, this seems like an excellent solution. Then, during another recent test, I noticed that users who encountered these smaller-than-full-sized windows would click the button in the upper right-hand corner in order to maximize the window. Because the site being tested opened new windows in multiple screens, some participants wound up with 3 or even 4 windows of the site open to full screen. It almost gave the impression that the new windows were cloning themselves. This practice of opening smaller windows is certainly is not a "fix", in my opinion. Indeed, there’s just no cure for the problems created by new windows except to simply avoid them.

10-04-2006, 08:20 PM	#8
Fat Panda Porn is Dead. Move along. Industry Role: Join Date: Aug 2006 Posts: 13,295	target="_blank" is the way to go...open in new windows period

10-05-2006, 06:22 PM	#9
clicker Confirmed User Industry Role: Join Date: Jun 2006 Location: Virtual Posts: 1,113	thank you everyone for your imput!

10-06-2006, 07:40 AM	#12
essentialeo Registered User Join Date: Oct 2006 Posts: 36	my opinion: open in new window

10-09-2006, 02:03 AM	#15
hdkiller Full time cybermage Industry Role: Join Date: Jun 2006 Location: Cyberspace Posts: 461	yeah i read that, but your post dosn't have a real solution in this scene if i get it right.. a usability test of a web application in an isolated enviroment is different than the mess of the adult world wide web.. That bloody back button is evil too, ajax would be good for a lot of time but users are still want to use the navigate buttons, and we can't script that. But yeah, you are right, the conclusion is do not use popups ;) The tests what im thinked of; usability tests of 'framed' solutions, and telling the events before it's happens. Btw, doing usability tests is very intresting, i have been optimized some sites to have more click ratio via mouse grabbing by javascript to record mouse movement and get the 'hot' areas, and tracking the user movement on the web page by recording events. The conclusion was; users learns fast, and they like to get to the same page on different ways. (Playing with placement and notation of 'free signup' made a difference from ~100:1 to ~15:1 in ratio, so it's matter!) Oh and yeah, another problem with popups, when the user got 'enough' opened windows, he/she just close all of the windows, and start his session again from his favorite site. __________________ ClickPapa! - Buy and Sell traffic

10-09-2006, 02:49 AM	#16
scottybuzz Too lazy to set a custom title Industry Role: Join Date: May 2006 Location: NY Posts: 14,800	external links- new window/ Internal Links - Same frame __________________ $$$$$ MAKE HUGE MONEY IN CAMS - CLICK HERE $$$$$

10-09-2006, 02:51 AM	#17
scottybuzz Too lazy to set a custom title Industry Role: Join Date: May 2006 Location: NY Posts: 14,800	BTW - anybody agree with me there? __________________ $$$$$ MAKE HUGE MONEY IN CAMS - CLICK HERE $$$$$

10-10-2006, 03:17 AM	#18
hdkiller Full time cybermage Industry Role: Join Date: Jun 2006 Location: Cyberspace Posts: 461	im still dont belive in popups ;) __________________ ClickPapa! - Buy and Sell traffic

10-10-2006, 04:40 AM	#20
VicD ICQ: 304-611-162 Join Date: Feb 2005 Location: Masterdam Posts: 13,245	<base target="_blank"> in the head, works fine

10-10-2006, 11:09 AM	#21
clip4free Confirmed User Join Date: Nov 2005 Posts: 852	yeah, opening a new window is the best option...and i hate pop ups!

10-10-2006, 04:13 PM	#23
VicD ICQ: 304-611-162 Join Date: Feb 2005 Location: Masterdam Posts: 13,245	Put it in each page if you like, just copy and paste http://parislovesporn.com/tgp/tgp.shtml check the source for the placing

10-10-2006, 04:18 PM	#24
cmj1981 Confirmed User Join Date: Jun 2006 Posts: 127	Links that don't open in a new window piss people off. __________________ House of Sodom Site Reviews Privacy Toys Privacy Toys VOD The Hot Joints-News & Opinion

10-11-2006, 09:01 AM	#25
The Prince Confirmed User Join Date: Apr 2006 Posts: 158	How about banner ads? My homepage is two frames and i have two banner ads... one on top and one on bottom.. when i click the banners the page opens in the main frame instead of a new window... can the same code be used?