So I got this message from another Mike a little while ago:

Keep up the good work. Great Blog! One suggestion: can you setup your links to open in another window? Kirk does this and it works very well to prevent getting lost. Thanks!

People ask me about that from time to time. While some people like their links to open in new windows, I’m defintely in the opposite camp. I’d much rather leave it up to the reader to decide how the links load. Folks with modern browsers (that means just about everything except for Internet Explorer) will likely want to open the links in new tabs. I find it interesting that Mike feels that opening links in new windows would keep people from getting lost. Take my previous post for example, which, I think, prompted Mike’s email. There are 16 links in that post. Is it really better (simpler) to open 16 different windows? I’ll use my tabs any day.

Many people consider setting links to open in new windows is poor web design. Here’s a quote from an article about the top 10 mistakes in Web Design:

9. Opening New Browser Windows

Opening up new browser windows is like a vacuum cleaner sales person who starts a visit by emptying an ash tray on the customer’s carpet. Don’t pollute my screen with any more windows, thanks (particularly since current operating systems have miserable window management).

Designers open new browser windows on the theory that it keeps users on their site. But even disregarding the user-hostile message implied in taking over the user’s machine, the strategy is self-defeating since it disables the Back button which is the normal way users return to previous sites. Users often don’t notice that a new window has opened, especially if they are using a small monitor where the windows are maximized to fill up the screen. So a user who tries to return to the origin will be confused by a grayed out Back button.

Links that don’t behave as expected undermine users’ understanding of their own system. A link should be a simple hypertext reference that replaces the current page with new content. Users hate unwarranted pop-up windows. When they want the destination to appear in a new page, they can use their browser’s “open in new window” command — assuming, of course, that the link is not a piece of code that interferes with the browser’s standard behavior.

And here’s another article that frowns creating links which open in new windows. A snippet:

Here are the top 5 reasons why you should beware of opening links in a new window:

  1. Unless you warn them, Web users are likely to expect the new page to load in the current window. Unexpected surprises can be fun, but not when you’re browsing the Web.
  2. The act of opening a new browser window resets the back button in that window. The back button is the second most used navigation function (after hyperlinks, source: useit.com), so resetting it is a big no-no.
  3. To open a new browser window can disorient very novice Web users and the visually impaired. They might not realise that a new window has opened and might struggle to switch between windows.
  4. Opening a new browser window disrespects the desires of your users. If they want a new window, they’ll ask for one. Don’t force a new window upon users unless there’s a very good reason to do so.
  5. New browser windows can make an already cluttered taskbar even more difficult to use. We’ve all spent ages hunting through the taskbar in search of the window we want. Don’t make this process even harder by increasing the number of windows the user has open.

To each his own but if you’re using Internet Explorer and want to open links in new windows just hold down the SHIFT key while you click on links.

Get Firefox!