New Tab for Links

[DerMißingno]

This is something that has always bothered me a bit on these forums. If it's feasible, I think it would be preferable to have links posted on the forum automatically open to a new tab instead of navigating the user away from the forum. I can see this being much more convenient because more often than not, a link accompanies or supplements what someone is saying, and I don't want to have to right click and say "open in new tab" in order to stay on the forum page and not lose my place.

The argument against this would be that you can always choose to right click and select "open in new tab" if you really want to, but I honestly can't think of a situation in which navigating away from the forum would be preferable. I'm on another v-bulletin forum that does it this way, so sometimes I'll forget that it doesn't open in a new tab and click on it anyway, then I'll have to go back, right click, select "open in new tab," and it adds like 4 button clicks to something that should have taken one.

I know it's possible because I'm on another v-bulletin forum that does it, but I'm not sure how difficult it is to implement. If it's not too difficult, I think it would improve the user friendliness of the forums.

 

[Iteru]

If you have a mouse-wheel, press it down as you would the left or right mouse buttons. That opens a new tab for a link in one click on FireFox and IE (not sure on others).

 

[Ino-Chan]

On Chrome, you just right click and the scroll down to where it says "Open link in new tab" and just left click on that.

 

[Musashi]

As a side note, please don't use the development prefix when you're just pitching us an idea.

 

[DerMißingno]

If you have a mouse-wheel, press it down as you would the left or right mouse buttons. That opens a new tab for a link in one click on FireFox and IE (not sure on others).

Yes I know. I don't have one at the moment.

On Chrome, you just right click and the scroll down to where it says "Open link in new tab" and just left click on that.

I know... I said that like three times in the OP.

 

[$aturn¥oshi]

For laptops with those track pads and two mouse buttons, you can press both button simultaneously for the same effect.

 

[DerMißingno]

I didn't post this thread to ask how to open a new tab. I know it's possible. I posted it as a suggestion, and I think it's a pretty good one.

 

[$aturn¥oshi]

Yes, but... With so many alternate methods already available, it may not be worthwhile to do. Especially since it's unknown if it comes vB standard or if an add-on is required.

 

[DerMißingno]

I did some searches on the vB mod forum, and I couldn't find anything on it. Honestly I can't really see it being an add on since it doesn't really add anything. I don't really know how difficult it is to implement, but I do know that it's possible because other forums do it and it makes life less stressful.

 

[$aturn¥oshi]

Any thoughts @Archaic?

 

[Archaic]

It's something we can do with an inbuilt feature of vBulletin. Having said that however, I don't really have any plans to implement it. It's possible to do this by using a keyboard shortcut or an option on a right click. It's *not* as easy to do the opposite, forcing a link to open in the same tab or window when the site is set to do that by default. It'd likely annoy a number of users.

 

[DerMißingno]

I'm not really sure why anyone would not want a new tab, but if that's the way it is then that's the way it is.

 

[Xenidal]

I think this is a bad / somewhat pointless idea.
Just out of habit, if you want a new tab / window you should always right click and open in a new tab / window on any link, not just here but anywhere online. Very rarely does the site do it on its own. You can't tell every web developer out there to change the way links open just because you don't feel like telling the link to open in a new tab.

 

[DerMißingno]

I think this is a bad / somewhat pointless idea.
Just out of habit, if you want a new tab / window you should always right click and open in a new tab / window on any link, not just here but anywhere online. Very rarely does the site do it on its own. You can't tell every web developer out there to change the way links open just because you don't feel like telling the link to open in a new tab.

Websites I know of who do this on their own:
Facebook
Youtube
4chan
Smogon Forums
Kendo World Forums
Pretty much every other forum I've ever been a part of

What internet are you using?

 

[Xenidal]

Websites that open outside links in the same window:
Google
Apple (it hardly has any outside links but when it does they open in the same window)
The official Pokémon website
Pokémon Global Link (on some of its links)
Pokémon TCG Online (on some of its links)
Wikipedia
Just about anyone's personal webpage

Websites that open it in a separate tab only do it as a convenience... the default is to open it in the same window. When you make a website, the simplest link to make uses the code

<a href="http://www.google.com/">Google</a>

That code opens the page in the same window / tab

 

[DerMißingno]

Websites that open outside links in the same window:
Google
Apple (it hardly has any outside links but when it does they open in the same window)
The official Pokémon website
Pokémon Global Link (on some of its links)
Pokémon TCG Online (on some of its links)
Wikipedia
Just about anyone's personal webpage

Websites that open it in a separate tab only do it as a convenience... the default is to open it in the same window. When you make a website, the simplest link to make uses the code

<a href="http://www.google.com/">Google</a>

That code opens the page in the same window / tab

There is a very key difference between the websites you've listed and the websites I've listed. The ones I listed all include links posted by users. When you have a link posted by a user, you are generally viewing a forum thread or a video or something someone posted, and the link is just a supplement to the discussion. With other sites like Google and Wikipedia, links are used for navigation. Notice I don't want links for navigating to different forum sections to go to new tabs. Who would?

It's a very obvious difference that I figured people who make this argument would be able to understand, but I guess I was wrong.

 

[Xenidal]

That really doesn't make much of a difference though. Usually if I do a Google search and I find a website I still want the Google window open so I can find another result without hitting back (and leaving my first result). Same thing with Wikipedia... if I see something and click on the citation to see where it came from, I usually don't want to go away from the Wikipedia page for good.
My point is that some major websites and most minor websites make you right click a link to open it in a new tab... so you should just be in the habit of doing that anyway. Yes, usually you would want to open links from forums in a new tab, but I see nothing stopping you from just right clicking it and choosing "open in a new tab". The only reasons not to would be if you're using a laptop with no mouse or a Mac with an Apple mouse and it is difficult to right-click stuff... or if you forget that these forums don't open a new tab so you just click it anyway.

 

[DerMißingno]

That really doesn't make much of a difference though. Usually if I do a Google search and I find a website I still want the Google window open so I can find another result without hitting back (and leaving my first result). Same thing with Wikipedia... if I see something and click on the citation to see where it came from, I usually don't want to go away from the Wikipedia page for good.
My point is that some major websites and most minor websites make you right click a link to open it in a new tab... so you should just be in the habit of doing that anyway. Yes, usually you would want to open links from forums in a new tab, but I see nothing stopping you from just right clicking it and choosing "open in a new tab". The only reasons not to would be if you're using a laptop with no mouse or a Mac with an Apple mouse and it is difficult to right-click stuff... or if you forget that these forums don't open a new tab so you just click it anyway.

Then you can take it up with the administration at those websites. In the meantime, I think this website should do it so I'm taking it up with the administration here.

Also, I'll take that last statement as support for my idea, thank you.

 

[Xenidal]

Taking it up with the administrators of every website out there is stupid. They can fix it, but they probably won't. And even if they all did, you'd have to contact countless administrators to change them all (well, I guess you'd only need to contact the administrators of sites you use). The better idea would be to take it up with the people who make the browsers... it's the browser that determines how html tags are read. If the makers of the browser wanted to they could make it so that the default does open it in a new tab.

Anyway, I've changed my mind, it would be nice for these forums to do it automatically as a convenience for the cases I've mentioned. But I highly doubt it'll be changed... Archaic already said that he has no plans of implementing it.

 

[DerMißingno]

Anyway, I've changed my mind, it would be nice for these forums to do it automatically as a convenience for the cases I've mentioned. But I highly doubt it'll be changed... Archaic already said that he has no plans of implementing it.

Thanks =)