open external links in new page/tab

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hujev
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open external links in new page/tab

Post by hujev »

I wonder why URLs in posts don't open up in a new page/tab anymore... (this is easy to do in code)

I like that as you can open several links referred without having to lose the original or wait for a 'open in new tab' right-button menu (it's also standard on most forums too, so expected).

Perhaps it's a philosophical design question ('anti-clutter'?)

Or it could be yet another firefox bug that happens only for me, only on this forum...

/robert with 150 tabs cluttering things up, but handy since I /plan/ to read them all before closing them...
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gaz
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Re: open external links in new page/tab

Post by gaz »

Ctrl + left click here.
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Mick F
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Re: open external links in new page/tab

Post by Mick F »

No. You need to qualify that.

Control/Click.

Some of us are on Macs. :wink:
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Richard Fairhurst
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Re: open external links in new page/tab

Post by Richard Fairhurst »

It's command-click on a Mac!

(Command is the key with the ⌘ cloverleaf on it, and either 'cmd' or 'command'. Control is the key that says 'ctrl' or 'control'.)
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Mick F
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Re: open external links in new page/tab

Post by Mick F »

Nope.
Wrong.
Control/Click.

Cmd/Click opens a new tab - ONLY.
Cntrl/Click opens a menu to select what you want.
Screen Shot 2017-03-20 at 11.32.27.png
Screen Shot 2017-03-20 at 11.32.27.png (34.7 KiB) Viewed 10073 times
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thirdcrank
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Re: open external links in new page/tab

Post by thirdcrank »

Even if it's raining, I rarely bother with a mac.

For me, right clicking brings up several options of which the first is "open in new tab."
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Re: open external links in new page/tab

Post by Richard Fairhurst »

Mick F wrote:Cmd/Click opens a new tab - ONLY.
Cntrl/Click opens a menu to select what you want.Screen Shot 2017-03-20 at 11.32.27.png

That's true, but command-click on a Mac is the equivalent of control-click on a PC to open in a new tab, which is what was being discussed here. Control-click on a Mac is the equivalent to right-click on a PC, and by definition slower (click, move mouse, release button) than just clicking.

But you know all that. :)
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Mick F
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Re: open external links in new page/tab

Post by Mick F »

Richard Fairhurst wrote:That's true, but command-click on a Mac is the equivalent of control-click on a PC to open in a new tab, which is what was being discussed here.
No it's not.

What's being discussed is a new tab and/or a new page.
As per all the other linked threads on this subject.

Cntrl/click on a Mac gives you the choice of a new tab or a new page.
Cmd/Click only opens a new tab.
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Re: open external links in new page/tab

Post by Richard Fairhurst »

No, not "only". If you really insist (and assuming we're talking about Safari)...

Command-click is either a new tab or a new window, depending what you've set in Preferences->Tabs. Command-option-click is the opposite. (And there's also shift to open a new tab/window and bring it frontmost, and you can reverse that with a preference too.)
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drossall
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Re: open external links in new page/tab

Post by drossall »

hujev wrote:I wonder why URLs in posts don't open up in a new page/tab anymore... (this is easy to do in code)

According to this thread, there was a change between phpBB 2 and 3. It's probably that.

The underlying reason is probably that W3C accessibility guidelines discourage forced new tabs/windows. I'd support that view; like you, I think, I tend to open several threads in different tabs, but I do it under my control by right-clicking, as others above have described. I hate sites that force new windows on me, and have been known to install browser extensions to over-ride that behaviour. Forcing new windows that I don't want, and requiring me to install such an extension, is much more intrusive than leaving me to open the windows that I want. Forced tabs on mobile devices are particularly hard to manage.

The thread I linked to says that the forum operator can amend the code to re-instate the new windows, but I'm glad that this has not been done.
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Mick F
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Re: open external links in new page/tab

Post by Mick F »

If I'm logged in on here, a click on a link opens up the link directly on the same page.
If I'm NOT logged in, the same link opens up a new page.

If I go to other fora, they ALL without exception always open a new page logged in or logged out.
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Mick F
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Re: open external links in new page/tab

Post by Mick F »

PS:
Just checked.
I'm wrong regarding logged in or out on this forum.
It's the way it used to work, and I've not checked since.

Yes, Richard, you are correct of course, but by altering Preferences, you don't get a simple choice or new tab or new page.
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Bez
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Re: open external links in new page/tab

Post by Bez »

Yes, you do. You make the choice by holding down alt/option, or not.

Anyway… OP, do you have a middle button? Most browsers will use that as "open in new tab".
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Mick F
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Re: open external links in new page/tab

Post by Mick F »

Bez wrote:Yes, you do. You make the choice by holding down alt/option, or not.
Not really.
It produces a "pop-under" new window. If that's what you want, that's fine.

Far easier, it to only hold one button down - Control - and click. This gives you a menu, and you chose whatever you want. You don't need to change System Preferences at all either.

There's always more than one way to skin a cat, so do whatever you want I suppose. Personally, I find Cntrl/Click the simplest and intuitive method and do it without thinking. This method also does spell-check etc. Cntrl/Click always produces a menu.
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Re: open external links in new page/tab

Post by admin »

This is an old discussion/argument for websites. Some people always want new tabs/windows, others hate new tabs/windows.

There's a phpBB extension that does this, but already there's much discussion about which particular links should be affected, and which not...
https://www.phpbb.com/customise/db/extension/elonw/

It's quite possible to force new tabs for external links, but making it a user preference is more work. Especially as each theme has to be modified.

So I tend to err on the side of telling people how to open links in a new window in their particular browser: this method then works for the entire World Wide Web.
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