a question about website design/navigation preferences...

[ratcreature]

I know that links opening in a new window are reviled in most circumstances, and generally I agree with that, however personally when navigating fanart sites and the thumbnails just open an image, not a real page, I like if those open in a new window, so that's what I do on my site. However, it occurs to me that I may be in a minority with that preference, so I'm wondering whether I should change it to the image opening in the same window. Thus a poll:

[Poll #653473]

Comments

[brownbetty]

...but that's because my browser gives me good control over opening new windows whenever I want (middle-click) and same-window gives me the option to open in a new window, whereas target_blank takes it away from me. Really, the less customized a site is, the easier it is for me to make it conform to my whim with extensions and scripts and suck like.

[ratcreature]

That's a good point. Personally I have my middle-click configured to open links in a new tab but retain focus on the old one, which is practical for clicking on story links and such on my f-list to read them later, while remaining in my f-list tab. And actually if I middle-click that behavior overrides the target_blank thing, i.e. if I click with the middle button it will always open in a new tab, target_blank only works on a left click. But I don't have yet another mouse button click to open a new window and focus on that window, I have to do shift+left click for that. But you're right of course that specifying target_blank may hinder customizations, I hadn't really thought of that.

[chicago-h.livejournal.com]

People *don't* like the new window? Hm, that's an odd one to me. I know I get irritated as all get out when someone directs me to a new site in the same window because dammit, I was looking at the original site and don't want to back track to the original. I think this matters whether you're dealing with a central menu/clearinghouse page, where you'd want the index available to you regardless of what links you follow, or if you're, say, reading a story, in which case, there's no good reason for each chapter to have its own window.

[ratcreature]

Generally all usability guides and such (at least those I've read) are against the new window thing because it breaks the back button function in browsing (and sometimes people in a full screen browser apparently don't notice that a new window has opened and don't realize how they can get back to the previous page which is in a window below that they can't see anymore), and because most people dislike if websites open new windows for them rather than they themselves deciding when to go with a new window when surfing. And I agree with that mostly, that is when I link to something else that is a webpage I always use regular links. It's just that on my site the descriptions and thumbnails are all on one page and the images are not on extra html pages, they're just jpegs. For my comic pages that are to be read sequentially the link opens in the same window and I have a regular page forward/backward navigation so that people can read it in sequence without hassle.

[cereta.livejournal.com]

What she said, plus I use tabbed browsing, which makes target_blank a real PITA. I kid of default open things in new tabs, but I figure that's an easy two-step.

[chicago-h.livejournal.com]

Heh, this is me thing, then. I generally hate using my back button and I'll use my "history" menu (safari person, note. I HATE IE) if I know I have to back more than once. Although I suppose this means I'm not the most efficient tab browser type. Plus I have my wonderful F9 and F11 keys in Mac OSX - I don't know how I lived without them!

[ratcreature]

What do those keys do on a Mac? What I like in my KDE/Linux combination (though I think windows may have that also, I haven't used it in a while) is that I can decide to have any number of desktops and I can see all of them in the control panel, and can just click on any of the miniaturized window outlines on that mini desktop representation if i want to go say from my browser window to my graphics program or editor on a different desktop without having to press the key that lists all my windows or something even more complicated.

[chicago-h.livejournal.com]

F9 miniaturizes all the windows open in all applications so you can pick the one you want right now (a godsend for someone like me who keeps 7 apps running more or less continously and often has upwards of a dozen tasks going per app). F11 clears everything off the desktop and then brings it all back on the second tap. Those two tools plus the taskbar are necessary for someone like me who bounces between tasks more or less continuously.

[dawnglider.livejournal.com]

I don't terribly mind images opening in a new window, but I do like a note warning me that it's going to happen. (Although I do like it if you can make the image open in a new tab rather than a new window - some sites won't let you do that, grr.)

[ratcreature]

Really? Is this some freaky JavaScript feature? I don't remember any sites with regular links being able to do that. The JavaScript thing I hate most (beside weird annoying blinking crap and such) is the thing that turns your right click off so that suddenly you won't have a context menu anymore.

[ratcreature]

Based on the responses so far I'd say I see some site editing in my future... :)

[dawnglider.livejournal.com]

I think it is a JavaScript thing. And the lack of a context menu is right up there on the list of Reasons I Hate Javascript. *sporks*