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How to call a popup from a link inside another popup?

To Popup Or Not To Popup?

  • To Popup or Not to Popup? I have a blog website. It's a serious site with a lot of content. We've been working hard on it and it's beginning to gain a nice little readership. Currently, I am setting up any links within a post to open in the same window, in other words, without a target attribute set. However, a few friends have opined that I should set up my anchor tags to launch a new window so that my viewers don't get lured away from my site when they click on a link. My first reaction to this idea is that I want to avoid opening a popup window but perhaps I'm wrong. Web designers and blog viewers - what is your current thinking on this? Which do you prefer?

  • Answer:

    If you put target="_blank" on your links, there are two possibilities: I do want a new window/tab, and I get one, or I don't want a new window/tab, but I get one anyway. If you don't put target="_blank" on your links, there are also two possibilities: I do want a new window/tab, and I use my browser's built-in features to get it, or I don't want a new window/tab, and I don't get one. So your putting in target="_blank" gets me what I want in one out of two cases, and leaving it out gets me what I want in all cases. The only way to rationalize putting it on there is if you believe your readers are too stupid to know how to use their browsers to get what they want, or if you just don't care and want your site to remain open in a window for as long as possible, which is kind of assy.

chocolatepeanutbuttercup at Ask.Metafilter.Com Visit the source

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a few friends have opined This is good. It helps you sort out the friends whose advice you should listen to on Web stuff if you're interested in solid organic growth versus those whose advice you should ignore. These friends are clearly in the latter category.

mediareport

Shot first, then arrested.

b1tr0t

... one more comment. Jakob Nielsen, usability guru, who is very big on the anti pop-up new window campaign, does say now that he sees the logic of new windows if you hyperlink to something like a PDF, Excel Spreadsheet, Word document et al. Since these traditionally have *not* opened in a browser window but now often (esp. on IE) they do, users often will close the browser after reading the document, because well, they are on autopilot, they viewed the PPT, they "close PowerPoint" and they do that before they even realize hey this PPT is in the browser. I've done it myself countless times. Still not convinced but for that one instance, it is at least a valid reason for doing so.

xetere

It should be up to the user whether to open the link in a new window or not.

whiskeyspider

People who put popups on their sites should be arrested.

dfriedman

There is no excuse for popups. Ever.

odinsdream

so that my viewers don't get lured away from my site when they click on a link (http://ask.metafilter.com/126066/To-Popup-Or-Not-To-Popup) If you don't want visitors to leave your site, don't have any links. Problem solved. But seriously, that "open in new window" kind of link is really annoying to your average user. If they like your site, they'll come back to it—you don't need to force them to. In fact, making each link open in a new window will probably bias them against your site, as they will remember it as that annoying site that has all of its links open in new windows.

ocherdraco

It's probably a bad idea because it will "break" the back button for users who are less savvy, and more savvy users don't like popups because they could do that for themselves if they wanted to.

lucidium

You folks in the shoot first, then arrest, never ever ever brigade are aware that you're posting on a site on which all the links within a post are target="_blank", right? Uh, that's a user preference, chief. Click on the "Preferences" link in the Metafilter header area and turn it off if you don't like it (as I don't).

letourneau

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