Posted by Rob McAninch on 12/23/05 06:24

Adrienne Boswell>:
> Gazing into my crystal ball I observed Jose <teacherjh@aol.nojunk.com>
> writing in news:b3Jqf.4211$rq3.2482@newssvr19.news.prodigy.com:

>>What do you folks think of the target="_blank" attribute?

I can't think of a good use for it. And you hit on a number of valid
reasons to not use it.

>>On the one hand, people should have the choice as to whether or not to
>>open a new window, and this defeats that choice.

Indeed. My prime reason for not liking it. I like tabbed browsers
and may have 10 tabs at the same time so I get very annoyed when a
site opens a new window with _blank.

Sometimes a new small window with JavaScript make sense, if
JavaScript isn't supported then I prefer to just go to a new page in
the existing window.


>>and
>>it's a real pain to have to go "back back back" (waiting for each "back"
>>site to load) in order to get back to where you were.

This is how many people are accustomed to navigating though. I
taught a couple friends how to use the little down arrow beside the
back button (which is present on the mainstream browsers I've seen)
to go back multiple steps.

>>On my site I have used it (I believe) judiciously, mainly opening new
>>windows into "foreign" sites [...]

You might consider using a traditional link, and then include some
text like "[new window]" or similar using the _blank attribute. This
gives the user an extra option. I would probably only use this if I
were referring to a site as an example where the visitor would most
likely want to come right back or compare the two sites side by side.

> Additionally, if you look at the HTML 4.01 specs, the Strict DTD does not
> include the TARGET attribute at all, it is for the Frame DTD.

Or the Transitional DTD.


--
Rob McAninch
http://rock13.com

[Back to original message]