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Then the user can never click to open the link in the same tab, they have to copy the link-> open a new tab -> go to the URL. The UX problem seems to be browse
by Nadya 11y ago
Then the user can never click to open the link in the same tab, they have to copy the link-> open a new tab -> go to the URL.
The UX problem seems to be browser-side and is there only by convention. The default should be "new tab" and "same tab" should be "hold control". This should be a user-toggled option. It makes `_blank` unnecessary and gives all control back to the user.
The next step is an issue with users: most people I meet who aren't tech-savvy don't know how to open things into new tabs. Which is why `_blank` is used so liberally.
It seems to me the defaults are wrong. More often than not, I want a new tab. But there are still times I don't want a new tab.
I don't know of anyone who wants "new window" but I assume they must exist somewhere. Probably in hell, where they belong. /tongue in cheek
- douche 11y agoTrue, as soon as I wrote that I thought of the few counter-cases. But they are all genuine navigation cases: clicking a link in Google search results, clicking an actual nav link, etc. Most of the time, I don't want to actually navigate, I want to open the referenced material like it is a foot/end note. Far too often, I accidentally forget to ctrl-click on a link, and lose my place in the original document. Especially for something like HN, which tends to be long, and somewhat dynamic, so that items can reorder themselves or have new items added into the DOM when reloaded.