Recently I was asked if I knew of a plugin for WordPress that would open the comment author links in a new window or tab.
I had seen a plugin that would do this about twelve months ago, but the plugin itself was no longer supported and had been that way for a couple of years, so making it work with the current version of WordPress could become a problem.
Then I saw someone in my twitter feed tweeting about a plugin that would allow users to open external links in a new window called Target Blank in Posts and Comments.
I decided that I might give the plugin a try, but before setting it up I thought I would find out if there was a way I could manually code this function into my site without having to install another plugin, So I went to the Hybrid support forum and posted the question.
I can’t tell you what the exact response was because you need to be a member to read the reply, but the response I got made me wonder if I was doing the right thing by my visitors by forcing all of my external links to open in a new window.
I started looking into it further to see what other people thought on the subject, and seeing all of the responses, my attitude on the topic started to change.
But their was one comment in particular that really made me stop and think, and it was from Darren Rowse at problogger.net, his comment was…
My priority as a blogger is to develop communities of readers who have positive user experiences.
While keeping people on a blog by opening new windows for links might seem to make a blog stickier – I’d rather keep people engaged with content that they just can’t live without coming back to.
If they do leave the site and want to come back they’ll use the back button.
It was this comment that made me understand the responsibility I have in creating such good Quality content for my readers that they will want to come back to my site over again.
It also confirmed my desire to build community around my site among Christians wanting to use the web as part of their outreach and ministry.
To be honest I personally don’t have a problem with links opening up in a new tab, but after reading the comments and opinions of others I am inclined to see that the argument for opening links in the same window is a valid one.
Some of the articles which helped in making my decision are listed below.
Should Links Open In New Windows? Smashingmagazine.com
Should Links Open In a New Window? Problogger.net
Use interim solutions. w3.org
How Should Outbound Links Function. Wiliam.com.au
To most people reading this, having links open in a new or the same window probably isn’t an issue, but for me it’s about making my site usable for the majority, especially for the non technical visitor who expects links to open in the same window.
So I guess I have a pretty busy time ahead of me as I go back through each of my posts to reset all of the links I have opening in a new window.
