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paullyie

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Hi Everybody -

First post so please be gentle ;)

 

Great site by the way - plenty of tips.

 

I'm starting to design a company site - I'll probably have a fair few questions

But my question for the moment is

I have Images on my website - these images are Hyperlinked to external websites

How can I set them up so when the image is clicked that the link will open up in a new window

(Object is to keep my own original site open when a link is clicked)

 

I'm using Web Expression 1 - (soon to be using Version 2)

 

Thanks in advance

Paullyie

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Thanks for the reply Thelma.

I totally agree - it would be a lot easier for the person to use the back button,

 

But my experience with customers and ordinary joe bloggs is that they will close when current window expect to see your site and not to have to use the back button.

 

A possible scenario -

1) When on the external site - you could end up going further and further into the site viewing products and details etc,

and I know most customers will not want to have to press the Back Button so many times to return to our site,

And after finishing with the external site, they will automatically hit the X to close and expect to see the original site.

if not opened in a new window there is the fear of not returning to our site.

 

Hope I make sense with my mumbo jumbo above :lol:

 

Is it a big task to include this on a website?

Thanks again.

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You should have a good navigation structure so that it will make it easy for users to move around the site.

 

Additional, you could use breadcrumbs so that users can see the levels they have gone and so all they have to do is click on the level they wish to get back to.

 

Breadcrumb:

 

Home > Our Products > Widgets > Texas Widgets> Blue > Texas Bluebonnet Widgets

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If you must open a new window all you have to do is add

target="_blank"

to your tag.

 

That is however the wrong way to do it. Target is deprecated and only for use with frames. It will not validate.

 

(Object is to keep my own original site open when a link is clicked)

That is your object, not the user. You are making decisions for them and that is not good development, but a common beginners mistake.

 

This is not about you, this is about the user. You build the site to serve them. So do not make the mistake of making their decisions for them. If they wish to leave your site, let them. If they wish to keep your site open, they will. All tabbed browsers allow for middle clicking on links to open them in a new tab. Then there is the right click, open in new window. There is the copy and paste to a new window, there is the back button and there is the return to your site however they got to it, then there is the memory in the address bar...

 

You are not just catering to "normal" folks. That new window could over lap my current window when I don't want it. It can appear behind my window so it seems the link is broken as I expect my current window to go to it. It can initiate a second instance of a screen reader, cause blind users to hear two voices reading two web sites. Blind users could be confused if the screen reader suddenly switches to different content I am not expecting.

 

I may have lots of other things open and your second window I did not wish could tax my resources. Maybe I don't want to versions of my browser open, especially if I use tabs.

 

These are just a few issues with your idea. back in the 90's this was accepted practice but has long ago fallen out of favor as people came to terms with the needs of the user and web accessibility. It is the users responsibility to know how to use their tools, not our ppace to assume they can't. The web is not new and my 4th grader knows how to use a PC.

 

Just link to the external sites and allow your user to choose how to navigate to it. If they wish to leave your site, it is their right to do so, not yours to force them to stay. If they wish to stay they will open the other site in their own way.

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Well yes, it may be deprecated and may not validate, but I was just giving him a solution to the question he asked. Sorry if i am ruffling feathers here, but neither Google nor Yahoo validate either.

 

Personally as a user I think he has a valid point:

 

"But my experience with customers and ordinary joe bloggs is that they will close when current window expect to see your site and not to have to use the back button."

 

How many Joe Bloggs know about the right click - open in new tab/window option? Most of my friends use computers on a daily basis, but are incapable of the simplest tasks. Updating to a new version of a web browser where the buttons are no longer in the same place is a major hassle, not to mention regular updates for their computer. And I am not talking about accessibility challenged people.

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No ruffled feathers..., we just value validation and correct use of attributes.

 

I agree that some people do not know enough about their tools, but that is their problem. We should be designing for the user to choose how to do things and not force it on them, like forcing new windows on intelligent users. Also we should not be doing the browsers work. If the browser already offers an ability we should not be duplicating it. It is our job to create the site and make it easy to use... not to make decisions for the user. If the browser allows for opening in a new window or tab, that is good enough. It is the users job to learn the tools they choose.

 

One could compromise and place a "Dis you know..." tip box on the site explaining that the browser will do the work for them.

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Thanks for all the replies guys ' n gals, I manage to get it working, but I am bearing in mind all your opinions about swamping the user with new windows, I was only looking to have it as an option on certain links on the site.. thank you for your help.. much appreciated.:)

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It is less opinion than standard practice these days, forcing windows on users is frowned upon and considered rather retro 90's.

 

Don't force new windows on users - Smack the Mouse.com

 

Beware of Opening Links in a New Window - SitePoint

 

The target attribute and opening new windows - 465 Berea St.

 

How evil is the target attribute? - Robert Nyman

 

Top Ten Mistakes in Web Design - Jakob Nielsen (Nr. 9)

 

These are just a few links, Google the subject. Check our old forum, check Accessify.com and it's forum

 

This is one of the "do not do but for special occasions" things in web accessibility (I teach web accessibility for the State of Alaska).

 

That said, there are times for it and ways to do it right:

Open New Windows for PDF and other Non-Web Documents - Jakob Nielsen

 

New-Window Links in a Standards-Compliant World - SitePoint

 

Standards-Compliant New Windows - Accessify

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Another reason for having a page open in a new window is when the page designer knows that the viewer will need to refer to the original window while filling in data in the new window.

 

Microsoft use a new window when you login to reply to a post on this forum:-

http://www.microsoft.com/communities/newsgroups/list/en-us/default.aspx?pg=1&cat=&lang=&cr=&guid=&sloc=en-us&dg=microsoft.public.internetexplorer.beta&fltr=&lc=1033

 

where the original page is crammed with information and you may have opened a post with ten replies and you need to read or copy information from them when making your reply.

 

The new window opens smaller than the original page so that you can drag it around and see the bits of the original page while typing.

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It is less opinion than standard practice these days, forcing windows on users is frowned upon and considered rather retro 90's.

 

Don't force new windows on users - Smack the Mouse.com

 

Beware of Opening Links in a New Window - SitePoint

 

The target attribute and opening new windows - 465 Berea St.

 

How evil is the target attribute? - Robert Nyman

 

Top Ten Mistakes in Web Design - Jakob Nielsen (Nr. 9)

 

These are just a few links, Google the subject. Check our old forum, check Accessify.com and it's forum

 

This is one of the "do not do but for special occasions" things in web accessibility (I teach web accessibility for the State of Alaska).

 

That said, there are times for it and ways to do it right:

Open New Windows for PDF and other Non-Web Documents - Jakob Nielsen

 

New-Window Links in a Standards-Compliant World - SitePoint

 

Standards-Compliant New Windows - Accessify

 

Good Advice there LSW , cheers

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