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Where to open Universal Hub links?
By adamg on Thu, 06/19/2014 - 1:25pm
I got a request today from somebody to have links on Universal Hub open in a new tab or window rather than in the same tab as the UHub page. Less confusing, because it would keep UHub open, she said.
It'd be easy enough to do, but before I make a change like that, I'd want to see what other folks think. A poll should show up below in a second or two:
Free tagging:
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Comments
I already do that
Right-click link, open in new tab.
I guess you could make it more convenient. ;)
I guess you could make it
Which is what I mostly do but that's inconvenient for people who want to open the link in the current tab.
Let people do what they want. Everyone can already open links in a new tab now if they want to; I do that most of the time. It's even possible in most browsers to make that the default. Hard-coding it in the page makes it harder for people that want to open in the current tab. Design that supports what everyone wants is good design. Design that doesn't is bad design.
I do it on my own anyways.
I do it on my own anyways.
Ctrl-click works too
Ctrl-click ("command"+click on Mac) opens any link in a new tab.
Middle Click
Middle Click's the easiest route
New tab definitely. Yes you
New tab definitely. Yes you can already do so, but doing it by default would be more convenient, especially for users on mobile devices, or anything without a mouse wheel.
On iPhone, at least, you can
On iPhone, at least, you can tap and hold a link to get the option to open in a new tab.
new tab!
Would make looking at UHub on my crap Chrome much easier. Thank you, sir.
It's generally considered
It's generally considered Good Web Design (tm) to open all links in a new tab so I say do eet.
Don't do it!
Web developer here. Websites that open new tabs/windows for links to resources hosted on the same domain make me approximately as unhappy as a single mosquito buzzing around my bedroom, or a car double-parked on a major urban thoroughfare.
For links to other UHub pages
For links to other UHub pages, I agree it's preferable to stay within the same tab. But for links to anything else (news reports, etc.) I'd rather open in a different tab.
This is my vote
Sometimes I will click on a link in a UHub story which takes me to a different site, and then I end up closing that site and wondering where my UHub went. :)
Why?
Why does it make you, a web developer, so unhappy?
Also, who said anything about the linked resources being on the same domain?
Agreed
I'm unsure why, but I find it annoying when a link automatically opens in a new tab. People have the option now to open in a new tab so I would say leave it alone.
Any link that takes us away
Any link that takes us away from UHub should open in a new tab. If it stays within UHub, no need for a new tab.
I think you'll find readers stay on site a little longer when they don't go onto a new site. Under your current system, a reader reviews the linked info, forgets they aren't in a new tab, close it and realize they aren't in UHub anymore.
Actually, this is not
Actually, this is not actually the best practice. This article explains in depth http://www.smashingmagazine.com/2008/07/01/should-links-open-in-new-wind...
by whom?
In all my years as a web developer I have *NEVER* heard anyone say opening all links in new windows is good design.
External links to outside web sites, maybe -- but even then, it's really a question of taste. And all modern web browsers give you the option of opening links in a new window/tab anyway, so why should the web site make that decision for you?
Leave them as is.
I can already control-click or middle-click for a new tab in the background, and I can shift-control-click for a new tab in the foreground, which effectively lets me choose how a link opens already: In this tab, in a new tab, or in a new foreground tab.
If the links force a new tab, I lose the ability to open them in the same tab as UHub on the occasion that I want that.
The second you change it, you
The second you change it, you'll have people bitching about wanting it the other way. It's easy enough to open in new tab/ new window, so I think you should leave it alone.
Tell that someone to learn how to use their computer.
If their mouse has a scroll wheel, it can most likely also be used as a button. Click on a link with that middle button/scroll wheel and the link will open in a new TAB (don't ask my why I typed window). As an added feature, clicking on an open tab with the scroll wheel/middle button will close that tab.
That middle button/scroll wheel can do amazing things!
Well, gosh
My mouse has a scroll wheel. Clicking on a link with the wheel opens a new background tab, not a new window. Thanks for telling me how to use my computer. If it ever actually works that way, the instructions will surely be useful.
My preference is that links open in a new window. Yes, I know I can right-click or (usually) Shift-click for that effect, but since I'm pretty much always going to go back to Uhub, why not save me the trouble?
I did not know that
I'm that someone. I was unaware that the scroll wheel functioned in this manner. Thanks for informing me, even if you could have done so with a bit less snark. ;) Of course, I'd have to remember that UHub behaves differently from the majority of websites I spend my time on...
However, looking at the current status of Adam's survey, it looks like I'm not the only one longing for this feature. Adam, thank you for entertaining the request!
Oh, I'm damn snarky.
I don't know all of the tricks. This is a list of some which do exist:
https://support.google.com/chrome/answer/157179?hl=en
How I came across this I don't remember.
For closing tabs I also use "CTRL W", and for making one I sometimes will use "CTRL T".
*cough* Small detail
Those are short cuts for Chrome. I know this probably comes as a huge surprise, but not everyone uses Chrome.
A lot of the functions work on multiple browsers
I use IE and Firefox most. Both of these programs support some of the same shortcuts as Chrome. Opera I'm not too sure about and Safari I've never even looked at. Finding all of the shortcuts in one place is really difficult. I found these:
http://miketips.wordpress.com/2014/05/16/385-middle-mouse-button-tricks-...
Linux Ubuntu also uses the middle button as a way of pasting text and to send windows behind all other open windows (done by click on the bar at the top of the window).
There are also a good number of keyboard shortcuts I've used, and they're also hard to find all listed in one place:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Table_of_keyboard_shortcuts
http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/internet-explorer/ie-keyboard-shortcu...
http://www.webopedia.com/quick_ref/Web_Browser_Shortcuts.asp
Also holding down CTRL while spinning the scroll wheel zooms in and out in many programs (on multiple OSs) in a few different ways. On the Windows desktop, this makes your icons smaller or larger. If for some reason you want to open a program twice, or open another folder on Windows, clicking on its icon at the bottom of your screen (where all of your open programs are shown) will make this happen.
Yes, please do.
I open the links all the time in a new tab. I use a new tab because otherwise I am clicking the back button on the single tab. Also since I don't have great bandwidth in all places using other tabs reduces having to download or grab the main page from the cache everytime.
Also, what makes the main page reset to the top of the page every time I open a new tab? Is that just my browser issue or is it a setting?
Reddit has an enhancement
Reddit has an enhancement suite extension that displays content on the same page when you click "read more" - it's pretty nice and a few other sites use it (even w/o the extension) - though I admit, I don't know how it works...
Option button
You could put a button up top to "Open all links in a new window." That would be less clunky than making people right-click, and would not annoy those who dislike new windows.
How do you change a thread to list all comments by time/date
How do you change a thread to list all comments by time/date?... and then change back to threaded.
As I type this, I find that
As I type this, I find that theszak's comment above of 8:54pm is wedged in between a comment at 3:41pm and 4:44pm. I did nothing to change any sort of sorting controls, but I suspect someone's monkeying with it.
Could it be Adam joking around, or...theszak?
Not me!
Not me!
Hmm ...
Used to be able to do that in Drupal 6, but it looks like that capability was stripped out of Drupal 7, which I'm now using, or, at least, hidden so well I can't find it. Now to see how to get it back.
An open item for off-topic and general interest subjects.
Suggestion... post a Universal Hub intermission, open item from time to time for any and all whatever anyone wants to ask or comment on off-topic and general interest subjects. For example see also
http://parterre.com/2014/05/25/kind-of-a-drag/
Sorry, no
Surely you of all people remember when I tried that - and it devolved into three or four angry conservatives screaming at everybody else, and eventually just into the ether, when everybody else left.
Hell no. If you want a new
Hell no. If you want a new tab, anyone can simply use their muddle mouse button.
I have a better suggestion:
Make the read more button expand the post in the page, rather than link to a new one.
IE: Look at how the read more functions on this website:
http://greatergreaterwashington.org/
I Always Add The ' target="_blank" ' Option When I Post Links...
… That way, even if the link takes the reader off to other sites on tangential subjects, the original Universal Hub page they started from will still be there, without having to rely on clicking "Back". It just seems like a more courteous way of posting links, rather than always taking the user completely away from Universal Hub.
good to know
good to know
Completely unnecessary.
I've been a web developer for 15 years, and a web user since 1994. Forcing all links to open in a new window/tab is a terrible idea, because right now, everyone has the option of opening links in a new window/tab anyway. Every browser lets you do that, either by shift-clicking, or middle-button-clicking, or right-clicking, or whatever. But if the website forces links to open in a new window, the user no longer has the option. So people (like me for example) who don't want the links to open in new tabs will be SOL.
Where to open a link is something the browser/user should handle. Not the website.
How tragic
I am deeply saddened that you would find yourself SOL if faced with a tyrannical web design choice that opened links in a new tab - or even worse, a new window (the horror!) Of course, you could find your big-boy pants, as someone below puts it, and use Ctrl-W to close the new tab, which ought to end your disastrous SOL condition.
New tab
Going against all the purists, I say open a new tab.
The nature of this site is that a large proportion of the entries point elsewhere to get more details. I feel it's cleaner to open a new tab rather than take someone away from the original site.
Adam, fuhgeddaboudit .
I'm very surprised to see in the poll how many are in favor of it. I wonder what prompted you to ask the question to begin with.
At any rate, please leave things as they are. It will be maddening to those of us who use browsers every day and have actually used a browser trick or two (such as right click for certain options) that they stumbled upon.
NO!
Please, no! Everyone put on your big boy and/or girl pants and learn how to right-click to open page in a new tab or window. No dumbing down of uhub please, Adam!
Changing from threaded comments 2 unthread by time/date and back
Please put back the mechanism for changing back and forth from the view of threaded comments to unthreaded by time/date.
What I really want
What I really want is the old RSS feed back. The current one is crippled - you get a little content, but not the full boat. I just don't read it like I used to. I can't see the pictures, can't see more than a couple sentences, etc.
Yeah, I could actually go to universalhub.com and read every day, but it's not where I do my reading - it just doesn't happen. So I disengage.
Not needed
I just click links with the scroll wheel on my mouse and that opens them in a new tab. Some people don't want new tabs/windows, and changing it would give them no option.
However, links to other websites should probably open a new tab. Such as a link in a post to the Boston Globe or Twitter or anything.
More interested in RSS behavior
When reading the site via RSS in Feedly, all my links already open in new windows.
BUT ... the RSS feed has been messed up for a while now. Only the first 1-3 paragraphs of posts show up, and photos rarely come through (though a giant UHub logo does show up in many posts). I would love to see this fixed. It would make my day and then some.
Arrgh!
My apologies! I thought I'd fixed RSS, guess not. Will take a look this weekend.
What do you use to read the RSS?
It's probably a good idea. If
It's probably a good idea. If someone clicks a link on Universal Hub they probably aren't intending to leave the site.