Category Archives: Usability / Accessibility
Should Links to External Sites Open in New Windows?
A broader question pertaining to this topic would be: should links open in new windows?
Sven Lennartz from Smashing Magazine says “No, they shouldn’t.”
I’m a big fan of Smashing Magazine however their practice of linking external pages in the same window bothers me excessively. The majority of the posts at Smashing Magazine contain many links to external websites. After visiting a link in one of their posts I normally browse several more links deep into the referring site before I go back to the Smashing Magazine post to visit the next link. If I follow their “good user experience” I would have to click the back button X number of times to finally get back to their website. Instead, I right-click and open the link in a new window. I don’t feel like I should have to influence how the website interprets my usage.
The post mentioned above has numerous comments stating that they disagree with this policy. I suspect largely that this policy to open links in the same window spawns from how search engines like Google and Yahoo work. In many ways I feel that search engines are exempt from my perception that external links should open in new windows.
Tadd, who commented on this Smashing Magazine post states “Using sites like Google/AOL/Yahoo really isn’t applicable since they’re search engines. There is less need to stay their if someone is searching for a specific page. Not to mention – just because Google does it doesn’t mean it’s good practice.”
When I ponder my usage of search engines it would probably make more sense for them to open search result links in new windows too. Most of the time I am searching for a specific page, but when I’m trying to piece information together from multiple sources I want to keep those pages open.
Another commenter, Jay, states “First of all, we’re discussing an opinion here and to state either practice is ‘wrong’ or ‘right’ itself shows ignorance.”
To summarize, I believe it is incorrect to say “No, they shouldn’t [open links in new windows].” It largely depends on the content that is being linked. I personally believe that most external links should be opened in new windows/tabs, however there is an exception to every rule.
P.S., all the links in this post open in new windows/tabs.
Source: http://www.smashingmagazine.com/2008/07/01/should-links-open-in-new-windows/
Breadcrumbs In Web Design: Examples And Best Practices
“On websites that have a lot of pages, breadcrumb navigation can greatly enhance the way users find their way around. In terms of usability, breadcrumbs reduce the number of actions a website visitor needs to take in order to get to a higher-level page, and they improve the findability of website sections and pages. They are also an effective visual aid that indicates the location of the user within the website’s hierarchy, making it a great source of contextual information for landing pages.”
UW-Stout Hacked! …AGAIN!
This is a screenshot that I took March 2nd 2006. If it isn’t apparent that I’m behind on my blogging then this is proof. During the time that I attended Stout, the web server crashed numerous times. My ftp login info was lost once. The usernames/pass for department faculty logins had to be re-created. My site files were destroyed during migration. The path to apache was changed without notice and then when I went into damage control the campus webmaster didn’t believe me that I actually worked in the university department I claimed. Needless to say that I am not trilled about Stout’s server maintenance. Anyways, picture below.
