Ask HN: Why do links open in the same tab on Hacker News?

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=11947752

by esalazar • 10 years ago

3 14 10 years ago

news.ycombinator.com

Why do links open in the same tab on HN? I would love to be able to just click five interesting links and have five new tabs open.

augustt• 10 years ago

That's the default on pretty much every site (google, reddit, etc). Instead, you can cmd/ctrl click the link.

esalazar2• 10 years ago

I understand it's the default, but why? Why not add `target="_blank"` or some javascript to open in a new tab?

detaro• 10 years ago

Because then you can't open it in the same tab. With a normal link the user can choose how to click, with a forced new tab they can't.

sotojuan• 10 years ago

Aside from what detaro said, also this:

https://medium.com/@jitbit/target-blank-the-most-underestima...

cwt• 10 years ago

Use Chrome, install the Vimium plugin: F + {Letter Combo}

JeffreyKaine• 10 years ago

I asked this a while back as well. I'm with you, but the community seems rather split on the subject.

auganov• 10 years ago

I just Ctrl-click when I want it in a new tab. Always expect a single click to open in the current tab, otherwise it's an annoying surprise.

_RPM• 10 years ago

It's possible that it's a security thing. I consider it a feature. `window.opener` can do things that might be considered malicious.

crispytx• 10 years ago

Because Hacker News sucks...

dmlittle• 10 years ago

yet you still take the time to browse and comment...

brudgers• 10 years ago

A user script using Greasemonkey for Firefox or TamperMonkey for Chrome/Chromium can change the behavior. For example:

  // ==UserScript==
  // @name        add_target_blank
  // @namespace   com.kludgecode.demonstration
  // @include     https://news.ycombinator.com/news
  // @version     1
  // @grant       none
  // ==/UserScript==

  var stories=document.getElementsByClassName("storylink");
  for (story of stories) {
    story.target = "blank";
  };

Will add the behavior for the Hacker News front page. I tested with Greasemonkey and I'd expect it to work for Tampermonkey.

Greasemonkey: https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/greasemonkey/

Tampermonkey: https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/tampermonkey/dhdgf...

NetStrikeForce• 10 years ago

ctrl (or command) click does the trick, but for me it's easier to just middle-click with the mouse (or click the wheel).

siquick• 10 years ago

I use this Chrome plugin to open links to any external site in a new tab

https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/open-external-link...

Ask HN: Why do links open in the same tab on Hacker News?

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