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  • External links to open in new browser window?

  • General discussion about the RAILROAD.NET site, forums, or content ONLY. Please do not post your general railroading questions, please choose an appropriate forum. For help using the site, please post in the Help Using RAILROAD.NET Forum.
General discussion about the RAILROAD.NET site, forums, or content ONLY. Please do not post your general railroading questions, please choose an appropriate forum. For help using the site, please post in the Help Using RAILROAD.NET Forum.

Moderator: Jeff Smith

 #895682  by tom18287
 
when ever you click a link to go to an external website, it doesnt open up a new "frame". i uses the same one that i was viewing this website in, and out of habit, i always close out instead of hitting the back button, because thats just what i'm used to.


is it possible to have links open up a new frame rather than use the same one?

not really a big deal either way. thanks.
 #895745  by MEC407
 
This is a feature that several people have asked for in the past. The answer back then was no, but maybe the new management will feel differently.
 #895904  by Marty Feldner
 
If you're on a WinTel box, using a browser that supports tabs, just right-click on the link and select "Open Link in New Tab" or similar from the context menu that pops up (instead of just clicking on the link).
 #895912  by MEC407
 
That's what I do now when I'm on this site, but sometimes I forget to because most other sites automatically open external links in either a new window or new tab.

If someone is on a Mac and their mouse or trackpad doesn't support right-clicking, they can press the CTRL key on the keyboard and click the mouse button or trackpad button and it will work the same way as a right-click.
 #895916  by tom18287
 
Marty Feldner wrote:If you're on a WinTel box, using a browser that supports tabs, just right-click on the link and select "Open Link in New Tab" or similar from the context menu that pops up (instead of just clicking on the link).
yeah thats what i trry to do on this site, it's just a habit to not have to.
 #1005627  by frank754
 
Yes, at some point this would still be nice: to have external links within posts open with a new window, as most other forums do. Especially now that a lot of users often use mobile devices that don't do right-clicks.
It would also cut down on your bandwidth, as when going back the page must be reloaded.
 #1005649  by MEC407
 
Oh that's a good point about the bandwidth. I hadn't even thought of that. Some parts of the page would probably still be in the browser's cache, but I'm not sure how true that is with mobile devices.
 #1011172  by Jeff Smith
 
Cleaning up the "about" about forum today! Fun stuff.

I checked all through the ACP and could not find a setting for this. Right clicking and opening in a new tab is still the best way. It may also be a setting in your browser. Unfortunately, I can't set this feature here (or I don't see where to do it). We also are using an older version of phpBB.

Sorry.
 #1011220  by MEC407
 
Thanks for trying!
 #1013077  by deparker
 
...Or you can just hold down the "Ctrl" key and then click the link if your using Windoze. It should open a new tab or window depending on your browser settings as well.
 #1037391  by rslitman
 
One of the things I've long LOVED about this site is that external links DON'T open in a new browser window. I'm a longtime user of Internet Explorer. I used Netscape for several years, but eventually, IE became the browser of choice. Now the world seems to have moved on to Chrome, Firefox, and others, but I've stayed comfortable with Internet Explorer.

But the one thing I hate about IE is that the "open new window" operation will not open the window at the maximized setting. Yes, I know, I can stretch it to appear maximized and save that setting, but I wnat that middle icon in the top righthand corner to be the maximized setting. Netscape gave me an option setting to let new windows open maximized.

I do like the tab feature in more recent versions of Internet Explorer, in which I can alternate click (that's "right click" to the world that thinks that no one, save a few baseball players, is lefthanded) and choose to open something in a new tab. I ALWAYS do this on sites where I have learned by bad experience that links open in new browser windows. I also do it here and on other sites where I do want to keep the original page open. But I want to make that decision, not leave it in the hands of a web designer whose usability studies didn't include me.

Please, please, PLEASE keep opening links in the SAME browser window! Thanks.

Now another part of me wants to say something. I have recently begun visiting this and other sites from a Smartphone using the Android operating system. I actually like having another window opened automatically when I am using this site! This part of me would not complain too loudly if you were to implement a change to open external links in new browser windows!
 #1048271  by gprimr1
 
I would love this feature. I follow a link, read it, close it, then have to go back and reopen the browser.