The Old Joel on Software Forum: Part 4 (of 5) - How to stop new window links in IE

How to stop new window links in IE

I think that I understand why some websites do this. They don't want you to leave their site, so they make external links open in a new window.

Well, scr*w that. This is very annoying. I know how to open a link in a new window when I want to (Shift + Click, or Right-Click + Open in new Window)...

To get around this, I usually drag the link right up to the address bar and drop it there, however I can't always know which links will do this (I usually remember a site that does it religiously).

Does anyone know of a way to dis-allow this behavior in IE?

Wayne
Wednesday, March 24, 2004

use firefox

(sorry could not resist)

Tapiwa
Wednesday, March 24, 2004

There is no way to do this in IE.

I will not use Firebird or whatever the heck it's called because it was clunky the last time that I tried it (4-6 months ago).

Also, organizing the toolbars the way that I want to is not possible in any Mozilla variant I've seen (you can't put two toolbars in the same band).

Wayne
Thursday, March 25, 2004

"I will not use Firebird or whatever the heck it's called because it was clunky the last time that I tried it"

Translated: I refuse to believe software ever improves.

Brad Wilson (dotnetguy.techieswithcats.com)
Thursday, March 25, 2004

Wayne,

The toolbar problem is still there. However, it's a tiny price to pay for *never having the kind of problem you're having*.

Koz
Thursday, March 25, 2004

IE users are not used to improvement.

I will not use IE or whatever the heck it's called because it was insecure the last time I tried it (4 - 6 years ago)

I use Firefox everyday and sometimes I download a daily build or find the problem in the code myself. Microsoft doesn't let me do that.

fool for python
Thursday, March 25, 2004

I tried Firefox 3-4 weeks ago and it was still clunky, so I paid for the upgrade to Opera instead... (=

Sam Livingston-Gray
Thursday, March 25, 2004

Oh yeah, and the question. There are some pop-up blockers out there. I don't remember if any of them redirect the current window, though.

Sam Livingston-Gray
Thursday, March 25, 2004

How exactly does Firefox fix the problem that the OP is having?

Sure, it will block popups, but that's not what the OP is talking about.

If you click on a link with target=_blank Firefox still opens it in a new window. The only thing that Firefox will gain you is the ability to right-click and select "Open Link in New Tab" instead. Is there an extension to get around this?

Nick
Thursday, March 25, 2004

Set up privoxy or some other local filtering proxy.

With IE, isn't that a basic requirement anyway? ;-)

i like i
Thursday, March 25, 2004

TabExtensions for FireFox/Mozilla solve this problem (And a whole lot of others) neatly. With a checkbox, you can instruct any new frames to open as new tabs (and not even switch to them automatically). You can also have a list of exceptions, which -is sometimes useful.

Ori Berger
Thursday, March 25, 2004

A little tweaking of user.js will also do....

From http://texturizer.net/firefox/tips.html#lay_linkcursornew :
"This neat trick will change the mouse pointer when you hover it over links that will open a new window."

Or to disable targets _blank/_new completely:
http://texturizer.net/firefox/tips.html#beh_blank

G3rt
Thursday, March 25, 2004

Slightly off topic, doesn't the XP-SP2 come w/ a pop-up blocker for IE? Does anyone have the RC for this that could comment on this?

Elephant
Thursday, March 25, 2004

The solution to all your troubles :-)
http://www.myie2.com/

olsson
Thursday, March 25, 2004

"Slightly off topic, doesn't the XP-SP2 come w/ a pop-up blocker for IE?"

Yes it does, see http://www.winsupersite.com/reviews/windowsxp_sp2_preview.asp

John Topley (www.johntopley.com)
Thursday, March 25, 2004

Brad,

Actually, as the poster right after you pointed out the toolbar problem still exists in Firefox.

I like the way IE lets me organize the toolbars better, is that wrong? Does this mean that I refuse to believe that software ever improves?

(obviously it didn't improve yet or the toolbars would be working right)

Wayne
Thursday, March 25, 2004

"If you click on a link with target=_blank Firefox still opens it in a new window. The only thing that Firefox will gain you is the ability to right-click and select "Open Link in New Tab" instead. Is there an extension to get around this?"

CTRL + Click will open the link in a new tab.

bob
Thursday, March 25, 2004