

LinksOnHN[n].setAttribute('target',"_blank");  - bosky101

As of dec 21 ,2008 - clicking on stories in HN,open them in the same tab. An average visit to HN involves for me, 10 (right clicks + click ) combo's (on my laptop )<p>would it help to add a target="_blank" attributes for story links, so that they open in new tabs/windows
( edit: and the tab with HN links remains intact )<p>this also works out well for those who prefer using the keyboard to navigate links in a page. ( yup, vi/emacs does that to ppl ! )<p>~B<p>tags: [accessibility]
======
river_styx
Please don't make this change. My #1 pet peeve on the web is a page that opens
new browser windows.

~~~
diN0bot
maybe it could be a preference. i personally run a greasemonkey script that
not only opens links in a new tab, but inserts a topbar so i can vote and get
to comments from the article page.

~~~
jackowayed
First thing I thought was "greasemonkey" when I read this. But the extra
features of your script sound pretty sweet. Is it online somewhere?

------
jey
_"this also works out well for those who prefer using the keyboard to navigate
links in a page. ( yup, vi/emacs does that to ppl ! )"_

I am a keyboard junkie and I have no problem with Hacker News. I just use the
_amazing_ Vimperator extension which adds vim keybindings to Firefox. So to
open a link in a new tab I just press "F" to activate quickhints, which
displays a number beside each link, then I type the number of the link I want.
(Or I can type some text that is contained in the <a> tag).
<http://vimperator.org>

Ultimately this is a browser UI issue, _not_ a Hacker News issue.

~~~
RossM
While I'm not a Vim user (or even an emacs user) that sounds useful without
the knowledge of Vim keyboard shortcuts.

~~~
jey
Knowledge of vim is not required but helps; the manual is pretty thorough.

------
markessien
This is a problem YOU have, it's not a problem with the website. So fix it for
yourself, there are many ways to do so.

------
eelco
Now would be a great time to learn the joy of mouse gestures, configure your
middle click button or install a greasemonkey/userscript.

------
russell
No. I can already do it with my mouse. I have no desire for site specific
short cuts.

~~~
cabalamat
I agree. Site specific short cuts are worse thasn useless, because you'd have
to use different ones for each site.

------
windsurfer
You complain about having to perform some arcane action to open a new tab, but
in most operating systems, if you press left+right mouse buttons at the same
time, it is interpreted as a middle-click.

Also, in firefox, ctrl+enter opens a highlighted link in a new tab while
keeping the current tab open. ctrl+shift+enter to open and focus the new tab.

~~~
iron_ball
For the other three Opera users on HN, it's the same behavior but reversed:
shift-click (or shift-enter if you use shift-arrow navigation) opens in a
focused new tab; ctrl-shift-click opens the new tab but sends it to the
background for later.

------
ideamonk
I use ctrl+click, works for me and firefox :P

~~~
eisokant
Same here

------
mihasya
Middle click FTW!

~~~
durbin
i'd love it if hn added a simple checkbox like techmeme to open links in a new
tab. The middle click is pretty sweet though.

------
bdittmer
Why not just write a GreaseMonkey script to do this? Simple enough...

------
kirubakaran
1\. Ctrl-Click or the equivalent for your browser.

2\. <http://userscripts.org/scripts/show/36606> There are other Greasemonkey
scripts like this.

3\. <https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/379> There are other
extensions like this.

4\. Write your own ff extension or gm script.

5\. Just use backspace or Alt-LeftArrow.

------
kwamenum86
Implementing this option (as an official HN feature) could be done entirely in
Javascript (meaning no need to worry about building more shit into the server)
and completed in under an hour.

It would be cool if there were an "HN Labs" that suggested feature submissions
and allowed users to add them to their accounts as profile extensions.

Setting up HN links with _blank is also a trivial solution to implement on
your own though.

------
cabalamat
If I want to open a link in a new tab, I click it using the middle mouse
button. This works on Firefox on Ubuntu. On your browser/OS combination there
is probably something similar; if not, I suggest you upgrade the software
you're using.

------
schtono
Make it optional per user :)

~~~
windsurfer
This is such a niche feature that I think it would bloat the options pane.
This is also a perfect job for greasemonkey :)

~~~
daleharvey
I dont think its niche, it seems like the core use case is opening the site
and reading through a pick of the front page articles, in that case opening in
a new window saves either half the clicks, or having to press back all the
time (as long as the article isnt interesting enough to click through further)

------
andreyf
Try clicking both of your mousekeys on your laptop at the same time (put your
finger in the middle). With some drivers, this simulates a middle-key-click
(opens in a new tab)

------
arjunb
Another way you can hack this yourself - get FluidApp, and make HN a site-
specific web app. All off-site links will automatically spawn in new browsers.

------
Eliezer
All hail the QuickDrag Firefox extension. Just grab the link and throw it; no
keyboarding involved, or trying to press down on the scroll wheel.

------
jgalvez
Well, since middle click has the same behavior even with @target="_blank", I
couldn't care less if they enabled it or not.

------
mdasen
On Windows you can use control+click and on a Macintosh you can use
command+click.

------
ComputerGuru
No.

------
albertcardona
In firefox, middle-click will open a new tab.

~~~
derefr
As will holding Control while you click.

