Hi,
A few things I might add:
>1. They are confusing for the user, at best. Most users I've seen don't
>understand the concept of a "new browser window", and hence can't find a
>way back to where they started. They become completely lost, and this is
>known as a major Web site no-no.
>2. Even for users who do understand the concept, the session issue that we
>are discussing is still grounds for a user's confusion. In other words, if
>a new browser window opens, does that mean that I'm "logged in" in the new
>window but not the old, or vice versa, or both? Just because keeping the
>same session across browser windows makes sense for us developers doesn't
>necessarily means that it makes sense to users.
>3. They are annoying. The real problem is that users may not know to hit
>the little "x" in the upper right to close it. Once you open a new window
>on the user's desktop, it will stay there forever...
Very good points. I never knew or considered this as a problem.
>1. External links - a lot of sites do this to prevent users from leaving
>their site.
>2. A page that is much better for printing. For instance, a page with
>printable maps and directions, or Web-based reports that the users need to
>print.
I would like to add a 3rd one here:
3. Displaying of information that pertains to the page and link selected.
For example, on our site, we have some links that will display an
advertisement that our clients would definitely want to see. No..not those
annoying ads that many sites pop up from their sponsors. These are ads that
belong to the people our clients send orders to. It gives our clients
"more" information right on our site about the people they send orders to.
4. Instructions on how to use a particular feature of your site..a HELP
window if you will. We use these to display NS and MSIE instructions.
In both my additions, we dont display any of the browser buttons. Its only
a window with a border and information inside. We include a "close" link to
close the window, as well as navigation buttons to other pages if need be.
I disagree with allowing anyone to open a new window especially now that I
know in MSIE it "can" mess things up for sessions. The only exception to
this rule is for our Admin site..where they can use the File->New Window of
MSIE to open up a "2nd view" of the same page.
Kevin Duffey
Software Engineer
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