Hassan Schroeder <has...@webtuitive.com> > On 12/23/11 11:12 AM, MJ Ray wrote: > > No - it switches on a second browser viewport, either above or below > > the first one. > > ? "above or below"? Not sure we're talking about the same thing. > Or at least I wouldn't describe it in those terms.
Ah, now, what had happened there was that I had already jumped ahead to thinking of the desktop metaphor. In-front/behind also works. > > [...] What happens when you read a page on your desk and turn to > > another page? Does the new page usually appear alongside (like a > > new window) or beneath it (like a new tab) - or does it usually > > replace the page you finished? It replaces it, unless you do > > something special like grab a duplicate. > > *OR* it's got a *different relationship* to the original window. > > If it's simply a *continuation* of the content, sure, replacing the > original window content makes sense. But if it's e.g. a 'help' link, > or a dialog box, it *does* open a new window. Help and confirmation pop-ups are very much special cases. I'd tolerate new windows, but I'd prefer web apps not to need them. What is a continuation of the content, though? I wonder if the crux of the argument here is that some of us (maybe the longer-serving webmasters?) think a link can be a continuation despite it going to another site. After all, it's the world-wide web, one giant multi-authored multi-part hypertext document collection. So, each window is like flipping through pages in a copy of this near-infinite document, following references in a non-linear order. The document doesn't suddenly replicate itself without asking. > If the original content is a PDF, clicking an embedded link doesn't > open inside Adobe Reader; it *opens a new window*. If I click on a > link in my Twitter client, ditto. If cousin Connie emails a link to > her favorite LOLCAT of the day, click, boom, new window. > > If people are baffled by new windows opening, there must be a lot of > continual head-shaking going on out there... Or more people shift-click or use the back button than some think. PDFs aren't part of hypertext and Adobe Reader is badly-designed in several ways, so I'd ignore that. Meanwhile, neither my microblog or webmail clients open links into new windows: maybe if you prefer that behaviour, you prefer different clients to me. Dear readers, please let me know your views on whether the web is one document collection or many, how many years you've been webmastering and if/when you think links should open new windows - I really wonder if they are related somehow. Regards, -- MJ Ray (slef), member of www.software.coop, a for-more-than-profit co-op. http://koha-community.org supporter, web and library systems developer. In My Opinion Only: see http://mjr.towers.org.uk/email.html Available for hire (including development) at http://www.software.coop/ ******************************************************************* List Guidelines: http://webstandardsgroup.org/mail/guidelines.cfm Unsubscribe: http://webstandardsgroup.org/join/unsubscribe.cfm Help: memberh...@webstandardsgroup.org *******************************************************************
