One of the things I like to do is open any external links (links that travel to other domains) on my Blogs with a new window. For Browsers that are capable of tabbed-browsing, it presents an extremely convenient way to organize your web surfing by domains. Of course, if you are still using the archaic Microsoft Internet Explorer, check out what you’ve been missing and download FireFox!

The reason to open external links in a new window is to retain the old window so that the users can come back to surfing your site, viewing more of your Blog! I blog using the WordPress 2.0 platform as its easily the most convenient platform to customize your Blog and plugins are plentiful to be found. I easily found some WordPress plugins that did the job

Zap_NewWindow plugin for WordPress - opens external domain links in a new window automatically!
Link Indication plugin for WordPress - adds an outgoing link icon to every external link; very customizable and configurable! (I’ve installed this plugin and you can see the difference on this post!)

However, I wanted to strike a balance between annoyance and usability. I wanted to be able to customize even further; to pick and choose which links I want to open in a new window. For example, I don’t mind if users are going to my other Blogs from AmBlogger and don’t wish to subject them to a new open window. The majority of web surfers are still using IE and I know it certainly annoys me if new windows open up without my trusty tab interface.

The solution was simple. Since I don’t use the WordPress visual rich editor to (more…)