Add option to links in Web.ini to open links in new or same tab/window

[N6LKA]

I wasn't abel to re-open issue #303. 304 partrially solved the problem, but not entirely.

This update helps, but doesn't fully solve the problem. With this update, if you configure the line in web.ini to open in _blank, any menu item listed as a single item will open in a new tab. That's great, except when you group links in a menu, they are all treated as single items. Sometimes this is good, but not always. Also, in my case, I have two RSSI pages listed. One for each of the voting nodes on my system. If I group them seperately using single, they open in new tabs. If I group them as a menu, then they don't appear individually on the left menu like I want, and since they are in a menu, and each item is treated as "single" they still open in a new tab.

What I would like to see is something we can add to the menu.ini to indicate whether the link should open in same tab/window, or a new tab/window. This would give more granular control over how each menu item opens, whether it is a single item or inside a menu.

[Pross]

I did think about this when creating the PR, the ini file uses key pairs for the links like 'My Link' = 'http://whatever' it is not an array, nowhere to tell it the target.

But I did have a brainfart while making the morning brew ... what about if you could add links like this:

Link One = http://whatever
Link Two = http://something|_blank

Where Link Two in the menu opens in a new tab

What you think?

[jxmx]

I would prefer not to make a hack in the configuration like that. I don't think the use case is very high, especially since it's a minor shortcut for something easily accomplished by a right-click-open-in-new-tab operation. If we want to make this per-link, I think we need a new config file format which would be a major change for a 2.x release.

[Pross]

I actually have a POC going on here, no need to change the parser its just a slight change in functions.js needed, second link here it will use the _blank as the target

[test]
type = single
Test = https://m7dhq.net/
[test2]
type = single
blank = https://m7dhq.net/_blank

[Pross]

Something like this works so far

_target = newp.match( /_[blank|self|parent|top]+$/ )
if ( _target ) {
    target = 'target="' + _target[0] +'"';
    newp = newp.replace(_target[0], '')
} else {
    target = 'target="' + customElements.CONFIG_MENU_SINGLE_TARGET +'"';
}

[N6LKA]

I actually have a POC going on here, no need to change the parser its just a slight change in functions.js needed, second link here it will use the _blank as the target

[test]
type = single
Test = https://m7dhq.net/
[test2]
type = single
blank = https://m7dhq.net/_blank

Will this also work when the links are in a menu and not single?

Thanks for working on this. I know some might think its pointless and easily solved by right clicking and selecting to open in new tab, but not all users are web savvy and know those things. We want to make it easy for the end user or else they won't use it. These types of changes actually help move another step closer to web page design standards. I work at a college, and help keep my department's web pages updated. I was told by our web developer that the standard is to have any links to external sites open in a new tab, while links to anything interanal should open in the same tab. I'm not sure if this is an actual web design standard, or specific to my college, but it made sense to me. That is what I'm trying to accomplish with this request. To give the option to open links in a new tab or same tab so the maintainer can decide how links open from the menu for their end users.

Thanks again for your help with this request.

[jxmx]

Thanks for working on this. I know some might think its pointless and easily solved by right clicking and selecting to open in new tab, but not all users are web savvy and know those things. We want to make it easy for the end user or else they won't use it

My objection is not on the feature itself, it's the corruption/hacking of a straightforward configuration NAME = VALUE syntax to now having a semi-arbitrary special token in a URL that makes it behave differently.

These types of changes actually help move another step closer to web page design standards. I work at a college, and help keep my department's web pages updated. I was told by our web developer that the standard is to have any links to external sites open in a new tab, while links to anything internal should open in the same tab. I'm not sure if this is an actual web design standard, or specific to my college, but it made sense to me.

This is 100% not any sort of web standard and almost all web developers would consider this an anti-feature unless there's a compelling reason to open another page in a new tab/window. A link should only open a new tab/windows of its own volition because it's important to be able to reference the previous page - e.g. you clicked on a help link or some sort of context-aware "modal".