Just wondering why it doesn't open links in new tabs like most other news aggregators. The effect is I end up having to re-open Hacker News a lot because I close my tab rather than hitting the back button. Minor issue, but it happens often enough to make me wonder why they keep it like this.
Ask HN: Why doesn't Hacker News open links in a new tab?
1–10 of 38 posts
Re: Ask HN: Why doesn't Hacker News open links in a new tab?
#2target="_blank" is an anti-user design choice.
If a link does not set target="_blank", you can always choose how it will be opened: in this tab, or in a new one, with a left or middle click.
If it has target="_blank", it'll always open in a new tab, even if you don't want it to, and there's no visual indicator that this parameter has been set.
I never set target="_blank" as a general rule for this reason.
Re: Ask HN: Why doesn't Hacker News open links in a new tab?
#3Use Ctrl+click or Right-click > Open in new tab? It's not complicated.
Re: Ask HN: Why doesn't Hacker News open links in a new tab?
#4My take: Other news aggregators want more pageviews, higher time-spend-on-site metrics, more advertising revenue, year-on-year growth. To my knowledge HN doesn't have any of those aspirations.
Re: Ask HN: Why doesn't Hacker News open links in a new tab?
#5Use Ctrl+click or Right-click > Open in new tab ? It's not complicated.
Middle click on windows also works.
Re: Ask HN: Why doesn't Hacker News open links in a new tab?
#6Re: Ask HN: Why doesn't Hacker News open links in a new tab?
#7target="_blank" is an anti-user design choice. If a link does not set target="_blank", you can always choose how it will be opened: in this tab, or in a new one, with a left or middle click. If it has target="_blank", it'll always open in a new tab, even if you don't want it to, and there's no visual indicator that this parameter has been set. I never set target="_blank" as a general rule for this reason.
Glad to see accessibility covered in one of the first comments on this.
The relevant WCAG 2.0 information: https://www.w3.org/TR/WCAG20-TECHS/G201.html
PowerMapper has some more information (not affiliated, just a happy customer): https://www.powermapper.com/tests/screen-readers/navigation/...
Re: Ask HN: Why doesn't Hacker News open links in a new tab?
#8Re: Ask HN: Why doesn't Hacker News open links in a new tab?
#9I like it because it reinforces the need to Ctrl-click links. I never click links, I always ctrl-click it after hovering over a link to check the url first.
Also, CTRL and left arrow will return you back to the HN. It's not that big of a deal? Also, it's a good thing as it teaches you some good habits. Why depend on a site to open links in new tabs? Do it yourself. That way you force consistent behavior across all websites/links.
Re: Ask HN: Why doesn't Hacker News open links in a new tab?
#10I like that it doesn't open new tabs. I will usually look at the main page and open a few links or conversations in new tabs, but for most links I just dip in and out of the comments with my forward and back keys since I'm mostly trying to just figure out if the entry is worth my time. If it looks like I'm going to engage with it more I'll give it it's own tab.
Why do you want to remove my choice in the matter?