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tip: links - open in a new tab or window?


sid
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I've been meaning to mention this for ages!

Edit: I should have added - using Internet Explorer 8.

When I click on a link in the Forum the new page always opens in the current window. So, to continue on the Forum after I've read the link, I have to "go back", which means the original Forum page has to reload; a pain.

With Google you can set "search settings" to open search results in a new window, and I find that really useful as it means I don't subsequently have to go back in order to continue, I can just close the current (new) tab. I'm so used to doing this that, more often than not, I do the same thing with the Forum links; I close the tab only to find I've actually closed the forum too! [:@]

I know, I know, I can right-click the link to choose whether to open a new tab or window, and you could conceivably end up with loads of open windows (draughty or what, especially in the winter?).

BUT I've also discovered that by pressing the wheel on my MS optical mouse it acts as a mouse click but defaults to a new tab! Great! Now all I have to do is remember to use!!!!! [geek] (This facility is not shown in the mouse properties BTW, I only found it by accident).

Sid

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Yes, I think your right Mr CdL. Perhaps we could have a change here? How about it CF techies?

Clair, Are you looking at IE8? My Tools/Internet options/General/tab settings don't make any difference to how the Complete France Forum opens new links.

Sid

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[quote user="Jay"][quote user="Clair"]Is that what you're looking for?

Tools / Internet Options / General ==> Tab Parameters

[/quote]

Are you talking about IE 8 ? If so I don't have that option, nor on Firefox.

[/quote]

Yes, on IE8.

Click on Tools, then right at the bottom you'll find Internet Options. From the General tab, look down for Tab ==> Parameters (in French on the image below):

[IMG]http://i139.photobucket.com/albums/q296/clair46/IE8.jpg[/IMG]

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[quote user="sid"]

Yes, I think your right Mr CdL. Perhaps we could have a change here? How about it CF techies?[/quote]

Unlikely to happen any time soon, if ever.

[quote user="sid"]Clair, Are you looking at IE8? My Tools/Internet options/General/tab settings don't make any difference to how the Complete France Forum opens new links.

Sid[/quote] I don't know whether it works or not, as I hardly ever use IE8. I was just making a suggestion of where you might find the tab controls you need.

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I have forced myself to view the forum in IE8 (I had forgotten about Google Ads and the banners! I have set Firefox to remove them from the page) and I find that it behaves just like Firefox (right-click/new tab or click on wheel) to open a link in a new tab.

I must be missing the point completely... [blink]

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Hi Clair

I'm sorry, perhaps I've not explained very well.

On other forums when you click (left click, normal click, not right click) a link it opens a new window. (Left click is important for us oldies who have been doing it this way for nigh on 15 years). This means that when you've finished reading that link you can close it, and your original page (where you came FROM) is still there. So, no time lost, no waiting for the page to reload.

On this forum when you left-click a link it uses the current window and overwrites what was there originally. When you have finsished you have to click the "back" button (top left) and wait for the page to reload, which is very frustrating when the internet is as slow as ours is, especially in the evenings.

The settings you referred to have no effect on how IE8 behaves in this respect. Google Chrome, the only other browser I'll consider, behaves in exactly the same way. It's not a fault of the browser, in fact, it's not a fault as such, but the "open" method used in the coding for the page and link, and it would be nice to have a choice. AND it shouldn't be necessary to force users to use a particular browser; not everyone likes IE8, but for sure I don't find any advantage with Firefox.

If you are used to reading another forum (gosh yes, there are others) and you come on here it is really annoying a) to keep closing windows accidentally and having to start over, and b) having to watch the green progress bar as my page refreshes.

Now then, you can if you have your wits about you (and by "you" I mean "me"!!) use a right click and choose a new window or a new tab, and that works fine. But you have to remember to do it when it's not necessary anywhere else.

In my time in software support this would be noted as a customer performance enhancement request, we love those big terms! [:)] Someone would look how long it would take implement (about 2 minutes I'd say in this case). Why is this forum determined to be the odd one out? I'll email you a link if you want to see a sample.

edit I should also add that I find the attitude of software writers who can only see one way, their way, of doing things, absolutely crazy. Flexibility is required! Give the user a choice. It's one of the things that really frustrated me towards the end of my career, along with lack of testing; pushing out products that don't work!

There we are, got that lot of my chest! [:-))]

Regards

Sid

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Sid, thanks for explaining.

I think the difference in behaviour has more to do with the age of the forum software than the navigator used to view it.

Most up-to-date fora have it written into their HTML code that "link = new page or new tab".

I fear that as long as it behaves, the forum is unlikely to get anywhere near the top of the priority list in the Tech Dept... Don't hold your breath for a change or an improvement...

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Hi Clair

You are correct; it is the forum software. I would have thought it would be easy to change. Oh well, I could but hope! So the "wheel click" is the answer for me.

"Fora"... I wondered whether I should have used the correct plural here, and to think I have a 50-year-old GCE in Latin too! [:$]

Sid

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