[thelist] is window.open evil? (or at least unfriendly?)

sasha sasha at bittersweet2.com
Fri Apr 5 10:49:01 CST 2002


i think most people hate encountering pop-up windows
(pesky banner ads that spawn more when you try to close
them...).  it is strange that users hate them, but
designers love them.  i use them sometimes for images
only, to cut down on page load times (and my script
degrades gracefully).

opera (v5+) is ok with pop-up windows that are made to
degrade gracefully for non js users if pop-ups are
disabled.  when last i checked (about a year ago),
konqueror (unix/kde) set to ignore window.open does not.
i dont know much about pop-up killers, since i have no
need for them with opera.

my expectation as a user is that documents from the same
site should load in the same window (and external sites
get target="_blank").  if i want it in a new window, i
can put it in a new window myself.

Christy "sasha" Siepker
http://bittersweet2.com

4/5/2002 11:03:24 AM, Cheryl Baringer
<cheryl.baringer at alcatel.com> wrote:

>Hi all,
>
>In reading the proposed specs for a new section of a
site, I noticed
>several different instances in which new windows would
be opened to
>present the linked content. When asked, the author
stated a desire for
>users to "not lose contact" with the original page.
>
>My initial thoughts were:
> - Internet users are accustomed to using the Back
button, so would know
>how to return to the previous page
> - Breadcrumbs and sufficient menus would provide
another way to return
>to the main page.
> - Spawning a new window that contains its own
navigation allows users
>to create a "sub-history" that is lost when the window
is closed to
>return to the original document.
> - Would these type of windows be killed by the "popup
killers" out there?
>
>Has anyone seen any statistics regarding the
>usefulness/usability/painfulness of opening a new
window to present the
>linked content?
>
>TIA,
>Cheryl
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