[thelist] Target=_blank or back button?

[Joel Canfield]

> I would say that a web browser should never *force* a user to
> open a new window.  Leave the links without targets (except
> in the case of frames); if the user wants a new window they
> generally are quite capable of choosing to create one.
> Contrariwise, if you put target=_new or target=_blank and I
> *don't* want a new window, I have to go to quite a bit more
> effort to keep my current window, esp. in the case of form
> submits and whatnot.
>
> Give the user the power;

Eric, aardrian, other uber-surfers:

I use target="_blank" extensively at http://egbdf.info. When I refer someone
offsite, I'd like to make it easy for the less technical folks to continue
reading where they left off (I want them to finish reading, darn it!) But
Eric makes a good point; this takes control out of the hands of the visitor.
Bad form and all that.

If a site gave you the option to have offsite links open in a new window,
would you use it, or would you continue your current habits?

I'll probably provide the option, which will allow unter-surfers control
without impacting y'all folks.

Anyone see holes in that approach?

joel