Desiring Machine

It was pointed out that I should have my links open up pages in new browser windows. This would enhance the user experience of IE users who currently don’t have the benefits of tab browsing. One solution add the target=”_blank” to all my links. A seemingly simple solution. But after a little investigation I found out that the target attribute is invalid in XHTML 1.1 strict. A deal breaker, and something I did not know about the target attribute. Besides, I am not inclined to having to type out the target=_blank” everytime I want to post an entry with links. There has got to be a better way.

Well after a little searching I found a convenient WordPress plugin called Zap_NewWindow that makes your links that point to outside domains automatically open in a new window. I like it. A nice elegant solution that remains Web Standards compliant. Plus I don’t have to think about it when I post entries and links. Satisfies the KISS principle (Keep It Simple Stupid).

As a side note the open link in new window is not something I have really thought about for a long time. Because I use Safari or Firefox everyday, both browsers that support tabs, I unconsciously and instinctually right click on all links to “Open Link In New Tab”. Now if we could just get websites to stop using braindead Javascript to force links to go through hoops and thus break my ability to right click and open in new tabs.

Let’s move away from this kind of junk:

Javascript Based Links
I’m talking to you New York Times.

I was interested to find out that there are OS X Dashboard widgets out there for posting to blogs. Should make my life easier. This post was created with WordPress Dash.