Question

Now tabbed browsing is the norm, is it still considered bad etiquette to force links to open in a new ‘Window’ (target="_blank")? For a page that I am designing, I think it is by far the best option for a set of links, but I don’t want to upset any purists who visit my site.

What is the polite thing to do in 2012?

Edit: The links I am talking about are to external pages.

Answer 1

Most (popular) browsers have options to override how new windows / popups / tabs are handled.
There’s nothing wrong with opening a link in a new tab, as long as it’s not a link to your own site.

If you’re linking to pages on your own site, make the link open in the same tab (So don’t supply any target) Otherwise, people might end up with a load of tabs opened with your site, slowing their system, and generally being annoying.

Personally, I force all pages that want to open in a new window, to open in a tab instead.
Users with more “technical” experience tend to Ctrl+Click / Middle-Click to open pages in new tabs, if they want them to. Otherwise, they’ll most often expect them to open in the same page.

As a rule of thumb:

Don’t force a specific sort of behaviour on your users. Make your site behave as expected.