Open the Author and Plugin URI on dashboard installed plugin list on new tab (target="_blank")

[cadillacs]

In the Plugins section on dashboard, the urls relatives to the "Author URI" and "Plugin URI" must be open in a new windows/tab in the browser (target="_blank") instead of taking the user out of WordPress.

IMG: ​https://prntscr.com/10kx6ia

[cadillacs]

Plugin URI elements

[SergeyBiryukov]

Hi there, welcome to WordPress Trac!

Thanks for the ticket, we're already tracking this enhancement in #20839 and #41202.

See comment:4:ticket:41202 for why this is not implemented yet:

There is an ongoing discussion about links with target _blank, see https://core.trac.wordpress.org/query?keywords=~target-blank.

Ideally, users should have the choice to open a link. Browsers have tabbed navigation since years and years. In very, limited, specific cases, for example to avoid data loss, it might make sense to use target _blank. In this case, users should be informed the link is going to open in a new tab (or window, depending on browser settings).

[cadillacs]

Apparently this requirement is taken a bit lightly or without really delving into the enormous opportunity for improvement in various aspects of the design and usability of WordPress.

I see that all the tickets created related to the "Author URI" and "Plugin URI" links from the list of plugins in the administrative area have been closed without further analysis or justification. Apparently everything focuses in general on the comment of @afercia from 4 years ago regarding usability ...

Although it is somewhat difficult to try to explain my humble point of view clearly and precisely through a ticket, I will try ...

It is true that it is a good practice to avoid the opening of links in new pages or tabs, and when this was the case then that must be indicated visually to the user.

The problem is that throughout the different sections of the backend or administrative area there are links that point to external sites where some open in the same tab where you are browsing and others in a new tab without a visual signal and without any criteria apparent or uniformity.

For example, in the list of installed plugins the "Author URI" and "Plugin URI" links (which point to external sites) open in the same window / page / tab (taken to user completely away from the administrative area and the page), but if you click on the same links that are located in the pop-up window that opens when you click on the "View details" link, as they open in a new window or tab (as it should be).

In summary, my recommendation is to analyze in which links, for usability issues, the implementation of the target="_ blank" attribute should be allowed, for example, in the links discussed in this ticket ("Author URI" and "Plugin URI" ), but postponing each link a small popup icon (the open in a new window icon).

Other links to which the same analysis could be applied, would be those that are displayed when hovering the mouse over the Wordpress logo located in the upper left corner of the administrative area:

WordPress.org
Documentation
Support
Feedback

... I think it's good that they show those links related to Wordpress, but add the attribute target = "_ blank" and the corresponding popup icon to each link.

As a last comment, I would like to emphasize that we are talking about the administrative area, which is not accessed by the users of the frontpage or by the indexing robots of the web search engines, that is, it does not affect the visitors of the web or the indexing of the herself.

I hope this information and comments are useful and I hope you delve deeper into this topic and the best solution for the benefit of the large community of Wordpress users.

Thanks in advance for taking the time to read my comments and revisit this topic. Greetings.-

[cadillacs]

Example: ​https://prnt.sc/10lt985

[knutsp]

Duplicate of #20839.

[SergeyBiryukov]

Replying to cadillacs:

In summary, my recommendation is to analyze in which links, for usability issues, the implementation of the target="_ blank" attribute should be allowed, for example, in the links discussed in this ticket ("Author URI" and "Plugin URI" ), but postponing each link a small popup icon (the open in a new window icon).

Thanks! Good points here, but let's please continue the discussion on the original ticket, #20839, to keep it one place, as previous comments there have some more context and would also need to be taken into consideration.

See also #23432 for reviewing the usage of target="_blank" in other links across the admin.

Adjusting the focuses, as some of them don't seem relevant for this ticket:

• performance is generally used for tickets aiming to improve performance of individual functions or methods.
• template is related to theme templating.
• coding standards is related to ​language-specific coding standards and issues identified by ​WPCS.