Open Plugin External Links in New Tab or Window

[generosus]

Dear WordPress,

Currently, plugin external links open in the same WordPress dashboard tab or window thus breaking work continuity. ​Examples

Based on industry standards, and to eliminate the above, would it be possible to update your code to require that all plugin external links open in a new tab or window?

Thank you!

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Reference: ​Request | Open Plugin Links in New Tab

[generosus]

Dear WordPress,

To further assist with above request, and to prevent tab napping and SEO issues, I would like to recommend the following HTML format for opening plugin external links in a new tab:

Example:

<a href="https://www.mailpoet.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">MailPoet</a>

Thank you!

[SergeyBiryukov]

Hi there, welcome back 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).

Let's 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:

• Related discussions in #52407 and #52807.
• #23432 for reviewing the usage of target="_blank" in other links across the admin.

[generosus]

Hi @SergeyBiryukov,

Wow! Thanks for the insight. This topic is approximately 10 years old. Please accept my apologies for not researching this topic better.

It appears the discussion is endless -- with many WP links affected and many implementation philosophies on the table.

Oh well, I'll let this one take its natural course.

Just thought it would be nice to request an enhancement based on industry standards.

Cheers!