Link Targeting

Background

What follows is an analysis of some of the window opening features of some modern tabbed browsers:

Firefox Browsers

There are several ways links can be opened in Firefox:

• regular links, which replace the current document when loaded
• links that open new windows by using the "target" attribute (e.g. targeting a new blank or named window)
• links that are opened by script without sizing or positioning parameters (basically the same as those opened using the "target" attribute)
• links that are opened by script using paramaters (called window "features") that set the size and position of the window.
• links sent from external applications e.g. via DDE on Windows.

These different types are handled in different ways by Firefox 1.0 and Deer Park Alpha 2.

There are several places links can be opened as well:

• The replacing the document loaded in the most recently focused tab/window
• A new tab in the most recently focused window
• A new window

When a link is opened in the foreground, when it is closed the previous tab is selected

Firefox 1.0

All links that would open a new window, whether by using the "target" attribute, or by using script are opened in new windows.

Options exist for sending links opened by external applications into each of the places where links can be opened, with the default being the last tab/document in the most recently focused window.

Options exist for forcing links that would open new windows by use of the "target" attribute or script into new tabs or replacing the same document, but these were hidden in Firefox 1.0 because they were not yet well tested.

Deer Park Alpha 2

All links that would open a new window, whether by using the "target" attribute or by using script are opened in new windows, with the exception of those sent by external applications, which are opened in new tabs.

The same collection of options as those which existed in 1.0 are present, except the ones for the "target" attribute/script opening are now exposed in the user interface.

Microsoft Internet Explorer 7 Beta 1

All links that would open new windows open new tabs, whether from internal sources ("target" attribute, script) or external applications. When a tab opened in the foreground is closed, the previous adjacent tab is selected.

I cannot remember what the options look like at time of writing, someone should fill this out later.

Apple Safari 2.0

Safari defaults to having tabbed browsing turned off entirely, with none of the standard shortcuts or UI appearing until after the feature is activated using the "Enable Tabbed Browsing..." option in the Tabs preferences pane.

Once this feature is enabled, all links that would open new windows, whether from internal sources ("target" attribute, script) or external applications open new windows.

There is an option to control where links from external applications are opened - windows or tabs. There are no options to control where internal links are targeted

Camino 0.9

All links that would open new windows open new windows. When a tab opened in the foreground is closed, the previous adjacent tab is selected.

Options exist to target links opened by external applications into a new tab, a new window, or reuse the most recent tab in the most recent window. There is no option to control where internal links are targeted.

Current Flaws

Tabbed browsing is designed to make managing multiple documents easier than the tools provided by most operating systems. A variety of user classes find multiple document browsing useful - experienced computer users, those who use the internet heavily either for recreational, educational or work purposes (e.g. employees at companies who rely on a large number of internal tools). While the level of familiarity with technology varies a large amount within this group, users within this group are usually well aware of multitasking and the skills required to do it.

The other class of user is the home user, many of whom use the computer and internet for a small set of targeted uses - email, chat, a small amount of recreational web surfing etc. This is a fairly large contingent.

More and more, as Firefox gains marketshare and aspires towards significant mainstream penetration, working well for this latter group becomes important. The [1] Firefox project charter targets the "widest possible set of people".

Lack of Discoverability

Tabs currently suffer from a lack of discoverability due to few obvious access points, lack of user education etc. There are a number of strategies that could be adopted to improve this situation, but those are mostly outside the scope of this document. Link Targeting intersects discoverability though in two very different ways:

• There is an argument that forcing more links into new tabs than windows would promote discoverability. The other is that
• Lack of user understanding of multitasking (many users are novices and don't aspire to be anything more given their usage patterns) means when users are presented with tabs as a result of some default configuration setting, they are not equipped to deal with it due to lack of experience.

The best demonstration of the second point is to consider the worst case scenario of a novice using a Firefox browser configured the way Deer Park Alpha 2 is by default:

1. User has page open in single browser window
2. User receives an IM, clicks on IM window and clicks link sent by friend
3. Link opens in new tab in browser window

The user looks at the page and is now done with it. They now want to get back to where they were before. With Firefox 1.0's behavior they could click the Back button to go back (although see discusson on this in the Complex Options section below). With Internet Explorer 6.0 and earlier's behavior on Windows they could close the new window that was opened using either the X button, the File menu or the keyboard shortcut and be presented with their previous page, which is most often the window underneath the newly opened one. With Deer Park Alpha 2 they need to:

1. Notice that the new document has opened in a tab (i.e. notice the tab strip)
2. Discover how to close the current tab

This involves them discovering the X button on the far right of the tab strip. The user might first be inclined to click the X button on the window (most users don't remember keyboard shortcuts, at least few further than clipboard operations and those implemented fairly consistently across Windows applications - Ctrl+W is not). This would present them with a warning dialog about closing multiple tabs. They are now yanked into a new world of tabbed browsing. Is this dialog the first exposure to the concept of tabbed browsing we want novices to have?

The user might also use Ctrl+W (although less likely, see above) or the File menu and discover the Close Tab item there.

All of this assumes they even notice the tab strip at all. The tab strip is about the same size as the Info bar and appears in the same spot. We have good evidence that shows that users don't notice the Info bar. The tab strip might be sligthly more noticable assuming the page the user is on has a meaningful title (and the user noticed the title) and icon, instead of something like Untitled Document - but that's not always the best assumption.

It should be clear that extreme novices are being discussed here, but as we work towards more penetration it is these users we must be thinking of - people who have not made the conscious decision to use our software because it simply came on their computer by way of corporate deployment, ISP, hardware or "by a friend/relative" distribution.

It should also be clear that none of these flaws means that we shouldn't pursue implementation of better discoverability aids, see the brief Tab Discoverability section below.