1 Nice roundup of all that is necessary

Although one thing that you should make sure is that you tell the user that the thing will open up in a new window to ensure full accessibility. This can be done in the title attribute, so no need to mess up your text.

There are some articles on the same topic around, and I once stumbled across this example:
http://cookiecrook.com/include/popup.txt
that seems to cater for every problem there might be with popup calls.

posted at 11:36 am on March 19, 2004 by Chris

2 In the immortal words of Cartman

“I love you guys!”
Thanks for a great article.

posted at 12:29 pm on March 19, 2004 by b.richards

3 bad issue, sorry

sorry to the author but this is not one of the best issues, only one article and not that interesting… hopefully a new one soon

posted at 01:13 pm on March 19, 2004 by james

4 I disagree.

“Sometimes we have to use pop-ups”

Lies! Links sould only ever open in a new window when the user tells it to.

posted at 01:58 pm on March 19, 2004 by Eric

5 No, I disagree with your disagree.

Maybe for regular web pages, Eric. But web apps have other behaviors and requirements. Some of which are to protect the user from themselves. Pop ups are very effective for surveys, quizzes and forms. By removing the crome, users can focus on the task at hand. There is no “one way.”

posted at 02:08 pm on March 19, 2004 by gc

6 Right and wrong

Wrong, in my humble opinion, is: “Sometimes we have to use pop-ups”.

But right is: “we might as well do them right”.

If, for whatever reason, you’re going to use pop-ups, do them right. And this article is a very helpful resource for those rare cases.

Still better is not to use pop-ups at all. I have not stumbled across one single site yet that uses pop-ups that could not have been replaced by some kind of server-side-technology. So my suggestions would be: put some effort into finding a solution without pop-ups first, before you put some effort in doing them right.

posted at 02:12 pm on March 19, 2004 by Oliver

7 I wouldn't use this...

…I’d use this script:
http://yayforgecko.net/newWin.js

The code is cleaner and more semantic, and all you need to do is add an external class to the links you want open in a new window. It could be further modified to change the features of the window too. As far as I know it works in current browsers.

I still don’t like opening in new windows, and I can’t think of a use where you’d really need the functionality of _blank. The only time I really like popups is if I’m at an online store and there’s a larger picture that opens in a popup. That I’m okay with.

posted at 02:12 pm on March 19, 2004 by Radley Smith

8 I wouldn't use this...

…I’d use this script:
http://yayforgecko.net/newWin.js

The code is cleaner and more semantic, and all you need to do is add an external class to the links you want open in a new window. It could be further modified to change the features of the window too. As far as I know it works in current browsers.

I still don’t like opening in new windows, and I can’t think of a use where you’d really need the functionality of _blank. The only time I really like popups is if I’m at an online store and there’s a larger picture that opens in a popup. That I’m okay with.

posted at 02:13 pm on March 19, 2004 by Radley Smith

9 Sorry!

Sorry for the double post!

posted at 02:13 pm on March 19, 2004 by Radley Smith

10 RE: I disagree by Eric

From a usability standpoint that may be true. But try and convince marketing folks that it’s ok to let users leave the site via a link. In some cases using popups is the only way to assuage concerns about site “stickyness”.

posted at 02:17 pm on March 19, 2004 by Michael