Closed Bug 35578 Opened 24 years ago Closed 16 years ago

Mailnews should open http/ftp links in new browser window by default

Categories

(SeaMonkey :: MailNews: Message Display, enhancement, P3)

Product:
SeaMonkey
Component:
MailNews: Message Display
Type:
enhancement

Tracking

(Not tracked)

Status:
RESOLVED WORKSFORME

People

(Reporter: Marko.Macek, Assigned: mscott)

References

Details

Clicking on an URL in a mail/news should open a window instead of reusing a 
random other browser window.
actually..that what it does in NS4.7 as well (opens in existing window) - and i
like that, because there's the right-click option to "open link in new window".
But there is no right-click options implemented in a mailnews newsbody yet.. so
this seems to be an RFE.
Yes, a pref maybe?
Severity: major → enhancement
Status: UNCONFIRMED → NEW
Ever confirmed: true
OS: Windows NT → All
Summary: URL click in mailnews should open new window → [RFE] Mailnews URI dispatch to new window preference
That too :) But "where there are links - there should be menus".
Otherwise the interface would be inconsistant. The right-click menu should be 
implemented in mails/msgs as well. I would expect that's a planned feature 
actually, just "not there yet".
Jennifer, can you comment on the spec requirements for new window vs reuse 
window?  (The context menu comment should be in another bug, ignore that for 
this bug.)
Assignee: selmer → jglick
Target Milestone: --- → M18
I just checked with German about this one.  This is how the Browser will work, 
so Mail should follow.

Clicking on a link opens the link in an existing browser window (for Mail, if an 
open browser window doesn't yet exist, a new one would be opened). (Of course, 
the author of the doc with the link can also specify in his code that clicking 
the link opens a new browser window.)

A modifier key, Ctrl on Windows/Linux and Command on Mac, plus clicking a link 
would open the link in a new browser window.
Assignee: jglick → selmer
I don't see how behavior is the same. 
A browser open a new page in itself.
4.x mail opens it in a random other browser window. The "random" really  annoys
me.

What is an algorithm to select the window (I often have 10+ of them). I could
never figure it out. Usually if I created an empty one it used it, but not
always (Unix/Windows, perhaps they don't behave the same?).
Enhancements need to wait now.
Status: NEW → ASSIGNED
Target Milestone: M18 → M20
*** Bug 59329 has been marked as a duplicate of this bug. ***
You can now ctrl-click a link in mailnews to open it in a new window, or right-
click it and select "open link in new window".

Is the "open link in random open browser window" behavior ever useful, though?  
I think "open link in new window" should be the default behavior for clicking 
on a link in mailnews.
I agree.  I see no justification for this behavior.  If you really wanted to be
consistent, you mailnews would open the link in the message displaying window.
But this isn't very useful.  In any case, the current behavior is destructive
and I think it was a bad idea in 4.x.
Links don't normally open in a `random' window, they open (or should open) in the 
browser window that you were using most recently.

Anyway. Having an `Open in New Window' menu item might work for now, but when you 
can download Mozilla Messenger as a separate app and configure it to use your Web 
browser of choice (like, say, Opera) for links, it won't. This problem needs to 
be solved in the browser, not in mail/news. There are many places outside Mozilla 
which can open links in Navigator, and where a UI for opening in a new window is 
not practical or desirable -- such as Internet shortcuts on your desktop, or an 
URL entered in the `Start' > `Run ...' dialog on Windows, or the `Readme' link in 
Half-Life Counterstrike, or whatever.

So what we need is a preference in Navigator, something like this ...
|
| Open _links from other applications in:
| (*) existing windows
| ( ) new windows
|
| (If multiple links are opened at once, they will always open in new windows.)

See also bug 62797, reusing the wrong window when this pref is off.
mpt: Reusing most recently used window is a good model for people that only use
one browser window at the time. 

I use many windows and this means that usually clicking on a link in mail will
destroy the page I was last viewing. I am able to decide myself if I will not
need a certain page again and close it manually.

Perhaps reusing the oldest window would be better but this would be even more
unpredictable (dont even think about this).
This behavior is REALLY REALLY annoying!  I can't go through two bugzilla mails,
click on two bugs and have two windows with the bug info!  Instead this stupid
algorithm first erases a page I already had open, then reuses the darn window
for both bugs!  This is counterintuitive and bad design.
After speaking to mpt about this (see his comment below dated 2000-11-19 04:30):

1. this bug should be reassigned to Navigator
2. implement a navigator pref: 

   Open links from other applications and components:
   (*) create a new window
   ( ) reuse most recently opened navigator window
   
   { actual text to be debated, but the above is intended to be clear }

   it was mpt's opinion to open in a new window by default to make gui more 
   predictable by default

3. This would apply to:
  - opening links in mail/news
  - opening links in bookmarks and history
  - opening new links with -remote command line option (or DDE in windows, etc)
  - any other component needing to open a web page (chatzilla?)

Note: IE has this option, I'd like mozilla to have it too.

So... can this bug be reassigned to an appropriate Navigator component?

See also bugs 71400 and 71401 that will be affected by this pref.

2. implement a navigator pref: 
   Open links from other applications and components:
   (*) create a new window
   ( ) reuse most recently opened navigator window
navigator window doesn't satisfy me.  I want inline navigation [4xp].  Back to 
the drawing board.
   [ ] use current window if possible
timeless:
>   ( ) reuse most recently opened navigator window
>navigator window doesn't satisfy me.  I want inline navigation [4xp].  Back to 
>the drawing board.
You want inline navigation in the mailnews? Is that good UI? Not sure. Mailnews
should imo be for mail and news messages.

>   [ ] use current window if possible

Perhaps what we need is to file another bug on this issue for navigator for the
above.

This bug would then be independant and would be something like:

Open web pages:
(*) use Navigator
( ) browse in mailnews 

Then we have two separate independant issues to discuss/implement.
(*) browse inline
( ) use default web browser [this could be opera]

mpt: if you object to the fact that the web browser selected by mailnews should 
be independent of mozilla navigator ... =)

timeless: please file a new bug for opening links in mail messages in the mail 
window, since this bug is in danger of becoming too broad.


I like mpt's pref suggestion:

   Open links from other applications and components:
   (*) create a new window
   ( ) reuse most recently opened navigator window
   
Should the pref go under Windows Integration (since supposedly this pref would 
only matter when your default browser is Mozilla), or should it go in a new 
panel under Navigator along with the proposed pref from bug 15512:

   When I click on a link:
   ( ) Always open in the same window (use ctrl+click to open in new window)
   ( ) Always open in a new window (use ctrl+click to open in a same window)
   (*) Use settings from webpage [default]
Should the pref go under Windows Integration?
No, because a commandline or shortcut or batch file or shell script should be 
affected by it.

Jesse: my request is well w/in the constraints of this bug's summary. i would 
suggest that you consider fissioning the larger issue into a new sparkling 
clear bug. it looks like bug 15512 satisfies your needs, in which case the only 
issue left is mine. (but that's selfish, if you object feel free to file new 
bugs for whatefver you like)
The sparkling new bug is bug 75138. It covers opening new navigator windows 
when mailnews or another component wants to go the link. This bug should 
probably depend on it.

Bug 15512 is something else entirely - it covers browsing by opening *all* 
links in new windows by default.
I think best results would be achieved now by marking this bug as a duplicate 
of bug 75138.
Depends on: 75138
This bug seems fixed in Win98, build 2001061520. When I click on a link in a
message, a new browser window is opened to the right part of the previous
taskbar processes. I am so happy with it :)
Please check if this is temporary or the current bug is worksforme.
I agree with Marko's comments from 4/4.  I always want links I click in mail (or
other apps) to open in a new window rather than reusing an existing one.  The
only time I want a link to use the existing open window is if it's a browser
window and I'm actively surfing in that window. Having to constantly ctl-click
or rt-click|open in new window is getting to be very annoying.
selmer/lchiang - can one of you please reassign this to the appropriate engineer?
-> mscott to reassign
Assignee: selmer → mscott
Status: ASSIGNED → NEW
Changing summary due to comment from granrose@netscape.com (2001-08-30 09:36)

I suggest people who want this behavior to vote for this bug. People who want
the pref should vote for bug 75138.

In my opinion the pref is just extra bloat. Opening in new window is optimal
behavior IMO.
Summary: [RFE] Mailnews URI dispatch to new window preference → [RFE] Mailnews should open links in new window by default (pref?)
No longer depends on: 75138
Blocks: 75138
Summary: [RFE] Mailnews should open links in new window by default (pref?) → [RFE] Mailnews should open links in new window by default
In 2001102708, clicking on a link in mail now does nothing! The M turns as if
something is happening, but no web page shows up in ANY open window. The only
thing that does work is to right click and select open in a new window.

I also would like this to always open in a new window because there seems to be
no control over where it gets opened otherwise. If I have a window with a chat
going, and open a new blank window, and give it focus, when the link click used
to work, it did not put it into the blank window.
In 2001102708, clicking on a link in mail now does nothing! The M turns as if
something is happening, but no web page shows up in ANY open window. The only
thing that does work is to right click and select open in a new window.

I also would like this to always open in a new window because there seems to be
no control over where it gets opened otherwise. If I have a window with a chat
going, and open a new blank window, and give it focus, when the link click used
to work, it did not put it into the blank window.


Are you using a recent build?  Your problem can be fixed by going to your
profile directory and deleting XUL.mfl, XUL.mf??l in unix (I forget what the ??
is).  This is a UI cache file that's supposed to but isn't being replaced
automatically.
That worked!
Deleting the xul.mfi file only worked once. The xul.mfi file is back and
clicking links in the mail messages say "loading" and then nothing ever appears
in a browser window. This is definitely a regression.
You can check if "fastload" feature is your problem by adding this line to prefs.js:
user_pref ("nglayout.debug.disable_xul_fastload", true);

besure to have Mozilla not active when doing this.
I also suggest going to preferences>debug>networking>disable XUL cache
and re-opening mailnews.
XUL cache was disabled!
user_pref ("nglayout.debug.disable_xul_fastload", true);

in prefs.js did not help either.
hello

here are two suggested solutions

-   http://www.eax.com/patches/mozilla-0.9.5.news-cruising.diff

   (it will revert to the old behavior from netscape 4.x)

-    http://www.eax.com/patches/mozilla-0.9.5.news-cruising-conf.diff

   (it will make it configurable option)

comments? 

note1: that the second patch is superset of first patch.

note2: i might do later some cosmetic changes like changing names of variables
to be more descriptive and/or changing labels, but that's probably about it

Adam, your patches are not relevant to this bug. This bug is about opening new
browser links, not when double clicking on message in the thread pane.

About your problem, I find the new mozilla behavios just fine, but it should not
activate on double click, but it should be in the context menu (4.x had an
option to disable double click for folder/thread pane, mozilla should too).
Summary: [RFE] Mailnews should open links in new window by default → [RFE] Mailnews should open http/ftp links in new browser window by default
This is probably related to bug 55894, copying my comment from there

I can see the bug 55894 on WinNT4 sp6 Mozilla 0.9.6. This is definitely a problem
because the web page is displayed instead of the message w/o any indication of
this state and any web toolbars.
It is possibly related to to bug 90992.

The behavior is exactly opposite to what I would expect:

- in the three pane view, the message should open in a new browser window/tab or
otionally (I mean configurable by an option :) in browser window tab that was
viewed first/last by the user. 

- in single message view I would expect the window to show the link in the same
window (exchanging the toolbars and menus) unless new window was explicitly
requested. ..there may be an issue with `back' button in this case.


Recent builds (e.g., the .9.6 release) have another problem. If the browser
window is minimized, and a link in a mail message is clicked, the window loads
but stays minimized. I think it should be restored. This is better than the
previous behaviour where the page was not loaded unless the right-click, open in
a new window option was used.
No longer blocks: 75138
Depends on: 75138
*** Bug 123698 has been marked as a duplicate of this bug. ***
*** Bug 131296 has been marked as a duplicate of this bug. ***
*** Bug 160234 has been marked as a duplicate of this bug. ***
In the 8/26 win2k build (and the 8/18 build), middle-clicking a mail/news link
or right-clicking and asking it to open in a new window opens the window, but
not the link. I.e., the window is blank!
Strange, my 8/26 build on Win98SE works fine when I right-click and select Open
in new Window.
*** Bug 165468 has been marked as a duplicate of this bug. ***
Is there any movement to have the links open in a separate browser like Chimera,
Opera or even Internet Explorer? On many platforms there are global settings
that should be used at least as an option if not as the default.
Yes, you could file a RFE asking for a "Open With Another Browser..." in the
right-click context menu of a link inside Mozilla Mail.
Paul Prescod: that's bug 108455.
Okay, so it is now 2003 and mozilla has grown quite a bit.  But it still
overwrites my current page be default if I click on a link in mailnews.  Isn't
it time to fix this behavior?  

It used to be that I could use middle click (which I have set to opening a link
in a new tab), and mailnews would open the link in a new window, but now it
opens the link in a new tab in (you guessed it) a random other window.  This
symptom of a beta class product has got to go; just make left clicks open links
in a new window.
The action performed by a middle click is being discussed in bug 180042.
Summary: [RFE] Mailnews should open http/ftp links in new browser window by default → Mailnews should open http/ftp links in new browser window by default
Its ok to ask this bug to block 1.5? Since Thunderbird it not going to be in
1.5, if this bug is fixed I will be able to launch MFirebird from MailNews. Thanks.
*** Bug 241512 has been marked as a duplicate of this bug. ***
Product: Browser → Seamonkey
Given that the Mozilla Foundation once intentionally posted a version which
loaded bookmark groups into the existing window/tab set, with no option to
choose another behaviour, I am concerned that this may not be seen as a bug, but
a feature.

So yeah, I'm panicking :-)

(I'm one of those who sets the default bookmark group preference to "Add tabs"
as soon as I configure a fresh installation.  The alternative is anathema!  :-) 

Quite obviously, this is all based on personal habits and working styles, but
ideally, I'd like to be able to choose whether Mozilla does one of four things
upon loading an EXTERNAL link on a PER APPLICATION basis (in order of preference): 
	a. load the first link in a new window and all subsequent links in tabs of that
new window, or
	b. load all links in new tabs in the frontmost window, or 
	c. just load all links in new windows (the previous default [not that I was
ever able to choose!] behaviour), or
	d. replace the last used window with the link's content (the current default).

As a web developer, I often have the need to reload a single page in the same
window over and over again, while working in BBEdit or another external text
editor.  This contrasts entirely with what I want to happen while surfing for
headlines with NetNewsWire.

My arguments for the "new window, then new tab per link" functionality are based
on how I (and, I suspect, many others) use RSS newsreaders and web-enabled PDF
documents etc.  I want to be able to load any number of articles from
headlines/links I've chosen and then switch to the browser to read them at my
leisure.  Previously, Mozilla would spawn a separate window per link, which
quite clearly negated the power of tabbed browsing, but at least I could easily
pick among them using OS X 10.3's lovely Exposé feature.

Currently, I can only load one at a time via clicked links.  Cool for web dev.,
as I've said, but choice is the key thing here.

If I could set up a list of applications (in Mozilla's Prefs) from whom links
were to be loaded in one specific fashion and have the rest of my apps conform
to another setting, then can Nirvana be far behind?

This has been around since 2000?!?!!
Flags: blocking-aviary1.1?
Flags: blocking-seamonkey1.0a?
Though it might be an interesting idea to change or pref that behavior, we'll
definately not be pushing out any release just because this RFE is not resolved.

If someone writes up a good patch for that and it gets through reviwes, we can
talk about including it.
Flags: blocking-seamonkey1.0a? → blocking-seamonkey1.0a-
Should this just be marked "WONTFIX" until such a time might arrive, then?
No, because that's not what WONTFIX means
<https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/page.cgi?id=fields.html#status>. Bug reports are
the wrong place to ask how to use Bugzilla; please get help from the proper
channels <http://www.mozilla.org/quality/help/> instead.
I have an email with a url at the end. 

Clicking it doesn't even open a browser now. 

It has a name, phone number, and then:

www.govconnection.com

without the http://


I'm not sure, but I thought I remembered that this worked before now.


Mozilla/5.0 (Windows; U; Windows NT 5.1; en-US; rv:1.8) Gecko/20051116 Firefox/1.5 ID:2005111603
browser.link.open_external is set to 2 by default now and MailNews was changed to be treated as an external app a while ago, so this is WFM now.
Status: NEW → RESOLVED
Closed: 16 years ago
Resolution: --- → WORKSFORME
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