678807 - Provide option for ignoring »target="_blank"«

Status: NEW

(Firefox :: Settings UI, enhancement)

Description

[Nicolas Barbulesco]

Hello,
In the dark years, Web authors started putting a
target="_blank" attribute to links so that they open in a new
window. "Opening links" were invented.
This non-standard trick is generally obeyed by browsers.
Now time has come. With modern browsers, the user is back in
control.
Where to open the link should be decided by the user and her ally,
the browser. Not by the page author.
In Firefox:
Opening links appear exactly like normal links.
I wanted to follow a link, not knowing that it was a wicked opening link.
I clicked on this link, and it opened in a jumping new tab.
This is irritating. I did want to open the link in my current tab.
I have several ways to open it in a new tab when I want to.
I must decide, not the page.
So, please provide, as an overt option at least, a setting that makes
opening links open like normal links, that is: where the user
wants: in the current tab when the user simply clicks on them.
Some other Web browser(s) do provide such a setting as an option.
Thanks.
Nicolas

Comment 1

[Vlad [QA]]

This is not a bug, but an enhancement.
Setting resolution to NEW.

Comment 2

[Gingerbread Man]

1. Type about:config into the address bar and press Enter.
2. To bypass the warning, press the big button labeled “I'll be careful, I promise!”.
3. In the search box, paste browser.link.open_newwindow
4. In the search results, double-click browser.link.open_newwindow and set its value to 1

Reference:
https://hg.mozilla.org/releases/mozilla-release/annotate/784a4c059370/browser/app/profile/firefox.js#l431

Comment 3

[Nicolas Barbulesco]

(In reply to Gingerbread Man from comment #2)

> In the search results, double-click browser.link.open_newwindow and set
> its value to 1

Thank you. 
But I think that this has the ugly side-effect of stealing the active tab of an existing Firefox window when Firefox opens a page from another app (external links...). I certainly don't wan't that. 
For me, the ideal behaviour would be: 
 - Firefox opens the links from Firefox in the current tab. 
 - When another asks Firefox to open a page, Firefox opens the page in a new window.

Comment 4

[Gingerbread Man]

(In reply to Nicolas Barbulesco from comment #3)
> For me, the ideal behaviour would be: 

Bug 856092, comment 7