IE11 not opening in new tab/window

[dave]

It was just brought to my attention that links I have set to open in a new window, are not doing so in IE 11. Yes, I’m aware that IE 11 is old and outdated. But, it is also still very heavily used by the healthcare industry due to some legacy programs that require it. So, that said, is there something I can do to force these windows to open in a new tab? You can see it in action here: South Carolina Imaging) >> hover over Physician’s Access and then select NetView or iConnect Access.

[willwood (William Woodgate)]

If this was a project file you updated from an older version of RapidWeaver, then unfortunately RapidWeaver 8 could have deleted all the target="_blank" attributes. It will not let you add them back in again using the Open in new window checkbox. It’s a longstanding bug in RapidWeaver 8, which has been reported many times, but with no response from Realmac.

Deleting the page and adding it again may bring back your missing target="_blank" attributes.

Somewhere on this forum, I also shared some Javascript code that can detect outgoing website links and automatically make them open in new tabs / browser windows, which has definitely worked for some people.

[willwood (William Woodgate)]

More discussions on the same topic:

Links open in new browser window

In RW-8 - I just noticed that numerous links (for brochures etc) on my website are opening in a “New Browser Window” Even though I have them set not to do so… If links leave my website I typically set those to open in a new window. Brochures and the like I set NOT TO open in a new window… *Checking OR Not Checking the “Open in New Window” box has no effect…? Any ideas?

Links open in new browser window (cont.)

i just read this topic: Links open in new browser window and i have the same problem since updgrading to rw8. i use the theme “media” (one very old and one very new) from themeflood. all my links (normal text-links) are set to open in the same window. for years. when i look they are still set to open in the same window. but they don’t. they open in a new window. my solution up to now is to click on the link and set it to “open in new window” and after that deselect that checkbox again. then …

This bug has been around since at least 2019, but never acknowledged or fixed

[Fuellemann (Jan Fuellemann)]

@dan will this be fixed in RW9?

[teefers (Doug Bennett)]

@dave ,

Unless you changed something since posting here, Looks like both iConnect and NetView have the target="_blank" attribute.

I have nothing to test IE11 with.

Microsoft is ending support for IE11 next year. They are recommending switching the Edge and using IE Mode:

Customers are encouraged to move to Microsoft Edge, which provides support for legacy and modern websites and apps. For organizations with a dependency on legacy Internet Explorer-based sites and apps, sites will need to be configured to open in Microsoft Edge using Internet Explorer (IE) mode.
Microsoft Documentation

[dave]

Well, a little more testing shows that it’s actually the stack that seems to be the issue. I’m using @YuzoolSupport’s Navigation stack (I can’t remember why, but this one is slightly modified from years ago and is in a partial…but the latest version from Yuzool and not in a partial acts the same way - I just tested it).

I dropped Gator into a test page and it works as it is supposed to in IE 11. If you have IE 11, you can test it here (password, to keep Google from indexing the page, is SCDIAG). Enter the passcode to login

[dave]

Indeed - for my new site(s), which will go live soon, I’ll use @willwood’s Gator instead. It works as it’s supposed to.

[willwood (William Woodgate)]

For the record, when I looked at the provided website in Firefox 89, all the menu links were missing target="_blank" attributes in the source code.

That’s what’s normally required to make links open in a new window. And none of the links were opening in new windows for me, when I tried them.

Reading further into the matter, it seems like the links might be generated or influenced by a third party Yozoo stack? So we could perhaps assume that there’s another layer of functionality at play, like with Javascript?

So that could go some way towards explaining why this was working in some web browsers, but not others. Perhaps IE11 and Firefox were having problems with the code being used in this older stack?

My Gator stack can use links from different sources. If you opt to use the navigation links that RapidWeaver generates, then any links that you mark to open in a new window (within the RapidWeaver Page Inspector) should do exactly that.

But again, there have been bugs relating to project files updated from RapidWeaver 7 to RapidWeaver 8, whereby all the target="_blank" attributes on links vanished, and would not return without first deleting the page and then re-adding it again.

[dave]

@willwood

But again, there have been bugs relating to project files updated from RapidWeaver 7 to RapidWeaver 8, whereby all the target="_blank" attributes on links vanished, and would not return without first deleting the page and then re-adding it again.

Thanks, Will. I did that as well. I not only deleted the pages and added them back, but I also changed the folder names (on the site under development) to be 100% positive that nothing cached was preventing IE11 from opening in a new tab. That did not solve the issue. I’d suggest that the Navigation (the Stack) menu JavaScript is intercepting the link and messing with it somehow. Problem solved by switching to Gator.