Jetpack Submenu Icons Don't Open New Window

[sdixon194]

Impacted plugin

Jetpack

What

When looking at the Jetpack Submenu items that indicate a new window will be opened, they don't actually open a new window.

How

Surfaced during internal testing: p8oabR-1jo-p2#comment-7542

Some submenu items like Subscribers and Scan don't open the window in a new tab. I believe we're using this indicator because the link goes outside of the WP Site (to cloud.jetpack.com in the case of Scan), but it opens in the same time.

[danjjohnson]

This seems related enough to add here, but let me know if a new issue is preferred.

Same thing happens if you go to My Jetpack, and click on Manage:

The transfer ownership link has a 'new window' icon, but it opens in the same window.

Ref: p1698052981757229-slack-CDLH4C1UZ

[keoshi]

Related: https://github.com/Automattic/jetpack-scan-team/issues/792

Also on P2: p1HpG7-qtT-p2

[github-actions[bot]]

Support References

This comment is automatically generated. Please do not edit it.

• [ ] p8oabR-1jo-p2#comment-7542
• [ ] pekYwv-4Jd-p2#comment-4304

[github-actions[bot]]

This issue has been marked as stale. This happened because:

• It has been inactive for the past 6 months.
• It hasn’t been labeled `[Pri] BLOCKER`, `[Pri] High`, `[Type] Feature Request`, `[Type] Enhancement`, `[Type] Janitorial`, `Good For Community`, `[Type] Good First Bug`, etc.

No further action is needed. But it's worth checking if this ticket has clear reproduction steps and it is still reproducible. Feel free to close this issue if you think it's not valid anymore — if you do, please add a brief explanation.

[davemart-in]

If a link points to a site within our trusted network (Calypso, wp-admin, Jetpack, A4A) we should not be showing these icons.

[keoshi]

@davemart-in Would you mind sharing the reasoning behind that opinion?

[davemart-in]

We did a full audit of external links and came up with these rules as a result of our observations:

• The external link icon signifies a link will open a new tab. external link
• We should consider all links within our system (Calypso, wp-admin, Jetpack) internal links.
• All links outside of our system should open in a new tab. (YouTube, Fiverr, etc.)
• If linking to a support page, we should open the Help Center; no external link icon is necessary.
• When in doubt, if Automattic owns the property, open the link in _self; no external link icon is necessary.

Here are a few links with additional context:

• pe7F0s-23W-p2
• pekYwv-4Jd-p2

[keoshi]

Thanks @davemart-in, will add a comment of the latest post.

[keoshi]

Left a comment here: pekYwv-4Jd-p2#comment-4304

[Initsogar]

The external icon for these links is intended to warn users that the link will take them to a different external website or domain. Opening new links in a new window or tab is generally considered a bad practice because it can confuse users, disrupt their navigation flow, and lead to accessibility issues (NNG Group article on new windows and tabs). Additionally, this behavior cannot be controlled in WordPress Core. Thanks, @keoshi, for the clarifications!

I will proceed with closing this issue as ‘Won’t Fix.’ However, we can continue the discussion in this thread (pekYwv-4Jd-p2#comment-4304) if necessary.

Slack thread related: p1734557614283089-slack-C0D96691V