No way to open links in current tab, unexpected click behavior

[toastal]

Problem

By default most browsers when hyperlinks are clicked, open links in the current tab and current window. To open in a new tab, I have the option of

• middle click
• Ctrl + left click
• right click / tap hold and selecting "Open Link in New Tab" from the context menu

When target="_blank" is used, the above still all work, but there is no way to get the default behavior of opening in the current tab. This breaks the my user agent's default and was unexpected.

Real world experience: I had middle-clicked a number of feed items to open them in new tabs of articles I was interested in reading. After reading their summary (full article not publish to the feed), I attempted to click the "External link" to load the full article in this tab, but a new tab was opened despite specifically not wanting this behavior.

Real world experience 2: I was reading a full article in the same manner as above from a new tab, but when I clicked a link inside the full article, I was unexpected taken to new tab. Had I read the article on the original site, this new tab behavior wouldn't have happened clicking the exact same link.

Suggested fix

Remove basically every target="_blank" on hyperlinks to restore the browser's default behavior. If you wanted to be fancy, this could be a user preference, but the default behavior should be to leave links alone. An alternative (or in tandem), robust approach may be to use JavaScript and track if the user is listening to a cast or other media & only then do you open links in a new tab by default to not interrupt the user's playback (I don't know the metrics of how popular this is versus users that read articles a majority of the time; could be tied in with #1843, especially if it becomes global/has a queue).

Possible exceptions:

• the links inside the Settings page. Since the settings require the form submit to update (not <input onchange> or similar), you may not want a users settings edits to be reset.

More info

https://css-tricks.com/use-target_blank/ (tl;dr: basically don't ever use it unless a user is editing text or playing multimedia content) (also note: clicking the link inside of this Microsoft GitHub issue did not open in a new tab by default)

[Exagone313]

In the mean time, you can use an extension to remove target attributes on links. I had to install one since many apps do not respect my choices.

[sylph520]

Any progress here, I think it would be great that we can set these things in the settings part. e.g., I can configure to click a item in the feeds to open the item in a new tab. Hope the dev could consider these behavior customizations. Thanks in advances.

[fguillot]

@toastal I understand your point but target="_blank" exists in Miniflux since 2013. Completely eliminating it could potentially resolve this issue, but it would disrupt the workflow of users who have relied on this behavior for years.

Whenever a default behavior is altered in Miniflux, I consistently receive numerous complaints from users who feel their workflow has been disrupted. Typically, individuals advocate for making it configurable to accommodate personal preferences, inadvertently adding complexity to the software.

If a contributor wants to implement this change, it should be done in a way that makes everyone happy.

Relevant XKCD: https://xkcd.com/1172/

[toastal]

Does it disrupt a workflow really tho? An inconvenience to some maybe, but there’s a difference here in that the user has several (listed) ways to open in a new tab with the (expected) default behavior using the current tab behavior can’t be accessed--at least not without modifying source code or building a user script in TamperMonkey or similar to remove the attribute. Would it be cool to have target=_blank be configurable? Possibly, especially if it’s not tough to test, however, even if it is a decade-old ‘bug’ in the project, that doesn’t change that the browsers are even older & have had their default behavior even longer (with me running into situations where not following defaults lead to an unsolvable problem due to tab-opnening autonomy being entirely removed from Miniflux’s users).

[listiges-kaenguru]

Am I on the right path? I need help from this point.

[toastal]

I left some comments, but I’m not a Go developer in any sense… just trying to help.

[listiges-kaenguru]

Same here. First contact with Go. Thank you, I will have a look, later.

[listiges-kaenguru]

Sorry, I don´t know how to proceed. No time, no ideas.

Anybody willing to use my commit? Otherwise I will delete it.

[ldexterldesign]

Please respect default link behaviour and open all links in the same window, any non-default behaviour should be optionally configurable

I’m a mobile website user

It’s annoying to have to tidy up 50 superfluous new, then old, tabs after a feed session. Frankly now I’m aware of this (previously thought it was a browser quirk but angry to discover this horrific UX decision) if it doesn’t change I will look for a new feed reader; it’s that important. I borderline have RSI from this.

I can’t simply use native mobile browser page swiping gestures because, instead, I must click around to find the original Miniflux tab/window again after reading articles

Did someone suggest using browser extensions to fix this issue 🤣

Regards

[fguillot]

It’s annoying to have to tidy up 50 superfluous new, then old, tabs after a feed session. Frankly now I’m aware of this (previously thought it was a browser quirk but angry to discover this horrific UX decision) if it doesn’t change I will look for a new feed reader; it’s that important. I borderline have RSI from this.

There is no need to use such an aggressive and disrespectful tone. Miniflux is a free and open-source software that relies on community contributions and collaboration to enhance the application. Contributors work on this software voluntarily in their free time, focusing on the areas and features they find personally valuable. As mentioned earlier in this thread, contributions to make this behavior configurable are welcome.