nope, I prefer open in new tab by default

In general, it's better not to force an action onto users. You might prefer things opening in a new tab, but you always have that option. If it's forced on users, it is frustrating for those who would prefer that not to happen.

And yet we're here, discussing how a developer should change their own application because their preference is wrong

If you don't like it, adjust it for yourself with an extension or script.

Exactly. This is a design choice and there’s no right or wrong here.

Yes there is a right and wrong. The default browser behavior is the design that every user expects, so unless there is a very strong argument for a different way, this is the _right_ design.

the difference is that with tab-open default, there is no way for me to open the link in this window

with this-window default (or actually, the browser-default-default), I can middle click and it'll open in a new tab regardless

pretty funny to have this discussion though, takes me back to the HTML4 and XHTML days

XHTML ftw :)

> Exactly. This is a design choice and there’s no right or wrong here.

I don't agree. If your design choice forces a user flow that is surprising, awkward, and redundant then it's definitely the wrong choice. It's still a call to be made by the design team, though.

i mean, is a small user preferences page out of the question here? the majority of web users arent going to write a js extension.

You don't need to write one? Just write a ublock origin rule, use grease monkey or whatever is used nowadays.

Or just configure your browser to ignore the target param, eg browser.link.open_newwindow_restriction 0 in about:config

The fact I've gotten so many down votes for my previous comment really nails the point down how HN isn't really used by technical people anymore. It's mostly idiots with opinions.

Wrong again.

The idiots here are arguing to follow default, de-facto specifications and to give users an easy accessible choice.

That's a good user setting, but as opening in the same tab is the default browser behaviour then it should really stay that way. Opening in a new tab takes control away from the user.

This. Principle of least surprise.

Exactly. I prefer to open in the same page. If I want to open in new tab then I can always Ctrl + Click. I don't think I can do the reverse though.

Next they’ll be defending full screen div paywalls.

And people who prefer the other way can just hold down _____ while clicking to open it in the current tab instead.

Good ol' _____-clicking saves the day again!

only on a mac, and probably only on safari which leaves the majority of people in the lurch.

I was trying to sarcastically imply that no such same-tab-enabling key existed, and that this was therefore a bad suggestion. (Didn't know it does exist on Safari either!)

oh, sorry, your suggestion wasn't unrealistic enough to not be believable so my sarcasm detector failed.

i took ___ to mean the option key which has this symbol made up of lines: "⌥", it is also the key most likely to be used for such a feature, so i figured that's what you must be talking about.

if you weren't then the key most certainly doesn't exist on a mac either, and i apologize for the downvote. unfortunately it appears that i can't undo it anymore so i hope someone else will compensate with an upvote.

No worries :)

why the downvotes, I meant to demonstrate that I prefer the current behaviour so the site developer knows.

The downvoters meant to demonstrate that they prefer the standard/expected behavior and would like OP to ignore your opinion on the matter.

I didn't downvote, because the poster had a reasonable opinion stated politely, but I still really hope the OP ignores his opinion.

I like the new tab as well. Otherwise I will forget what I went to. My process is to go through an interesting site, like HN, and then be able to see these interesting sites after that.

I guess it depends on a persons web workflow though

The downvotes are because the discussion isn't really about "which option do users prefer". It's actually about returning user choice. As the original comment said: "If I want a separate tab, I can Cmd+click and Browsers don't have the reverse option for opening in the same window."

So when you say "Nope!", you're being downvoted because you're implicitly saying "actually users don't deserve choice".

Don't feel bad. I've been down-votted and banned into obscurity meerly for providing my opinion. Do as I did, get a gigantic list of all legislators and government officials, sent them a nice letter informing them of how HN's policies are rotten to the core. In my case I took screenshots, sent those too. When I post something such as now, only I can see it while logged in. When logged off, I can't see my posts. Will take pictures in both states, send those pictures to those legislators in my list :)

Sol Roth Annex HN

I too prefer that, but i don't want to force that choice on othet people.

CTRL+left click is ingrained in me now anyway.

100% agree. I had to install a browser extension when I use HN with such (vs app on android, when it does it by default), just to force open links to new tabs.

Have you considered middle clicking instead of leftclicking?

Ctrl+Click / Cmd+Click also opens in a new tab.

I do as well, but I think it's good practice to put something like in a user preference setting somewhere if you are going to stray from default browser/system behavior.

I'd rather have an icon next to the link that implies "Open in new Tab" like one of these with the arrow:

https://www.flaticon.com/free-icons/new-tab

> I'd rather have an icon next to the link that implies "Open in new Tab" like one of these with the arrow:

That is a valid option for detachable UI elements seen in desktop apps.

Opening links in a separate tab or window is not that thought. That is a first class user flow in web design.

Yeah, I get that some prefer it the other way around.

The HTML anchor should have a target="_self_or_blank_depending_on_what_the_user_has_configured" option.

Too bad it's so hard to submit a suggested blog.

Making it too easy invites spam.

Sending a single email seems like a good compromise to me.

I agree, that would be a good compromise and I would do it in a heartbeat, but that's NOT the procedure. More is required:

>Participating

>You log in with a Fediverse account (Mastodon, Pixelfed, GoToSocial, and others). If you don't have one, mastodon.social is free and takes two minutes.

For non-techies like me, Fediverse accounts and mastodon.social are non-starters.

Too bad.

A single email WOULD be great, as you point out.

Sign-in is only needed to interact with the site, like voting or hiding entries. If you want to suggest your own blog, just send a mail to [email protected] as described in the FAQ.

> For non-techies like me, Fediverse accounts and mastodon.social are non-starters.

For technical people these things should be non starters as well. It is a group of people who should be acutely aware of everything wrong with social media, and many are not.

viermalbe: Done! Thank you.

Here is the response from Bubbles:

From: Benjamin Behnke <[email protected]> Date: June 17, 2026 at 12:32:25 PM EDT To: [email protected] Subject: Re: I am submitting my blog for your consideration: https://bookofjoe2.blogspot.com/

Hi Joseph,

Thanks for reaching out. Your post frequency is too high to be listed on Bubbles. You are publishing 3 articles per day. To quote from the criteria listed in the FAQ: Moderate pace. Not more than one or two posts per day on average. Bubbles is for writers, not content machines. I hope you'll understand. Let me know if you plan to slow down :)

Cheers, Ben

Oh my.

Do you write a bunch of posts and the schedule them? You put out 3 posts every single day at exactly 0800, 1200 and 1600.

Yes. Just so. From 2004 to 2014 I published 8 (eight) posts daily, every day, one minute after the hour. They appeared at 8:01/9:01/10:01/11:01 am; 12:01/1:01/2:01/3:01 pm.

He says in a comment on hackernews.

Not even remotely close to the same...

https://www.penny-arcade.com/comic/2008/04/23/le-twittre

>For non-techies like me, Fediverse accounts and mastodon.social are non-starters.

You can literally sign up for a Mastodon account on mastodon.social or most other instances through the web like any other website. It's no more difficult than a Reddit account.

2 things:

1) Neither I nor most non-techies have a clue what an "instance" is.

2) Reddit banned me years ago for no reason I could think of.

1) literally millions of people, many of whom are non-techies, have figured it out, just like they figured out what "subreddits" were and what "tweets" were and the specific quirks of numerous other platforms.

2) yes the people who own servers get to decide what happens on them. That isn't a feature (or bug) of the fediverse its just the way networks work. But if you don't want to join an instance you can get one hosted on a service like masto.host (the one I use) for very little.

Is there some kind of process? I have a small website where I write articles, mainly about my programming language implementation.

Bubbles dev here, I've heard you loud and clear and follow the discussion closely.

I will change the default behaviour to open links in the same tab like on HN or Lobsters soon. But first the HN visitor wave needs to calm down.

So many comments debating the philosophy around this. I like it when these type of sites open a new tab for me. Is there a way to just code in a toggle between the two link opening types?

I like that in Kagi I can set this as an option.

Default, on the same tab (since browsers have options around this), but allow users to select if they want it on a new tab/window.

You can set a user preference to open in a new tab. The reverse is not true.

I don't think most browsers have such an option, doubly so on mobile. They just assume the user will open the link in the way they'd like.

Middle-click a link to open a new tab. I can't force a link to open in the same window but I can with new tabs.

Sometimes it's easier to follow a link, have a look, and then go back without jumping around tabs.

wow, always right clicked then clicked open in new tab. Middle click now saves me one click - thanks!

ctrl+click works too!

I always bind a side button on my gaming mice to ctrl+click so that my thumb can open links in a new tab. Slight ergonomic improvement for me.

If only mouse manufacturers would use middle click buttons that are designed for more than occasional use.

This is the type of thing I have to fight against daily. You already have both action available - left click or middle click. Don't bloat your software with band aids for problems that don't exist - just train your users better.

The reason it’s a debate is because both interfaces / flows are broken.

Back/forth, new tab, currently open tab switch, bookmark, needs to be redesigned from first principal. They all approximate different versions of similar intents.

Thanks for adding RSS! Bringing Bubbles (and HN) into NetNewsWire is a game-changer for content discovery and keeping a clean reading list.

Looks like a pretty good aggregation.

Kind of like a subset of what appears here but of course concentrated on blogs not other sources of news.

Looking at other comments some people are definitely going to prefer each link to open in its own tab.

One thing I see is because so many blogs are no different than a dead website for anybody using full security and privacy on their browser.

You wouldn't want your main page to turn into a dud every time somebody clicked on one of these dud blogs which are randomly scattered among the good links.

OTOH if you curated the blogs which are universal good links separately from the ones requiring the least bit of friction or compromise to security or privacy, that would be something I haven't seen anyone else do.

And it's needed now more than ever, plus the need's only going to increase.