How To Make All Webpage Links Open In A New Tab And External Links Always Open In A New Tab

When designing a website, it's often beneficial to control how links behave when users click on them. One common requirement is to make all webpage links open in a new tab while ensuring that external links always open in a new tab. This can improve user experience and keep visitors engaged with your content. In this article, we'll explore how to achieve this using JavaScript.

Understanding the Goal

The goal is to modify the behavior of links (<a> tags) on a webpage so that:

1. All links to other pages on the same website (internal links) open in a new tab.
2. All links to external websites (external links) also open in a new tab.

Implementation Steps

To implement this functionality, we'll use JavaScript. Here's a step-by-step guide:

Step 1: Add the JavaScript Code

Add the following JavaScript code to your website. Place it just before the closing </body> tag or in your site-wide JavaScript file.

<script>
    document.addEventListener('DOMContentLoaded', function() {
        var links = document.querySelectorAll('a');
        links.forEach(function(link) {
            if (link.hostname != window.location.hostname) {
                link.setAttribute('target', '_blank');
            } else {
                link.setAttribute('target', '_blank');
            }
        });
    });
</script>

Step 2: Explanation of the Code

• We use document.querySelectorAll('a') to select all <a> (link) elements on the page.
• We loop through each link using forEach.
• For each link, we check if the hostname of the link is different from the current page's hostname. If it is, we set the target attribute of the link to _blank, which opens the link in a new tab.
• If the hostname is the same, we still set the target attribute to _blank, ensuring that all links, including those on the same domain, open in a new tab.

Step 3: Testing

After adding the code, test your website to ensure that all internal links open in a new tab and external links open in a new tab as well.

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Conclusion

By implementing this JavaScript code, you can ensure that all webpage links open in a new tab and external links always open in a new tab. This can help improve user experience and keep visitors engaged with your content.