I'm going to stick my neck out and make a suggestion to my fellow bloggers. Of course, feel free to ignore me entirely, but what I'm about to suggest is (hopefully) super simple on your part, and it could enhance your readers' experience on your blog - specifically, the difference in how links work affects those who read blogs on laptops, chromebooks, or PCs. Creating links either way described below doesn't appear to have any effect on how phone readers experience links. I'm curious about the experience of tablet users.
Disclaimer. I'm close to being the most amateur of amateurs when it comes to blogging. While I have personal preferences about all kinds of things, I am an expert at nothing. The suggestion I'm going to make here is simply born out of my personal experiences visiting various blogs and coming to some conclusions about what makes the whole thing a better experience for me as a reader and commentor on several different blogs.
Okay... here we go...
I have found when visiting blogs (on a laptop, chromebook or PC), links open two different ways:
1) Links open up into new (or separate) windows.
or
2) A link opens up to a new site, but in the same window.
The whole point of this post is to share why I find the experience of reading, clicking links, and leaving comments is easier with the first option above than the second one. And (I hope) to show how easy it is to create links described in the first option. And I hope in reading this post, you'll understand why this option is good for your blog. I wouldn't encourage anyone to do something that isn't to their benefit.
I promise you this is about the easiest thing you'll ever do on your blog (if you're not already doing it).
In fact, it's so easy I'm going to tell you right now how to do it, and will provide pictures and the explanation again below for anyone needing a visual. These instructions are only for Blogger bloggers. Other blogging platforms may have different ways to do this.
Okay...
Get ready for it.
Here it is: When you're creating a link on your blog, while you're still in that little pop-up window, simply check the little box beside the words "Open this link in a new window". Then press OK as normal. That's it!
Now read on if you want to know why I make the suggestion.
The first option above creates a new window and tab for the site linked to. Both windows remain fully open (the first blog, and the linked-to site) until their respective tabs are closed.
By clicking on this link, you'll see that the new page opens up under a new tab. If that isn't obvious, what tells you it's a new and separate page is that there is no bold back arrow at the top left-hand of the screen. To get back here, you'll need to click on the tab that has my blog's name on it. This page doesn't go anywhere, it stays open while the new page opens. Don't forget to come back!
The second option will open up a link in the same window (and under the same tab), making the original blog post disappear while the linked site takes up residence in the window. This option provides a back-arrow that allows one to toggle back and forth between the original blog post and the page that is linked to. By clicking on this link, you'll see what that looks like. Again, please come back! 😉
I'm thinking a lot of people probably don't make much of a distinction between the two options, but where I've found the distinction most important is when I'm leaving a comment, or when I don't want to loose track of a blog -- because invariably... when links open pages, keeping them under the same tab, I can start losing track of where I was originally. And if I click on links within links, soon I've completely lost track of the original site I was on (or any pages along the way) and eventually that can degrade my web surfing experience if there were things along the way that I didn't want to lose track of.
Are you interested in giving this a try? I can only explain how you can do this on Blogger, but hopefully other blogging platforms offer as simple a way to do this. It's easy - if it wasn't, I wouldn't even try to explain it.
To create links that open up into new windows (again, this is just for Blogger bloggers), click on the Link button at the top of your post. That will give you this little pop-up screen:
Zooming in closer (and I'm sorry for the picture quality), the pop-up looks like this:
By checking "Open this link in a new window", and then pressing OK as usual, the link you create will open up into a new window, under a new tab.
It's that simple - for me, anyway. Hopefully, all the Blogger templates offer this.
Here's the thing...
Though it's not really a thing...
It's just that the reader who doesn't care about this, simply doesn't care. ETA: The first comment below tells me that when accessing blogs on a smart phone a distinction between different types of links isn't apparent. So phone readers aren't affected by any of this. That's really helpful to know. But the great thing is that the reader who does care can have a better experience when links open up into their own window. And through no more effort on a blogger's part than clicking a little box while making a link!
How is the experience possibly better for some readers? Let me count the ways...
I often find I want to start writing a comment on someone's blog when reading something written early in their post. Then I go back to reading again and I come to a link, and I suddenly have a dilemma. Do I click the link, not knowing whether it will take me to a new page under the same tab, and risk losing the comment I had begun? Or do I just finish my comment and check out their links later? Or... maybe not check out their links at all?
Having to make a choice at this point means a couple of things may happen. I risk it, hoping the blogger has created a link that opens a new window (or tab). If so, I'll find when I click back on the tab that is still their blog that my comment is intact and I can pick up commenting where I left off.
OR, if their link opens to a new site that replaces their blog, when I toggle back to their blog (using the back-arrow), I find that my partial comment has disappeared. 😟
If this latter thing happens (and it often does), I now have two more choices: 1) I may tell myself I'll leave a comment later after I've checked out all their links, or 2) worse... I may decide leaving a comment just isn't worth it. The problem with the first choice is I often forget to go back and leave a comment on the blog that provided the link. Or if I've clicked on multiple links after leaving the first blog, depending on if it's a blogger I'm familiar with or not, I may completely lose track of their blog page and never find my way back.
To be clear, my suggestion of creating links that open up into new windows (under new tabs) doesn't eliminate the possibility that a reader may close the tab to my blog accidentally and I could become lost forever to them. But I've done what I can (something that costs me nothing at all) to make it easier for them to click on any number of links in my blog posts, peruse those links to their heart's content, possibly even fall into a rabbit hole heaven of links -- all the while my blog's tab sits there patiently, ready for them to "come back to mama" and maybe leave me a sweet comment. 😊
Now, all that said.. If you're a Blogger blogger and you've tried my suggestion and have a counter argument to doing it, I'm all ears.
And if, as a blog reader, you DON'T like new windows opening up, I'm curious about that, too. I, personally, don't experience any downside to it. If I find I have too many tabs open, it's simple enough to just close the ones I'm not using. As a blogger, the effort in creating links is identical for making links either of the two ways described above - i.e. there's no extra effort at all. But as a reader and commenter, the difference can be huge.
Be kind if you're going to argue or educate me. Like I said at the beginning of this post, I'm an amateur at blogging. It's been a hobby for 10+years, and I don't expect blogging to ever be anything different than that for me. But I am curious what your personal experience is, and if you have a preference. Did you even realize there is a preference to be had?
Disclaimer. I'm close to being the most amateur of amateurs when it comes to blogging. While I have personal preferences about all kinds of things, I am an expert at nothing. The suggestion I'm going to make here is simply born out of my personal experiences visiting various blogs and coming to some conclusions about what makes the whole thing a better experience for me as a reader and commentor on several different blogs.
Okay... here we go...
I have found when visiting blogs (on a laptop, chromebook or PC), links open two different ways:
1) Links open up into new (or separate) windows.
or
2) A link opens up to a new site, but in the same window.
The whole point of this post is to share why I find the experience of reading, clicking links, and leaving comments is easier with the first option above than the second one. And (I hope) to show how easy it is to create links described in the first option. And I hope in reading this post, you'll understand why this option is good for your blog. I wouldn't encourage anyone to do something that isn't to their benefit.
I promise you this is about the easiest thing you'll ever do on your blog (if you're not already doing it).
In fact, it's so easy I'm going to tell you right now how to do it, and will provide pictures and the explanation again below for anyone needing a visual. These instructions are only for Blogger bloggers. Other blogging platforms may have different ways to do this.
Okay...
Get ready for it.
Here it is: When you're creating a link on your blog, while you're still in that little pop-up window, simply check the little box beside the words "Open this link in a new window". Then press OK as normal. That's it!
Now read on if you want to know why I make the suggestion.
The first option above creates a new window and tab for the site linked to. Both windows remain fully open (the first blog, and the linked-to site) until their respective tabs are closed.
By clicking on this link, you'll see that the new page opens up under a new tab. If that isn't obvious, what tells you it's a new and separate page is that there is no bold back arrow at the top left-hand of the screen. To get back here, you'll need to click on the tab that has my blog's name on it. This page doesn't go anywhere, it stays open while the new page opens. Don't forget to come back!
The second option will open up a link in the same window (and under the same tab), making the original blog post disappear while the linked site takes up residence in the window. This option provides a back-arrow that allows one to toggle back and forth between the original blog post and the page that is linked to. By clicking on this link, you'll see what that looks like. Again, please come back! 😉
I'm thinking a lot of people probably don't make much of a distinction between the two options, but where I've found the distinction most important is when I'm leaving a comment, or when I don't want to loose track of a blog -- because invariably... when links open pages, keeping them under the same tab, I can start losing track of where I was originally. And if I click on links within links, soon I've completely lost track of the original site I was on (or any pages along the way) and eventually that can degrade my web surfing experience if there were things along the way that I didn't want to lose track of.
Are you interested in giving this a try? I can only explain how you can do this on Blogger, but hopefully other blogging platforms offer as simple a way to do this. It's easy - if it wasn't, I wouldn't even try to explain it.
To create links that open up into new windows (again, this is just for Blogger bloggers), click on the Link button at the top of your post. That will give you this little pop-up screen:
Zooming in closer (and I'm sorry for the picture quality), the pop-up looks like this:
By checking "Open this link in a new window", and then pressing OK as usual, the link you create will open up into a new window, under a new tab.
It's that simple - for me, anyway. Hopefully, all the Blogger templates offer this.
Here's the thing...
Though it's not really a thing...
It's just that the reader who doesn't care about this, simply doesn't care. ETA: The first comment below tells me that when accessing blogs on a smart phone a distinction between different types of links isn't apparent. So phone readers aren't affected by any of this. That's really helpful to know. But the great thing is that the reader who does care can have a better experience when links open up into their own window. And through no more effort on a blogger's part than clicking a little box while making a link!
How is the experience possibly better for some readers? Let me count the ways...
I often find I want to start writing a comment on someone's blog when reading something written early in their post. Then I go back to reading again and I come to a link, and I suddenly have a dilemma. Do I click the link, not knowing whether it will take me to a new page under the same tab, and risk losing the comment I had begun? Or do I just finish my comment and check out their links later? Or... maybe not check out their links at all?
Having to make a choice at this point means a couple of things may happen. I risk it, hoping the blogger has created a link that opens a new window (or tab). If so, I'll find when I click back on the tab that is still their blog that my comment is intact and I can pick up commenting where I left off.
OR, if their link opens to a new site that replaces their blog, when I toggle back to their blog (using the back-arrow), I find that my partial comment has disappeared. 😟
If this latter thing happens (and it often does), I now have two more choices: 1) I may tell myself I'll leave a comment later after I've checked out all their links, or 2) worse... I may decide leaving a comment just isn't worth it. The problem with the first choice is I often forget to go back and leave a comment on the blog that provided the link. Or if I've clicked on multiple links after leaving the first blog, depending on if it's a blogger I'm familiar with or not, I may completely lose track of their blog page and never find my way back.
To be clear, my suggestion of creating links that open up into new windows (under new tabs) doesn't eliminate the possibility that a reader may close the tab to my blog accidentally and I could become lost forever to them. But I've done what I can (something that costs me nothing at all) to make it easier for them to click on any number of links in my blog posts, peruse those links to their heart's content, possibly even fall into a rabbit hole heaven of links -- all the while my blog's tab sits there patiently, ready for them to "come back to mama" and maybe leave me a sweet comment. 😊
Now, all that said.. If you're a Blogger blogger and you've tried my suggestion and have a counter argument to doing it, I'm all ears.
And if, as a blog reader, you DON'T like new windows opening up, I'm curious about that, too. I, personally, don't experience any downside to it. If I find I have too many tabs open, it's simple enough to just close the ones I'm not using. As a blogger, the effort in creating links is identical for making links either of the two ways described above - i.e. there's no extra effort at all. But as a reader and commenter, the difference can be huge.
Be kind if you're going to argue or educate me. Like I said at the beginning of this post, I'm an amateur at blogging. It's been a hobby for 10+years, and I don't expect blogging to ever be anything different than that for me. But I am curious what your personal experience is, and if you have a preference. Did you even realize there is a preference to be had?
