When should a link open in a new window?

[kajohnson]

I'm doing research for my master's degree on links opening in new windows. I'm interested in getting feedback from coders/programmers on a couple of things:

* What types of links do you choose to open in a new window? (e.g., new URL; shift from web site to application, etc.)

* What is the rationale you use to make that determination? (e.g., don't want user to leave the site; new content is supplemental, etc.)

As much detail as you can reasonably supply would be great. You can also post a private message to me.

~ Kris Johnson

[NogDog]

To date, the only rationale I've encountered for opening a link in a new window is to display help information while in the midst of a form sequence (e.g.: in the middle of an e-commerce checkout form sequence, and the user clicks on a help link to show additional info about some aspect of the checkout process). Even then, it's not strictly necessary, as session data can be stored with the current process status, and the new window could have a "Return to Checkout" (or whatever) button that would take you back to whatever you were doing (as could simply hitting the Back button on the browser).

The whole concept of "not wanting the user to leave your site" as the only reason for a new window is fallacious, in my opinion; as the annoyance of unnecessary new windows may, in fact, have the reverse effect and drive users away from the site.

[skilled1]

Only things i believe you should populate in a new window are Files [eg. *.pdf/*.doc/*.txt] Graphics taht are too large to be shown correctly [eg. how internet explorer auto resizes images to fit the browser], links to pages that do not support <frame> or <iframe> such as fidelity.com where it takes over the browser, and finally when used in foot-notes in papers/published sites.