Hi,

Technically the target attribute is not valid in Xhtml and Html 5. So I think what is happening is that the wysiwyg editor is enforcing valid markup but for some reason they still show the option in the link dialog for this attribute.

The w3c removed this attribute for accessibility/usability reasons, the intention being that users should always be in control and web sites should not open new windows, but leave it under the control of the user whether they want to open a link in a new window. All modern browsers support the ability for users to open a link in a new tab or window, by right clicking or mouse wheel clicking.

In general I agree with the reasoning of the w3c on this but unfortunately a lot of people don't know how to use their web browsers efficiently and have been conditioned by the many sites that do open links in new windows into expecting it to be done for them in some cases. But by doing it we only continue to add to the problem.

My advice would be to not open links in new windows automatically and train users how to open links in a new window themselves, but if a customer insists on it I would implement something in javascript to do it and add it in the master page.

Something like this should do the trick and make all external links open in a new window.

<script type="text/javascript">
$(document).ready(function() {
  $("a[@href^=http]").each(
    function(){
     if(this.href.indexOf(location.hostname) == -1) {
        $(this).attr('target', '_blank');
      }
    }
  )
});
</script>

So, it really isn't a bug per se, other than the editors should probably not show the option for the target since it is not valid. Note however that by adding the target from javascript we are still making the page invalid and it will show as invalid if checked against the w3c validator.

Hope that helps,

Joe