Open External Links in a New Window By Default

[Matt Dujnic]

Hey, why can't you guys put aside your too-clever not-quite-good overhaul of the Issue Detail page and instead implement dead-easy fundamentally-simple no-downside how-was-this-not-there-from-day-one features like OPEN EXTERNAL LINKS IN A NEW TAB BY DEFAULT?

I am aware that this issue has been brought up and brushed-off before.  I'm just fighting the good fight by bringing it up again, because there are three types of jira users:

1. people who want this feature, 

2. people who want this feature but haven't told you directly yet,

3. and people who are shopping for new issue management systems because you haven't implemented his feature.

Thanks,

MJD

[Jessica Clark]

To get back to the problem at hand, all external links should be opened in a new tab by default. It's standard user experience.

Those of us who have to right-click / open in new window maybe be tolerant of it at first, but when you forget and have to duplicate the tab and go back in the original tab it gets extremely old after a while.

[Nic Brough -Adaptavist-]

You're missing the other types of user:

4.  People who actively don't want this feature 

5.  People who don't care about it 

6.  People who are perfectly happy to right-click -> open in new tab/window when they actively choose to do so

If you want to look at some numbers, you'll find that there are more type 5 users than the rest of the groups combined, and if you ignore them completely, then type 6 is the next largest group and still outnumbers all the others combined.

Note that I'm not "brushing aside" this feature, I'm just clearing up your misrepresentation of the users who might be impacted. 

Personally, I fall into groups 4 and 6 - I prefer to be able to control when a new window/tab is opened, so I would vote for not implementing this feature, and actively advocate getting rid of it if it were implemented, but that's just me

[Matt Dujnic]

Group 5 is most people, but that's not how systems are improved.

Group 6 represents the problem perfectly: it's an extra step.  The words "perfectly happy" are actually a meaningful synonym for "patiently tolerate."  People who are 'perfectly happy' to do something are not actually happy about it, they endure.  It is what it is.  Not a big deal.  They belong to group 5, in truth. 

You paint yourself as both Group 6 (which is actually 5) and Group 4.  But group 4 doesn't reeeeally exist.  I mean come on.  I can understand patiently enduring, but "yay the issue view disappeared" is literally moon-logic.

...

Also my tongue is firmly in cheek here, in my answer.  I'm having a bit of fun while also making a plea for a much needed change.  Nobody, from the CEO on down, has been able to convincingly argue that this behavior is a mistake.  If new-issue-view can summarily destroy our ability to comment-while-assigning, we are clearly dealing with people who have some gaps in their interface design sense.

[Nic Brough -Adaptavist-]

>Group 6 represents the problem perfectly: it's an extra step.  The words "perfectly happy" are actually a meaningful synonym for "patiently tolerate." 

No, it is not.  Group 6 are not "tolerating" anything.  They're happy with how it works now.  If you changed it, group 6 would merge in with group 4.

Group 6 is not the same as group 5, they're just group 5 people who've thought about it.

I can't find anyone who thinks this would be an improvement if it were forced on them, but I can find you hordes of people who would never turn it on if it were optional.

And yes, I know you're being a bit playful, I'm playing devil's advocate here partly.  It is based on my membership of group 6 though - I'm definitely not "tolerating" the way it works now, I absolutely do not want links to open in new tabs (by default).

[Matt Dujnic]

Opening external links in a new tab/window is standard web behavior.  Here are links to just two small factions of the 'horde.'  People have been asking for this for over a decade.  The atlassian approach to GUI is far from above reproach, and this stands as one of their silliest lines in the sand.

Cloud:

https://jira.atlassian.com/browse/JRACLOUD-9380

Server:

https://jira.atlassian.com/browse/JRASERVER-9380

Changing seemingly small things can have unintended consequences, but they've just upended the entire Issue View in one fell swoop - their opportunity to reconsider this misjudgement is nigh.

[Nic Brough -Adaptavist-]

You've also got the problem that if you are going to do it, you absolutely must display the fact you are going to do it under or next to the link (not just in a tooltip), which means even more text on what most people already think is a cluttered screen.

[Matt Dujnic]

Nonsense.  Does Gmail display new-window icons next to all of the embedded links in its webmail?  Of course not.  Because of course those links open in new windows.  Jira is the exact same thing.  Jira is a tool, like Gmail.  And you don't want to 'lose' your tool while working.  New windows are correct-function for a tool when negotiating links that lead out of the tool.

And let's not even get into how cluttered JIRA links already are.  The new-issue-view is rotten with obnoxious meta accreted around the links.  That ship has sailed.

MJD

p.s. this discussion is the most fun I've had with Jira in years.

[Nic Brough -Adaptavist-]

Yes, I know, and that's one of the reasons I never use gmail's web interface, it doesn't warn me it's going to do something bad and, well, it does something bad without me asking it to.