If you click on "Release notes" it will take you to the release notes for the module listed. It also navigates away from the site, instead of opening in a new tab.

How to replicate: When viewing Available updates at /admin/reports/updates/update , if you have any updates it will be listed as

Module_Name 7.x-1.11 7.x-1.12 (Release notes)

Proposed solution: Make the link target="_blank" by default

Comments

WebWalker3D created an issue. See original summary.

cilefen’s picture

cilefen CreditAttribution: cilefen commented
Category: Bug report » Task

Please check if this is an issue with Drupal 8. If so, it must be fixed there first according to the backport policy. If it is, move it to branch 8.0.x-dev and tag it “Needs backport to D7”. There may also be an existing Drupal 8 issue. Try to find it. If one exists, tag it “Needs backport to D7”. If it is open, offer a patch. If its status is “Fixed”, make its status “Patch (to be ported)”, move it to version 7.x-dev and upload your latest patch if one exists.

andrewmacpherson’s picture

andrewmacpherson CreditAttribution: andrewmacpherson as a volunteer commented
Version: 7.41 » 9.1.x-dev
Status: Active » Closed (works as designed)
Related issues: +#2702881: [policy, no patch] Formalize how external links are handled in core

There's no good reason to force these links to open in a new window/tab.

It's strongly preferable to let the user decide whether they want to open the link in a new window/tab, or the current window. Using target="_blank" removes this choice from the user, and prevents the user from returning to the previous page by using the browser's "backwards" function. It isn't possible for users to override target="_blank" specified by a web page.

Use of target="_blank" is extremely confusing and disruptive for several groups of users. The relevant WCAG success criterion is 3.2.5 Change On Request. The release notes links currently satisfy this success criterion.