Can I Create Links that Open in New Tabs with Markdown?

Hyperlink: A hyperlink, also known as a link, is an element in a web page that, when clicked, directs the user to another web page, a file, or another location on the same page. It's essentially a clickable piece of text or image.

HTML: HTML (HyperText Markup Language) is the code that makes up most web pages. It defines the structure and content of a webpage and includes elements like headings, paragraphs, images, and, of course, hyperlinks.

The Question:

The question asks if you can create links in Markdown that open in a new tab, similar to how you can with HTML using the target="_blank" attribute in the <a> tag for links.

The Answer:

Standard Markdown itself doesn't have a built-in way to specify how links open. However, some rendering applications that process Markdown might allow extensions or specific syntax to achieve this. There are two common approaches:

[Visit our website](URL example page){:target="_blank"}

Explanation:

• [Visit our website] is the text that will be displayed as the link.
• (URL example page) is the actual URL of the webpage the link points to. You can replace "URL example page" with the actual URL you want to link to.
• {:target="_blank"} is the GFM extension that specifies the link should open in a new tab or window (depending on the browser settings).

Inline HTML:

<a href="URL example page" target="_blank">Visit our website</a>

• <a> is the HTML tag that defines a hyperlink.
• href="URL example page" is the attribute specifying the URL of the linked webpage.
• target="_blank" is the HTML attribute that tells the browser to open the link in a new tab or window.
• Visit our website is the text displayed as the clickable link.

Important Note:

• The first example using GFM extensions only works if the Markdown processor you're using supports GFM and its extensions like target="_blank".
• The second example using inline HTML works in any Markdown processor but breaks the pure Markdown format by including HTML code.

Visit our website https://example.com/ (opens in a new tab)

This approach relies on the user understanding the hint and using their keyboard shortcut (usually Ctrl+click or Cmd+click) to open the link in a new tab.