Do you mean click on " 1000 High St Unit 302, Bellingham, WA 98225 " ?

From what I can see, it's a normal link that just opens in the same tab. By that I mean, it is not coded by the page to launch a new window. If the link was coded to launch a new window, Firefox should jump in and divert it from a new window to a new tab instead. Does that distinction make sense?

If you want normal links to open in a new tab, you can do that manually by either:

• hold down Ctrl when clicking the link
• middle-click the link with a mouse scroll wheel or middle button
• right-click > Open Link in New Tab

To make it automatic, you would need an add-on like Tab Mix Plus.

jscher2000 said

Do you mean click on " 1000 High St Unit 302, Bellingham, WA 98225 " ? Yes From what I can see, it's a normal link that just opens in the same tab. By that I mean, it is not coded by the page to launch a new window. If the link was coded to launch a new window, Firefox should jump in and divert it from a new window to a new tab instead. Does that distinction make sense? Yes. My mistake. I meant to ctrl-click the link. In which case it should open in a new tab in the background. Instead it opens in a new tab in foreground. To make it automatic, you would need an add-on like Tab Mix Plus. Thanks for the referral. I'll give this extension a try. Would still like to solve original problem, however. I suspect it may be a bug in firefox.

There are actually three different preferences, so let me describe them all:

(1) In a new tab, type or paste about:config in the address bar and press Enter/Return. Click the button promising to be careful.

(2) In the search box above the list, type or paste TABS.L and pause while the list is filtered

• browser.tabs.loadBookmarksInBackground
  • false: when you Ctrl+click a bookmark, Firefox loads it in a new tab and activates the tab immediately (default)
  • true: when you Ctrl+click a bookmark, Firefox opens it in a new tab in the background (the current tab remains the active tab)

• browser.tabs.loadDivertedInBackground
  • false: when you click a link coded to load in a new window, and Firefox diverts it to a new tab instead, Firefox activates that tab immediately (default)
  • true: when you click a link coded to load in a new window, and Firefox diverts it to a new tab instead, that tab opens it in the background and the current tab remains the active tab

• browser.tabs.loadInBackground
  • false: when you Ctrl+click a link, Firefox loads it in a new tab and activates the tab immediately
  • true: when you Ctrl+click a link, Firefox opens it in a new tab in the background (the current tab remains the active tab) (default)

Note: Sometimes when you Ctrl+click a link, a script in the page intercepts the click and launches the link in a new window. In that case, Firefox follows the behavior for a diverted link.

Oops, I use NoScript, and I hadn't unblocked enough scripts. Now I see there is a script that intercepts clicks on links and launches them using the JavaScript window.open() command. Firefox diverts that to a tab instead and focuses the tab. So it's the situation I mentioned in the "Note" at the end of my previous post.

The other two methods of launching a link in a new tab are not intercepted by the script:

• click with a scroll wheel or middle mouse button
• right-click > Open Link in New Tab

jscher2000 said

* browser.tabs.loadDivertedInBackground

Thanks. This took care of it. The link now loads in background :-)

A minor failing is that ctrl-shift-click does not override the background behavior, and shift focus to the new tab. Maybe there's another key for override?

I have made a note of "about:config" - I started using Firefox yesterday. So thanks! There are loads more settings here that I'm sure will be of use. Is there a guide to them anywhere? I don't relish figuring them all out by trial and error!

oonets said

jscher2000 said

* browser.tabs.loadDivertedInBackground

Thanks. This took care of it. The link now loads in background :-)

A minor failing is that ctrl-shift-click does not override the background behavior, and shift focus to the new tab. Maybe there's another key for override?

Hmm, I'm not aware of any override for loading in the background, but admittedly I have never searched for one.

I have made a note of "about:config" - I started using Firefox yesterday. So thanks! There are loads more settings here that I'm sure will be of use. Is there a guide to them anywhere? I don't relish figuring them all out by trial and error!

There's not a guide to all the preferences, but the independent MozillaZine site has knowledge base articles for many of them. They pop right up in a Google search for that preference name.

You also can view many preferences in the source code; this is the largest preferences file, but there may be some platform specific ones as well: https://dxr.mozilla.org/mozilla-release/source/modules/libpref/init/all.js

But... usually it's most efficient to search for the problem first rather than the expected solution.

Thank you :-)

I tried about:config settings and Tab Mix Plus. Also tried "Open Link in New Tab" and one other extension. Turns out, these provide only a partial solution. For example, go to https://www.washingtonpost.com and click on any article. Then scroll down to the list of three suggested articles just above the comments. Click on any one. It always loads up in the same tab. Selecting "Open Link in New Tab" in the context menu works as expected.