Can I create links with 'target="_blank"' in Markdown?

Question

Is there a way to create a link in Markdown that opens in a new window? If not, what syntax do you recommend to do this? I'll add it to the markdown compiler I use. I think it should be an option.

Solution 1

As far as the Markdown syntax is concerned, if you want to get that detailed, you'll just have to use HTML.

<a href="http://example.com/" target="_blank">Hello, world!</a>

Most Markdown engines I've seen allow plain old HTML, just for situations like this where a generic text markup system just won't cut it. (The StackOverflow engine, for example.) They then run the entire output through an HTML whitelist filter, regardless, since even a Markdown-only document can easily contain XSS attacks. As such, if you or your users want to create _blank links, then they probably still can.

If that's a feature you're going to be using often, it might make sense to create your own syntax, but it's generally not a vital feature. If I want to launch that link in a new window, I'll ctrl-click it myself, thanks.

Solution 2

Kramdown supports it. It's compatible with standard Markdown syntax, but has many extensions, too. You would use it like this:

[link](url){:target="_blank"}

Solution 3

I don't think there is a markdown feature.

Though there may be other options available if you want to open links which point outside your own site automatically with JavaScript.

var links = document.links;

for (var i = 0, linksLength = links.length; i < linksLength; i++) {
   if (links[i].hostname != window.location.hostname) {
       links[i].target = '_blank';
   } 
}

jsFiddle.

If you're using jQuery it's a tad simpler...

$(document.links).filter(function() {
    return this.hostname != window.location.hostname;
}).attr('target', '_blank');

jsFiddle.

Solution 4

With Markdown v2.5.2, you can use this:

[link](URL){:target="_blank"}

Solution 5

So, it isn't quite true that you cannot add link attributes to a Markdown URL. To add attributes, check with the underlying markdown parser being used and what their extensions are.

In particular, pandoc has an extension to enable link_attributes, which allow markup in the link. e.g.

[Hello, world!](http://example.com/){target="_blank"}

• For those coming from R (e.g. using rmarkdown, bookdown, blogdown and so on), this is the syntax you want.
• For those not using R, you may need to enable the extension in the call to pandoc with +link_attributes

Note: This is different than the kramdown parser's support, which is one the accepted answers above. In particular, note that kramdown differs from pandoc since it requires a colon -- : -- at the start of the curly brackets -- {}, e.g.

[link](http://example.com){:hreflang="de"}

In particular:

# Pandoc
{ attribute1="value1" attribute2="value2"}

# Kramdown
{: attribute1="value1" attribute2="value2"}
 ^
 ^ Colon

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