The functionality of using the middle mouse button to open a new window is very useful, and currently works about as well in Mozilla as in NN4. I'd like to propose improving this functionality by making it function as much as possible like the left mouse button, except for the window target behavior. For example, it's common for help links to contain Javascript code that will pop up a new window instead of replacing the content in the current window. Not knowing this, a user may use the middle mouse button to preserve the original window, and find that a new window has been created with a nonworking Javascript code block as the "location", when left-clicking the link would have actually done exactly what the user actually wanted in this example. Similarly, there's no reason why the middle button shouldn't work on form submission buttons to bring up the results in a new window while leaving the original window intact. Similarly, the middle mouse button should work on the personal toolbar just like the left mouse button -- except that the content should open in a new window. My suggestion would be something akin to a "copy-on-write" feature in a virtual memory system. Have the middle mouse button do whatever the left mouse button would have done, but flag the contents of the window first -- if anything tries to replace those contents with a new page, force that new content into a new window, otherwise do everything else the same. (For cases where the content is modified rather than replaced, allow the modification to take place -- a form submission button should open the results in a new window, but it's okay for the form reset button to reset the fields with either mouse button.) I realize this might not be trivial, which is why I marked it [RFE], but what does everyone think of the concept?

Adding dependencies.

Changing summary to include ctrl+click, which is the other way to open links in new windows in Mozilla.

updating to new owner. sorry for the spam.

This should depend on bug 33761 ([RFE] Middle click to open in new window should work in bookmark pulldown menu). I also just filed bug 75731 ([RFE] Middle click to open in new window should work on back and forward buttons).

Methinks there should be a standard binding for items-which-act-as-links. These include bookmarks in the sidebar or the Bookmarks Bar (but not in the Bookmarks Manager), history items in the sidebar (but not in the History window), and (maybe) the Back, Forward, Reload, Home, and Search buttons. This binding would do the following: (1) set up the middle mouse button to open the item in a new window; (2) set up the keyboard modifiers -- Control+click, Alt+click, etc, to do the expected things; (3) set up a default context menu with `Open', `Open in New Window', `Save Link Target', `Copy Link Address', etc (different opions for mailto: links, obviously); (4) set up drag-and-drop so that the item can be dragged to your file manager. Obviously (3) and (4) wouldn't apply to the toolbar buttons (otherwise they interfere with normal button behavior and with toolbar customization). But (1) and (2) would. I think Blake has a bug for something like this already.

Adding dependacy on bug 97032 which deals with middle mouse clicks and mailto: links.

Adding the similar bug 102380, which deals with middle-clicking on links that result in a download window appearing. (Note that with mailto:, the extra browser window should never be opened, but with .zip files served through http, the browser window has to be created and then destroyed.)

Now that mozilla has tabbed browsing I'd really want to see a pref for middle mouse button to open link in new tab instead of new window. This should probably be on the same page as wheel configuration. Page name should be mouse settings of something like that instead of "Mouse Wheel". I fully agree that middle button for open in new window/tab should be extended to bookmarks and stuff also. Perhaps an option to pass through middle mouse button to enable OS to handle it. At least Logitech tries to make use of middle mouse button in their driver.

Mira: some prefs for the middle mouse button are now available under Navigator|Tabbed Browsing.

Middle click should also new window/tab links in the url bar history dropdown.

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I reported this bug, but should I be the QA contact? I don't think I was before!

Very well.

Nominating bug 231621 and bug 230051 about middle click use in Chatzilla.

Here's a good example of this: the new RS website. If you go here: http://rswww.com/cgi-bin/bv/rswww/browse.do?catoid=-1600783121&cacheID=uknetscape then you will find that the site cannot be used for tabbed browsing, which makes component selection essentially impossible. (Well, I have to do it the really laborious way that I.E. users do!). The reason is that each link contains *only* a javascript function, eg: <a href="JavaScript:showBrowseCategory('-1600746337','4', ' ')">Surface Data Ports</a> So when opened in a new tab, we get nothing.