website design - Is it okay to open a help link in a new window?

I have read Jacob Nielson's usability book and he says links should never open in a new window. Here are some of his reasons:

• Novice users cannot manage multiple windows and become disoriented.


• The back button in the new window doesn't take them back to their original window.


• When people want a new window, they'll do it themselves with a keyboard/mouse shortcut.

He says the only exception is links that open in an application, such as Microsoft Word DOC and Adobe PDF. May I propose a new exception? Consider the case when the user is several minutes into a complex web application. There's a link on this application that leads to some advanced help files. So as to not wipe out all of the user's work, that help link opens in a new window. Is this a legitimate exception? Will power users get pissed if the link is forced to open in a new window?

Answer

I'd suggest there is a distinction between a web site and a web application - a distinction that very well didn't exist when Jacob Nielson wrote his book.

When you click a web link from within Microsoft Word, a new browser page opens and your word document stays in place.

Equivilently, when you click a link from within a Web Application, the user will expect a new browser page to open and for their work to remain.

For help files, there's another precedent: Help almost always (*) opens in a separate window and leaves the users work intact.

(*) I can't think of an application where it does't do this, but there are always exceptions.