_self opens within the same window
_parent is used with a frame, it will open within the inner frame
_top is also used with a frame, it will open using the entire window, not within the frame.
Using target="_blank" will
instruct the browser to create a new browser tab or window when the user clicks on the link.
Using target="_new" is
technically invalid according to the specifications, but as far as I know every browser will behave the same way:
- it will search for a tab or window with the context name "_new"
- if a "_new" tab/window is found, then the URL is loaded into it
- if it's not found, a new tab/window is created with the context name "_new", and the URL loaded into it
Note target="_new" will
behave exactly the same as target="new",
and the latter is valid HTML while the former is invalid HTML.
Adding some confusion to this, in HTML4 the target attribute
was deprecated. In HTML5 this decision was reversed, and it is an official part of the spec once again. All browsers support target no
matter what version of HTML you are using, but some validators will flag the use as deprecated if your doctype is HTML4.
The target attribute of a link forces the browser to open the destination page in a new browser window. Using _blank as
a target value will spawn a new window every time while using _new will
only spawn one new window and every link clicked with a target value of _new will
replace the page loaded in the previously spawned window
http://www.vodahost.com/vodatalk/adding-elements-website/22563-_blank-_self-_parent-_top.html
http://stackoverflow.com/questions/4964130/target-blank-vs-target-new