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effects of the rel="external" tag?

Discussion in 'Link Development' started by fsmedia, Feb 26, 2006.

  1. #1
    I'm wondering what kind of effect the tag rel="external" has on links and the way SES interpet them? Anyone have some insight to this?
     
    fsmedia, Feb 26, 2006 IP
  2. Hon Daddy Dad

    Hon Daddy Dad Peon

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    #2
    My understanding is that it does not effect any page rank that is passed on to the link.
     
    Hon Daddy Dad, Feb 26, 2006 IP
  3. fsmedia

    fsmedia Prominent Member

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    #3
    I'm not speaking directly about pagerank, I know it doesn't effect pagerank, but how would it play in to the SERPs? The only thing I know of that effects PR is nofollow. Is there a guide our there with all references to rel="" and the effects of each one?
     
    fsmedia, Feb 26, 2006 IP
  4. Ferrarislave

    Ferrarislave Peon

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    #4
    rel="external" does nothing except notify the browser to open a new window, like target="_blank". The only difference is that rel="external" is xhtml valid, and target="_blank" is not.
     
    Ferrarislave, Jul 23, 2006 IP
  5. renoir

    renoir Well-Known Member

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    #5
    rel='external' is part of the code necessary to open a new window, but it still needs javascript to execute this action.
    
    function externalLinks() {
     if (!document.getElementsByTagName) return;
     var anchors = document.getElementsByTagName("a");
     for (var i=0; i<anchors.length; i++) {
       var anchor = anchors[i];
       if (anchor.getAttribute("href") &&
           anchor.getAttribute("rel") == "external")
         anchor.target = "_blank";
     }
    }
    window.onload = externalLinks;
    
    Code (markup):


    http://www.sitepoint.com/forums/showthread.php?t=385971
     
    renoir, Feb 14, 2007 IP
  6. fluid

    fluid Active Member

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    #6
    So rel="external" will still pass PR to the linking site, right? The only thing it is doing is to open the site in a new window?
     
    fluid, Feb 27, 2007 IP
  7. Ferrarislave

    Ferrarislave Peon

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    #7
    Yes, it is a valid XHTML Strict alternative to target="_blank" which is not supported in strict.
     
    Ferrarislave, Feb 27, 2007 IP
    thuankkk likes this.
  8. fluid

    fluid Active Member

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    #8
    Sweet! Thx for the confirmation.
     
    fluid, Feb 28, 2007 IP
  9. stuart888

    stuart888 Peon

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    #9
    Yes, it should not have a PR effect. The HTML 4.0 specification took away the target attribute, but it added another attribute: rel. This attribute is intended to specify the relationship between the document that contains the link, and the target of the link. The specification defines a bunch of standard values for this attribute (e.g. next, previous, chapter, section), most of which have to do with relationships between small sections of a larger document. However, the spec leaves the developer free to use nonstandard values for site-specific purposes.
     
    stuart888, Apr 27, 2007 IP
  10. trichnosis

    trichnosis Prominent Member

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    #10
    i think it does not effect the page rank or serp. it's a tag like target="_blank"
     
    trichnosis, Apr 27, 2007 IP
  11. peanutpad

    peanutpad Peon

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    #11
    Yes it's just like target="_blank" but it needs some javascript to make it functional. I have seen a lot of people use it without the javascript so it really does nothing. and as far as I know there is know pagerank loss if the link opens in a new window or not.
     
    peanutpad, Jun 13, 2007 IP
  12. Ferrarislave

    Ferrarislave Peon

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    #12
    It does do SOMETHING - it's a XHTML strict way of using target="blank".
     
    Ferrarislave, Jun 13, 2007 IP
  13. parveen121

    parveen121 Peon

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    #13
    yes absolutely true

    In the html specification they have removed

    target=_blank

    and new terminology would be

    rel="external"

    It would not effect the Pagerank it passes on


    if it something like

    rel="external nofollow"

    then the pagerank would not be passed
     
    parveen121, Jul 31, 2007 IP
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  14. twin

    twin Well-Known Member

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    #14
    Thanks, good to know
     
    twin, Aug 1, 2007 IP
  15. nytrokiss

    nytrokiss Peon

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    #15
    Only the nofollow has an effect (sorta)
     
    nytrokiss, Aug 1, 2007 IP
  16. Ace0

    Ace0 Active Member

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    #16
    Just searched for this rel=external explanation and found this link.... DP is large OK!!... thanks for the info ;)
     
    Ace0, Jan 10, 2008 IP
  17. ursfehr

    ursfehr Member

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    #17
    As far as i know its like target="_blank" but some javascript is needed to make it functional. A lot of people use it without the javascript
     
    ursfehr, Jan 13, 2008 IP
  18. nickjag

    nickjag Active Member

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    #18
    Yeah, that's right, a lot of people have been using it, non-functionally, without the javascript.
     
    nickjag, Jan 22, 2008 IP
  19. oasic

    oasic Peon

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    #19
    I guess sometimes it takes a while for the browsers to catch up with the HTML specifications.

    Oh well, what can you do...
     
    oasic, Jan 23, 2008 IP
  20. LinkBliss

    LinkBliss Peon

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    #20
    Why do people keep saying the same thing? I felt like was reading in loops to reading this thread. Because people kept repeating and same the same thing. It was as if I was reading around in a loop. While reading this thread things kept repeating as people said them again and again saying the same thing.
     
    LinkBliss, Jan 23, 2008 IP