*please bear with me this is a simple problem which is sort of hard to explain*
I run a very small (15 page) website for myself. The site consists of a an image_list page, which is an index of 13 thumbnail images. Each thumbnail links to a single page, each page being a larger image of the respective thumbnail. These 13 individual pages are directed at the same base target window, _ximage.

click on any one of these thumbnail links and a new window (_ximage) will open. navigate back to the image_list and click another link, the _ximage window will reload with the new page. Pretty simple, right?, just a <base target=""> command.

In safari this all looks swell, and the _ximage window, whether open or not, will always come to the foreground to load.

Not the case in Firefox.

My problem in Firefox is as follows: opening one of the given links in image_list will load a new window (or tab), with _ximage target, and the first time, that new window/tab with _ximage target will come to focus and be in the foreground.

However, if the viewer leaves the _ximage window open, and navigates back to the image_list window and clicks another link, that link will load appropriately but the _ximage window will remain in the background. (and it works the same whether you are using windows or tabs to load your new pages). This is frustrating because it forces the viewer to click twice rather than just once to get to one of these 13 pages, and said pages are the reason people would traffic to the site.

Is there any way to have the links to base (_ximage) target always load in the foreground in Firefox(even when the target window _ximage is open)? Is there code to tell the Firefox browser, hey this is an important window load it in the foreground?

*I will also just mention I find this part of Firefox too strict and it should be corrected. It isn't always the case that opening a new window puts a burden on the web browser.*
**Also, this two-window thing allows people to scroll and jump around in an image list, and I think the only other way to recreate that is with javascript, and I think avoiding javascript with just some very simple and quick links is pretty useful and efficient**

Is there code to tell the Firefox browser, hey this is an important window load it in the foreground?

Not that I'm aware of and since each user can decide how they want new windows handled, you probably can't do it anyway.

Rather than opening up new windows/tabs for this, why not try something like Lightbox instead ?

Originally Posted by romalagajini

*I will also just mention I find this part of Firefox too strict and it should be corrected.

I find it is quite the opposite. I think it is annoying if a browser forces a new window to open completely. I would prefer that new windows open in tabs, because it is more organized. I'm someone who keeps a lot of tabs and a lot of applications open at one time: I don't need another window popping up.

If you need this behavior you must use JavaScript to create an actual popup (onclick, or it will be blocked). You could also use a modal window ("Lightbox") as LNR suggests.