Hi James

Opening all main menu links in the same tab is on the roadmap for November 2026, see https://ideas.exlibrisgroup.com/forums/308176-primo/suggestions/38820208-better-primo-ve-menu-link-options

(I'm not sure if that will cover all you are asking for.)

I would like to create main link in Primo VE NDE for Course Reserves that functions like the Journal Search or Newspaper Search links that already exist and open in the same tab with a dedicated search bar specifically for active Course Reserves.

The closest I can come is using a URL for a search scoped to Course Reserves, but this opens in a new tab, which is inconvenient.

On the roadmap 2026Q4 November release
https://knowledge.exlibrisgroup.com/Primo/Product_Documentation/020Primo_VE/Primo_VE_(English)/Go_NDE/Available_Features%2C_Functionality_and_Release_Plan_for_NDE_UI

"Add configuration for the Main menu links to be opened on the same tab/new tab"

I do not see this listed on the NDE roadmap at https://knowledge.exlibrisgroup.com/Primo/Product_Documentation/020Primo_VE/Primo_VE_(English)/Go_NDE/Available_Features%2C_Functionality_and_Release_Plan_for_NDE_UI - when will it be added?

Thank you, Yael.

This is true for all links, not only the main menu.

Related: https://ideas.exlibrisgroup.com/forums/308176-primo/suggestions/46460359-option-to-highlight-active-tabs-in-primo-top-pane

NERS 8265, open for voting now.

I follow Orbis Cascade Alliance's "Primo VE Toolkit" – thank you so much for making it public! – and found this by Tamara Marnell:

https://www.orbiscascade.org/programs/systems/pcsg/primo-ve-toolkit/same-tab-menu-links

The full code by Jeremy McWilliams from Lewis & Clark College is available via
https://github.com/alliance-pcsg/ve-central-package/blob/8fddeb8bc6624958572638a6c0b0d9cb3a4100ac/01ALLIANCE_NETWORK-CENTRAL_PACKAGE/js/custom.js#L1320

In Tamara's words:

"However, this functionality could be provided in a much better way by Ex Libris, because they have control over components we don't. This code uses intervals to repeatedly check whether the menu links exist until they do, then changes their target properties. It's very inefficient because we don't have a better way to do it through customization packages, but Ex Libris developers would."

I completely agree – please fix this, Ex Libris. All main menu links should open within the browser tab, unless the user decides otherwise.

Also, the active browser tab should be visually distinguished from the inactive ones.

>I don't agree. This should be the users' decision: if they want to open a link in a new tab, they can do so.

Yes. Users should absolutely be able to decide if they want to open something in a new or same tab. But I think that's a browser issue.

I'm talking about the default behavior hard coded into the HTML.

Custom menu html links are currently coded with the attribute target="_blank" as an attribute, which opens in a new window or tab.

Out of the Box menu links do NOT have this attribute, so they open in the same tab.

OTB/sametab and Custom/newtab is technically consistent from a coding standpoint, but it's weird from a user standpoint.

Ideally, an institution should be able to toggle each link's default behavior regardless of if it's custom or out of the box.

But removing the target attribute from custom links (or addding it to OTB links) would at least create consistent (though not necessarily ideal) behavior.

> That's external. It makes sense for it to be a new tab so that the user doesn't have to
> navigate back to their search results.

I don't agree. This should be the users' decision: if they want to open a link in a new tab, they can do so.

(See also the two references in my first comment).

Agreed. I understand opening a new tab/window for menu links with external URLS, but if the URL is internal, then it should open in the same tab.

For example: We have a menu link that opens up a LibGuide. That's external. It makes sense for it to be a new tab so that the user doesn't have to navigate back to their search results.
We also have a menu link that opens a new advanced search with options already checked for the user. This is an internal link to Primo (/discovery/search?) It does not make sense for that to open in a new tab when the other Primo search links (Collection Discovery, Newspapers, Journal Search, Library Search) open in the same tab.

The fact that this behavior is very well documented as bad user interface design makes it baffling that Ex Libris hard coded this bad behavior into the Primo interface 20 years later.

Not "only" external links in the main menu should stay in the same tab, but also the help page.

https://knowledge.exlibrisgroup.com/Primo/Product_Documentation/020Primo_VE/Primo_VE_(English)/030Primo_VE_User_Interface/010Primo_VE_Customization_-_Best_Practices#Adding_the_Help_Link_to_the_UI

I'm surprised this still happens.

Nielsen/Norman identified this over 20 years ago as bad practice:
https://www.nngroup.com/articles/the-top-ten-web-design-mistakes-of-1999/

Again, a decade later:
https://www.nngroup.com/articles/top-10-mistakes-web-design/

This is an insightful way to think about the issue:
https://ux.stackexchange.com/a/53551/48949

Other pages in the menu (those initiated by ExL) do not open new windows. This makes the menu internally inconsistent.

Could there at least be a checkbox in the administration section to turn this on/off on a per-link basis?

I completely agree.

As do the GDSteam of gov.uk https://twitter.com/GDSTeam/status/983992989650423809

and the Nielsen Norman Group https://www.nngroup.com/articles/new-browser-windows-and-tabs