This quick code snippet will show you how to update every external link on your site to open in a new window using jQuery. You can put this code in the script.js file in your theme.
$(document).ready(function(){
// apply to all <a> tags that have an href that starts with "http"
$("a[href^='http']").each(function(){
// remove http:// and https://
link = $(this).attr('href');
if (link.substring(0,7)=='http://') {
link = link.substring(7);
} else if (link.substring(0,8)=='https://') {
link = link.substring(8);
} else {
return;
}
// spilt on '/'
split1 = link.split('/');
// compare href hostname to site hostname
if (split1[0]!=location.hostname) {
// add target attribute to link
$(this).attr('target','_blank');
}
});
});