Why Your Elko Daily Free Press Links Open in New Windows (And What You Can Actually Do About It)

2026-03-26T09:14:01Z

Rebeccaperry79: Created page with "<html><p> If you have spent any time browsing the Elko Daily Free Press website lately, you’ve likely noticed a recurring frustration: clicking a link—whether it’s a related article, an obituary via Legacy.com, or a redirect to the E-edition—seems to launch a flurry of new browser windows or tabs. If you feel like your browser is turning into a chaotic desktop version of "Whack-A-Mole," you aren't alone.</p> <a href="https://elkodaily.com/exclusive/article_f2a0b2..."

<html><p> If you have spent any time browsing the Elko Daily Free Press website lately, you’ve likely noticed a recurring frustration: clicking a link—whether it’s a related article, an obituary via Legacy.com, or a redirect to the E-edition—seems to launch a flurry of new browser windows or tabs. If you feel like your browser is turning into a chaotic desktop version of "Whack-A-Mole," you aren't alone.</p> <a href="https://elkodaily.com/exclusive/article_f2a0b23c-a8a4-5143-9c91-c26023907283.html">elkodaily.com</a> <p> After 12 years in the trenches of Lee Enterprises newsrooms, I’ve heard this complaint more than any other. People hate having their reading flow interrupted by a new window popping up. But before you get too frustrated, let’s look at why this happens and how much control you actually have over it.</p> <h2> The "Why": It’s Not Just You, It’s the Architecture</h2> <p> Most of the frustration comes down to how the site is built. The Elko Daily, like hundreds of other local news sites under the Lee Enterprises umbrella, runs on a platform called TownNews (or Blox CMS). Within the TNCMS editorial-asset editor, producers have the option to set links to "open in a new window."</p> <p> Why do they do it? Usually, it’s to keep you on the main site. If an article links to a third-party partner—like Legacy.com for obituaries or an external advertiser—the system is programmed to open that in a new window so the original article stays open in your background tab. It’s supposed to be a "feature" to prevent you from losing your place. However, when applied aggressively to internal links, it just clutters your session.</p> <h2> Can You Change It? The Hard Truth</h2> <p> Let’s be blunt: You cannot change this setting globally in your user profile. There isn't a "stop new tabs" checkbox in your account settings. This is a site-wide architectural choice made by the developers and CMS managers.</p> <p> However, you can mitigate the annoyance by managing your browser behavior. If the site is opening too many windows, it is often a sign that your browser is struggling to handle the site's session cookies and tracking scripts.</p> <h2> Troubleshooting Checklist: Why the Site is "Acting Up"</h2> <p> Before you blame the link behavior, make sure the site is actually functioning correctly. If you are seeing broken layouts or missing data, it’s usually not the links—it’s your session. Run through this checklist first:</p> Clear your browser cache and cookies. Seriously. Most "site won't load" issues are just stuck cookies from a previous subscription session. Check your Return URL. If you are redirected to the login page constantly, ensure you aren't stuck in a loop. Clear your history, close all tabs, and navigate fresh to the homepage. Verify your account at the Source. Go to subscriberservices.lee.net to ensure your subscription is active. If your account is flagged in the Lee billing system, the site will intentionally break the article rendering to force a login/subscription flow. <h2> The Common Mistake: "The Blank Page"</h2> <p> I get emails constantly saying, "The article body is blank, there’s no author, no date, just a headline." If this is happening to you, you aren't dealing with a link-opening issue; you are dealing with a failed render.</p> <p> When the TNCMS platform fails to load the main content, it usually means the site's cookie consent banner is blocking the page scripts. If you haven't clicked "Accept" or "Manage" on the privacy popup, the site often refuses to populate the body text or publish date to protect your privacy settings. Always look for the cookie banner at the bottom or top of your screen and click "Accept" or "Save Preferences" before doing anything else.</p> <h2> Comparison of Navigation Behaviors</h2> Action Expected Behavior Why it happens Internal Link New Tab/Window CMS setting in the Editorial Asset Editor Legacy.com link New Window External site redirect security E-edition Link New Window Opens in the dedicated E-edition viewer portal <h2> How to Manage "Open in New Window" on Mobile</h2> <p> On mobile, "new windows" are actually "new tabs," which can kill your phone’s memory. If you want to stop this, follow these steps:</p> <ul> On iPhone (Safari): Long-press the link. Do not tap it. A menu will pop up. Select "Open in Background" or "Open in New Tab" depending on your preference. If you want to force it to open in the current tab, you often have to navigate to your browser settings and turn off "Open links in new tabs" if your specific mobile browser allows it. On Android (Chrome): Long-press the link. Select "Open in current tab" if available, or just get used to the "Square" icon in the top right to close your tabs periodically. </ul> <h2> A Note on Subscriber Access and Paywalls</h2> <p> Let's address the elephant in the room: Paywalls exist. I see a lot of complaints about the site "redirecting" the user. Often, when you click a link and it bounces you to a subscription landing page, it isn't a bug. The article you are trying to access is likely marked as "Premium" in the TNCMS editorial-asset editor.</p> <p> If you are a subscriber and this is happening:</p> <ul> Go to the top right of the Elko Daily homepage. Click the "Log In" button. If you are already logged in, click "Sign Out," refresh your browser, and log back in. </ul> <p> This forces a new authentication token to be issued to your browser. If you don't do this, the site will keep thinking you aren't a subscriber and will keep "redirecting" you to the paywall page rather than letting you see the article.</p> <h2> Final Thoughts: Keep it Simple</h2> <p> I know it’s annoying when the site takes over your browser behavior. But for 90% of the issues—the blank pages, the login loops, the strange redirects—the solution is the same: Clear your cookies, refresh your session, and make sure your browser isn't blocking the scripts that actually load the news.</p> <p> If you've tried clearing your cache and logging back in through the subscriber portal and the site still refuses to display an author, publish date, or article body, then it is time to reach out to the support team. When you do, provide them with the specific URL (the "Return URL") that is causing the problem. They can’t fix what they can’t see.</p></html>

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Why Your Elko Daily Free Press Links Open in New Windows (And What You Can Actually Do About It)