[B0Z]

Just my $0.02, but it seems to me that if the site is akin to a book as you say, wouldn't the behavior you're suggesting doesn't make sense (TOC, chapter, TOC, chapter) work for a technical reference? The successive pages are certainly quite brief but in a way, isn't it a technical reference?

[keerthiko]

This, exactly. I pretty much treat everything on the internet as technical reference, I never sit and click "Next page" and read through anything but forums. Everything else I like to keep my handle on how I got there, and then successively look at the page that looks most relevant to my current needs. This works pretty well for this too. I never intended to read this from top to bottom.

However, I do 100% agree that "Next" and "Previous" buttons should never be target="_blank". That's a pretty unnatural and terrible experience. Only chapter links and external references should be.

[sutterbomb]

Ah, sorry perhaps I wasn't being clear.

At the end of each individual post, there's a link to see the next one. It's very much the same concept as your next/previous buttons, which you agreed shouldn't be opened in a new window. That's primarily what I take issue with.

Personally I'd also argue that the TOC shouldn't be new windows either, that the user should have to take explicit action to follow a link in a non-standard way. But reasonable people can disagree about the merits of this in certain cases.

Sharlin's comment below also touches on this.