Adding a target="_blank" with execCommand 'createlink'

Question

I am attempting to create a mini WYSIWYG editor for a custom CMS. It has the option to add and remove links. It adds links fine, but would like to have the option to add target="_blank" to the hyperlink. Also, if possible, I would like to be able to add alt="" and title="".

At the moment this is my code:

function addLink() {
    var linkURL = prompt('Enter a URL:', 'http://');
    editorWindow.document.execCommand('createlink', false, linkURL);
}

Been looking around, and can't seem to find a solution. Most of the solutions I've seen say to add:

function addLink() {
    var linkURL = prompt('Enter a URL:', 'http://');
    var newLink = editorWindow.document.execCommand('createlink', false, linkURL);
    newLink.target = "_blank";
}

But this doesn't seem to work. Any suggestions?

Answer 1

I was able to find a solution. Don't know if this is the right way to go, but it works. Following https://stackoverflow.com/a/5605841/997632, this is what I used for my code to work:

function addLink() {
    var linkURL = prompt('Enter a URL:', 'http://');
    var sText = editorWindow.document.getSelection();

    editorWindow.document.execCommand('insertHTML', false, '<a href="' + linkURL + '" target="_blank">' + sText + '</a>');
}

Just in case anyone else is looking and stumbles upon this...

Answer 2

insertHTML can be frustrated if you have a bold or italic before. I use the following approach:

var url = 'example.com';
var selection = document.getSelection();
document.execCommand('createLink', true, url);
selection.anchorNode.parentElement.target = '_blank';

Answer 3

I know this thread is quite old, but let me throw my 2 cents in, and maybe someone will find this useful ;) I'm working on a WYSIWYG editor too As I found the accepted solution fails for me when I try to make a link from a selected image in FF (the getSelection().getRangeAt(0) returns the image's parent div and treats the image as it never wasn't there (this is how I see it)), here's a dirty but working (and, I think, it's turbo-cross-browser) idea I came up with (jQuery):

//somewhere before losing the focus:
sel = window.getSelection().getRangeAt(0);

//reselecting:
window.getSelection().addRange(sel);

//link:
document.execCommand('createLink', false, 'LINK_TO_CHANGE');
$('a[href="LINK_TO_CHANGE"').attr('target', '_blank');
//any other attr changes here
$('a[href="LINK_TO_CHANGE"').attr('href', theRealHref);

Is it good idea? Works like a charm. And this simplicity ^^