# Wijzig "standaard andere externe links in nieuw tabblad" historisch voor alle gebruikers
**URL:** https://meta.discourse.org/t/change-default-other-external-links-in-new-tab-historically-to-all-users/180259
**Category:** Support
**Created:** [18 februari 2021 om 21:23 UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/change-default-other-external-links-in-new-tab-historically-to-all-users/180259 "2021-02-18T21:23:52Z")
**Posts on this page:** 3
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@leopedrini](https://meta.discourse.org/u/leopedrini)
#### Post date: [18 februari 2021 om 21:23 UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/change-default-other-external-links-in-new-tab-historically-to-all-users/180259/1 "2021-02-18T21:23:52Z")
Hello dears.
I would like your advice.
I run a forum for telecom, with about 6k users. ([www.telecomhall.net](http://www.telecomhall.net))
As there are a lot of topics with external links, i would like to force every user to open it in new tab - instead of leaving my website.
So, i thought i could change it in SETTINGS.
I am aware that this change only applies to new users that register, from that time on (when i change default setting to Yes).
As I said, sometime ago (i do not remember when) i changed deafult user preference to YES. (default\_other\_external\_links\_in\_new\_tab - YES, ticked)
Today, to test, I changed it back to NO (not ticked).
For my surprise, i received a Warning:
“Would you like to apply this change historically? This will change preferences for 2230 existing users.”
> > No.
> > Only apply change going forward.
So, i decided to set all users to NO (not ticked).
And thougth that when i checked it again, and apply, it would change it historically to all users (all my 6k users would have preference set to default\_other\_external\_links\_in\_new\_tab - YES, ticked).
Unfortunately, the second time, i didn’t received the warning.
And now ALL my 6k users are we default behavior (not expected by me) default\_other\_external\_links\_in\_new\_tab = NO, not ticked).
So, my question is:
1. Is this behavior fine? (Ask to apply historically when unchecking for part of user; and not asking to apply when all users were changed)
2. Is there a way for me (as admin) historically change default\_other\_external\_links\_in\_new\_tab = YES, ticked for all users?
I found this:
> [@Edit a user preference for everyone or a subset of users](https://meta.discourse.org/t/edit-a-user-setting-for-all-discourse-users/25162):
>
> bookmark This guide explains how to edit a user preference for everyone or a subset of users in Discourse. person_raising_hand Required user level: System Administrator warning Console access is required. If you need to update the user preference for all of your users or a large subset of users, you can do so via the rails console. Summary In this guide, you’ll learn: How to access the Rails console for making bulk changes Examples of modifying user preferences How to identify se…
But i don’t have the rights to do it.
And i tried to contact my website admin.
The only other way i see is to impersonate each of the 6k users and change it one by one - impossible! ☹
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### Author:  [@mstm](https://meta.discourse.org/u/mstm)
#### Post date: [13 april 2021 om 21:10 UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/change-default-other-external-links-in-new-tab-historically-to-all-users/180259/2 "2021-04-13T21:10:00Z")
Hi @leopedrini I have the same problem, did you succeed?
Thanks
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### Author:  [@leopedrini](https://meta.discourse.org/u/leopedrini)
#### Post date: [7 juni 2021 om 08:08 UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/change-default-other-external-links-in-new-tab-historically-to-all-users/180259/3 "2021-06-07T08:08:03Z")
Yes, i asked the webdevelopers that maintain my website, and they made the change in database.
_I’m only a user/admin, not a programmer 🙂_