Manual:$wgExternalLinkTarget

Parser: $wgExternalLinkTarget
Set a default target for external links.
Introduced in version:1.14.0 (r41333)
Removed in version:still in use
Allowed values:(string) or false
Default value:false

Details edit

Set a default target for external links. If set to e.g. "_blank", this will also set the "noreferrer" and "noopener" link rel to prevent the attack described at https://mathiasbynens.github.io/rel-noopener/. Some older browsers may not support these link attributes, hence setting $wgExternalLinkTarget to _blank may represent a security risk to some of your users.

Add the following entry to LocalSettings.php file in order to open external links in a new window / tab.

$wgExternalLinkTarget = '_blank';

If the value is set to false, then no target attribute is used with external links (This behavior is the same as _self).

When changing the value, page cache must be refreshed in order to make the setting effective.

See also edit