Make ATLAS article links open in a new tab from Help Center conversation pages

Overview

When users open a conversation in the Kayako Help Center and click a Knowledge Base article link included in an ATLAS reply, the article can open in the same browser tab as the conversation. This takes the user away from the ticket page and can make it harder to return to the conversation if the article does not fully answer the question.

This behavior applies to customer-facing Help Center conversation pages and specifically affects article links rendered inside conversation posts. It is not controlled by the email Reply template.

No dedicated product setting was confirmed for changing this link behavior globally. The validated workaround is to add a small JavaScript customization to the Help Center Footer template so article links open in a new tab instead.

Solution or Explanation

The most practical workaround is to update the Help Center Footer template so article links inside conversation posts are forced to open in a new tab.

Important conclusion

• The behavior is caused by how article links are rendered in the Help Center conversation view
• The correct place for the workaround is Help Center > Customize > Customize templates > Footer
• The Admin > Email templates > Reply area does not control how links behave on Help Center web pages
• This is a template-level workaround, not a product setting

Steps

1. Sign in to Kayako with an administrator account that has permission to manage Help Center channels.
2. Open the Help Center.
3. Click Customize.
4. Open Customize templates.
5. From the Template drop-down, select Footer.
6. Make a backup copy of the current Footer template content before editing it.
7. Add the following code at the end of the existing Footer template.
8. Click Save.
9. Refresh the Help Center conversation page and test the article links again.

<script> (function () {  function updateArticleLinks(root) {    var scope = root || document;    if (!scope.querySelectorAll) {      return;    }     scope.querySelectorAll('li[data-ui-component="comment"] a[href*="/article/"]').forEach(function (link) {      link.setAttribute('target', '_blank');       var relValues = (link.getAttribute('rel') || '').split(/\s+/).filter(Boolean);       ['noopener', 'noreferrer'].forEach(function (value) {        if (relValues.indexOf(value) === -1) {          relValues.push(value);        }      });       link.setAttribute('rel', relValues.join(' '));    });  }   function start() {    updateArticleLinks(document);     if ('MutationObserver' in window) {      new MutationObserver(function (mutations) {        mutations.forEach(function (mutation) {          mutation.addedNodes.forEach(function (node) {            if (node.nodeType === 1) {              updateArticleLinks(node);            }          });        });      }).observe(document.body, {        childList: true,        subtree: true      });    }  }   if (document.readyState === 'loading') {    document.addEventListener('DOMContentLoaded', start);  } else {    start();  } })(); </script>

What this script does

• Targets links inside Help Center conversation posts whose URL contains /article/
• Forces those links to open in a new tab with target="_blank"
• Adds rel="noopener noreferrer" for safer new-tab behavior
• Uses MutationObserver so dynamically loaded conversation content is also updated

Verification

After saving the Footer template:

1. Open a Help Center conversation page that contains an ATLAS reply with an article link.
2. Click the article link.
3. Confirm that:
   • the article opens in a new tab
   • the original conversation remains open in the existing tab

If the article still opens in the same tab, verify that the code was added to Help Center > Customize > Customize templates > Footer, not to Admin > Email templates > Reply.

Additional Notes

• This workaround applies to Help Center conversation pages, not email replies.
• If an administrator only sees the Reply template, they may be in the Email templates area rather than the Help Center template editor.
• The Footer template is part of the Help Center customization area and is separate from email template customization.
• Back up the current Footer template before making changes so the original content can be restored if needed.
• This workaround is scoped to article links in conversation posts and is intended to avoid changing unrelated navigation or attachment links.

References

Ticket Reference

• Ticket #60396714 — Example use case where this behavior was investigated, the Footer-template workaround was applied, and the result was confirmed.

Relevant Knowledge Base Articles

• Customizing Your Help Center by Modifying the Templates
• Maintaining Line Breaks and Spaces in Conversations Created Through the Help Center
• Removing or Changing the Email Footer Message in Kayako