How to open and then close a window without getting blocked as a popup?
javascript, popup
Solution
In order for the Paypal window to open without getting blocked, I am using an anchor with target="_blank".
That's one option, but as long as you call `window.open` from within the handler for a user-generated event (like `click`), you can open pop-up windows. So just make sure you call `window.open` from within a `click` handler on the link (and then you can close it). Modern pop-up blockers (anything from the last several years) block pop-ups that aren't triggered by a user event, but allow ones that are.
<p><a href="#" id="target">Click to open popup</a>; it will close automatically after five seconds.</p>
document.getElementById("target").addEventListener("click", () => {
const wnd = window.open("https://stackoverflow.com");
setTimeout(() => {
wnd.close();
}, 5000);
return false;
});
(Unfortunately, Stack Snippets don't let you do `window.open`.)
Problem
I want to direct a customer in an e-commerce site to pay via Paypal's website. I would like the payment to be done in a new tab/window so the customer doesn't lose the current state of the web page he/she is at. In order for the Paypal window to open without getting blocked, I am using an anchor with target="_blank". Which is working perfectly except for the fact, I can't close it after Paypal payment is done since `window.close()` doesn't work for windows that were not opened via `window.open()`. How do I make it so it is BOTH not blocked as a popup AND I am able to close it with JS later on?